The simple fallacy that leads to procrastination – and the 5 minute fix to cure it today

I’m about to tell you a big secret 🤫

I want you to picture two lanes in your mind — like two lanes on a highway.

One lane is called Drift Lane.

This is where you’re kind of just bopping around, doing stuff.

You start writing an email, then you stop because you’re not sure how to phrase what you want to say.

So you pick up your phone and scroll on Instagram for a while.

A Slack notification pops up, so you go look at that.

Suddenly you’re busy doing some random task that you know doesn’t really matter.

You’re just kind of drifting around from thing to thing.

Vaguely aware that you should do some of those hard, high-priority things on your list…

But you just don’t feel like doing it.

The other lane is called Flow Lane.

This is you when you lock in and get totally absorbed in something.

It’s the high-priority, important thing of the day.

And you are in the zone.

Time disappears. You’re doing your best work. You’re having the time of your life.

And even though you’re working hard and doing a lot…

Somehow you’re more energized at the end than when you started.

Your brain loves to be in Flow Lane.

It knows that being in flow is SO much fun.

And as your brain bops and drifts and weaves around in Drift Lane…

It is actually trying really hard to get into Flow Lane.

That’s all it really wants!

So here’s the simple fallacy that prevents your brain from getting into Flow Lane.

The simple fallacy that accidentally makes you procrastinate even though you want so badly to be productive.

Your brain thinks that getting IN to Flow Lane should feel easeful and natural.

BEING in Flow Lane is easeful, natural, and fun.

So surely getting IN to Flow Lane should also feel easeful, natural, and fun!

So if a task feels difficult or confusing or overwhelming or boring…

Your brain is like: “That’s a sign that we’re NOT getting into Flow Lane! All that stuff is the opposite of flow!”

And so your brain pings off the difficult task and it looks for something easier to do — because it’s looking for that easeful, natural feeling of flow.

But here’s the big secret that so few people realize… 🤫

There’s a big, fat rumble strip between Drift Lane and Flow Lane.

Have you ever drifted near the shoulder of the road while you’re driving…

And suddenly your whole car is shaking and there’s a loud rumbling sound, and it jolts you awake?

You just went over a rumble strip — a bumpy pattern on the road that’s meant to alert drivers to slow down or watch where they’re going.

And I want you to imagine that, in your mind, there’s a big, fat rumble strip between Drift Lane and Flow Lane.

Which means that—

Yes, BEING in Flow Lane feels easeful, natural, and fun…

But getting IN to Flow Lane feels bumpy, uncomfortable, and difficult.

But don’t worry! It doesn’t last forever.

It only lasts for a few minutes, until your car has gotten over the rumble strip and all the way into Flow Lane.

And then it’s all smooth sailing from there.

The real tragedy is when you don’t realize that getting into Flow Lane requires going over the rumble strip.

So you get near the rumble strip, get jolted, and back off…

And get near the rumble strip, get jolted, and back off…

Again and again, all day long…

Wanting so badly to be in flow and to lock in and get things done…

But not realizing that you keep backing away from the exact thing that will get you into flow.

So here’s the simple 5 minute fix to cure your procrastination – today and every day.

Spend 5 minutes on the rumble strip.

If you want to stop after 5 minutes and go back to drifting, you can.

But chances are, after 5 minutes, you would have probably gotten into Flow Lane and you’ll be happily working :)

This is the productivity equivalent of that classic gym hack—

“Don’t set a goal to work out.

Set a goal to put your gym clothes on and walk into the gym.

You can walk in and walk right back out if you want to.

But chances are, once you’re in the gym, you’ll probably end up doing your workout.”

You’re allowed to stop working after 5 minutes on the rumble strip if you want.

But just spend 5 minutes on the rumble strip and see what happens.

If you want to take this to the next level — set a goal to spend 5 minutes on the rumble strip 3 times a day.

That will really get you into the practice of actually getting IN to Flow Lane rather than just pinging off that rumble strip again and again.

Learning how to tap into flow on-demand…

Even in the face of difficult and uncomfortable tasks that you’d rather just avoid…

Is one of the most powerful skills you can ever gain in your career.

Because when you’re in flow, you’re unstoppable.

Flow is not a random occurrence that only happens when the stars align 🌠

Tapping into flow is a skill that you can practice and gain mastery over, just like anything else 💪🏽

Spending 5 minutes on the rumble strip is just one way of doing that.

If you want to spend more of your time in flow, day-to-day…

If you want to build your career around flow—

Internally, by learning the skill of tapping into flow wherever you are…

Externally, by designing a career strategy that positions your flow to solve high-priority problems that other people will pay good money to solve…

And tactically, by navigating the transition from where you are now to your next career step…

Then come talk to me, and let’s get started.

---

What my clients have to say…

“Pretty immediately, I was able to break through the decision of whether or not to leave my job. I was able to see: Staying at my job is hard. Looking for a job is also hard. Which hard do I want to sign up for? Because being here in limbo is not productive.

I was also able to rewrite the story of what had happened at my current job in a way that gave me more confidence and started to untangle some of the emotional turmoil I had with that.

And then I recruited for and got my next job and got comfortable moving forward with that as my next step.”

—Client | Early-Stage Tech Startup Director turned Design Consultant

---

Did you know I have a full table of contents, where all my work is categorized by topic, so you can easily find what you need right now? Check it out below! :)

---

As part of my mission to help every stressed-out overachiever build their career around flow, my newsletter is completely paywall free and available to all.

You can support this publication (and make my day!) by subscribing and sharing it with anyone you think would find it helpful. Thank you for being here :)

---

💻 Website | 📸 Instagram | 👩🏻‍💻LinkedIn | 🎧 Podcast | 💌 Newsletter | 👋🏽 Free resources