I made some progress with something like this by writing down everything I was avoiding, what I thought the obstacles were, and about how long I thought it would take to deal with it. I look at my record every day and try to do something toward my avoidance list, and at the end of two weeks I celebrate all the things I’ve finally finished, and make a new list, with some things carried over, some dropped, and some new. If there’s something on the old list where I didn’t make any progress, I spend more time writing about it when I carry it over—what the obstacles are, how I feel about it, the good and bad things about facing it.

This isn’t my general project list, which has all kinds of stuff in it that isn’t troublesome or emotionally freighted. This list is just for stuff that’s bothering me. It gets more attention and analysis than the project list.

With this method, I’ve been able to move past things that have been weighing on my mind for months. It isn’t easy, though. I mean, even making the list and writing about each of the things is quite uncomfortable for me.