In this week’s newsletter:

• The brain science behind feeling stuck
• Fix Your Day, Fix Your Nights, and Money Patterns launch 🎉
• A quick writing experiment to sort out what kind of 'stuck' you're dealing with

Hi, it’s Aine.

Feeling stuck... getting unstuck. The phrases are everywhere - like we've all been sucked into an epidemic of it.

But what's actually going on when we say we feel stuck?

It can mean:

• I know what I need to do, but I can’t start.
• I’m doing a lot, but none of it is the thing that matters.
• I have too many things to do and can’t decide where to begin.
• I keep thinking about the same problem, conversation, or decision.
• I’m avoiding something, but I can’t quite explain why.

'Stuck' isn't just one brain state.

It includes facing too much uncertainty, being overloaded, trying to resolve something unfinished or threatening, and sometimes all of that at once.

The most useful question to start with is, 'What KIND of stuck am I dealing with right now?'

(Cue smooth transition to my launch announcement... )

That question is the backbone of the new JournalingFix Protocol Packs that launch this month.

The packs are online structured collections - plus printable workbooks - of brain science, practical frameworks, and guided writing prompts to help you think clearly, take action, and finally move forward on what matters.

The idea is simple: different kinds of mental friction need different kinds of resets. Instead of trying to push harder through every stuck moment, you can understand what your brain is doing and use a quick writing prompt that matches the state you’re actually in.

​Pre-launch is live now through August 27, and the first three packs get released that day:

• Fix Your Day is for stalled, scattered, overloaded workday moments: when you can’t start, can’t focus, or keep doing everything except the things that really matter.
• Fix Your Nights is for putting the day - and tomorrow - down long enough to get real rest: closing out the day, getting tomorrow out of your head, interrupting middle-of-the-night spirals, and waking up ready to go.
• Money Patterns is for a different kind of stuckness: the beliefs, avoidance, comparison, and protective habits shaping how you earn, spend, price, receive, and make decisions around money.

You can get each pack individually, choose the three-pack Launch Bundle, or get the Founding Launch Package - which includes the upcoming Transitions and Unlocked packs, plus a one-hour session with me. (I'm really excited about that one - reach out with any questions).

Both launch packages also include a bonus mini-kit for counteracting AI brain fry - the kind of overload that comes from generating and evaluating endless outputs, switching between real work and prompt tweaking, and trying to make decisions when every answer creates three more drafts or options.

​Learn more about the packs and pre-launch options here →​

The Experiment: Before you try to fix it, name the kind of stuck you’re in

1. Stalled

You know there's something you need to do, but you keep not doing it.

The task might feel too big, unclear, risky, boring, or exposed. Your brain can't easily predict what starting will require, or what might happen if you get it wrong, so it keeps steering you toward easier, safer, more immediately rewarding things instead.

This is why you can answer ten emails, reorganize your whole task system, and still not open the thing you actually need to work on.

2. Scattered

You're moving things all day, but your attention keeps bouncing around.

This usually happens when your brain is trying to keep track of too many threads at once: tasks, messages, decisions, reminders, people, and things you don't want to forget. Working memory gets overloaded, everything starts to feel equally urgent, and choosing one thing can feel impossible.

3. Looping

Your brain keeps returning to the same thoughts.

It might be replaying a conversation, having trouble making a decision, trying to control an outcome, or trying to reason your way out of a fear.

That loop is usually your brain trying to solve, predict, or protect you from something. But without new information, a clearer boundary, or a next step, it just keeps re-running the same thoughts as fuel for the loop.

Try writing this the next time you're feeling stuck...

Set a timer for two minutes and write:

Don’t try to solve it yet. Just describe and write down the evidence as concretely as you can.

Maybe you’re:

• avoiding opening a specific thing
• bouncing between tasks and tabs
• trying to decide what matters first
• replaying a conversation or decision
• doing plenty of 'stuff', but not moving the thing you care about
• feeling a vague resistance you can’t quite explain

Then look at what you wrote and ask:

• Stalled: I can name what I need to do, but I’m not starting it.
• Scattered: I’m active on it, but my attention is everywhere at once.
• Looping: My brain keeps returning to or replaying the same thought, decision, or interaction.

Finally, try writing out one of these as a next step:

Why these writing prompts can help

When you’re stuck, your brain is often treating several different problems as one big, vague signal: something's wrong; I need to deal with it.

Using even a few words to label what's actually happening separates the problem out: Is the task unclear or risky? Are you trying to hold too many things at once? Are you replaying something your brain hasn’t been able to resolve?

The distinction matters because each state draws on your attention differently:

• Uncertainty can pull you toward avoidance
• Overload makes it harder to prioritize
• Looping keeps attention attached to the same material instead of available for work and focus in the present

Naming the state turns “I’m stuck” into something more specific - which gives you a better starting point for changing it.

Think of today as the map. Over the next few weeks, I’ll go deeper into each of these states: what's happening underneath them, and the specific writing protocols you can use to work with them in real time.

​
Cheers to a week with a bit less friction in it,

– Aine

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