It doesn’t deserve a top-level post, but I have a method for this—a written self-interview. I open an empty Word document, and imagine that I’m being interviewed by someone (or something?) smarter, more confident and higher-status than me.
I won’t quote my existing interview documents—they’re too context-dependent, and sometimes too personal—but here’s an example of how it usually looks like:
Alpha: You look depleted. What’s bothering you?
Me: I feel that the work I’m doing isn’t leading me anywhere.
Alpha: What do you mean by ‘anywhere’? Money? Fame? Personal satisfaction?
Me: Money.
Alpha: So, you think that the work you’re doing isn’t going to make you rich. Right?
Me: Right.
Alpha: Then why are you doing it?
…
…
And the ‘interview’ continues until I find the source of the conflict. If I don’t locate it on the first session, I get back to the saved document later to continue the interview.
I have at least three occasions when this technique helped me pinpoint conflicts that paralyzed me (one of them was a cause of a 6-month procrastination streak.)
It doesn’t deserve a top-level post, but I have a method for this—a written self-interview. I open an empty Word document, and imagine that I’m being interviewed by someone (or something?) smarter, more confident and higher-status than me.
I won’t quote my existing interview documents—they’re too context-dependent, and sometimes too personal—but here’s an example of how it usually looks like:
And the ‘interview’ continues until I find the source of the conflict. If I don’t locate it on the first session, I get back to the saved document later to continue the interview.
I have at least three occasions when this technique helped me pinpoint conflicts that paralyzed me (one of them was a cause of a 6-month procrastination streak.)