This week's JournalingFix Newsletter:

• Why a 10‑minute task can sit on your list for a week (or more)
• The brain science behind “I’ll do it later”
• A 4‑step reset to finally get it done
• JournalingFix workshops and events

Hi, it’s Áine at JournalingFix.

You know the task. It’s been on your list for three days. Maybe longer. It would take ten minutes. Maybe twenty.

And yet every time you look at it, something in you just... doesn’t.

What’s actually happening

Your brain doesn’t just evaluate tasks by how long they’ll take. It evaluates them by how they feel to start.

Research on task aversion shows that people often delay tasks less because of the actual effort involved and more because of the mild emotional charge attached to starting them.

Low‑level dread, an unclear first step, a vague sense of annoyance. That emotional friction, however small, is enough for your brain to route you toward something easier in the moment. And to make it worse, every time you see the task and don’t do it, your brain spends attention on it without resolving it.

Unfinished items tend to keep resurfacing. They take up mental space, add to our cognitive load, and drain energy - the task feels heavier the longer it sits.

A quick brain snapshot

Your brain is doing two things at once here. First, it’s running a fast emotional prediction: “How uncomfortable will it feel to start this?” If the answer is even mildly negative, your system leans toward protecting your mood now, even if it costs you later.

Second, it keeps the unfinished task active in the background as a kind of open loop - a prediction system staying on alert so you don’t “drop” something that matters. That’s helpful in theory, but in practice it means the task keeps pinging your attention, burning mental energy without moving anything forward.

Here's the Fix

The goal isn’t to feel like doing the task, but to make it easier to start than to keep avoiding.

Here’s a reset to try:

Small Task Avoidance Reset

Step 1 — Write: The task I keep pushing is...​
Name it specifically.

Step 2 — Write: What feels annoying, unclear, or uncomfortable about starting it...​
Friction comes in different forms. “I don’t know what to say.” “It feels tedious.” “I need to figure something out first.” Naming it makes it smaller.

Step 3 — Write: The smallest version of starting this is... ​
Exs: Open the tab, write the first sentence, pull up the form. You’re just committing to contact, not completion.

Step 4 — Write: My next move right now is...​
Make it one specific physical action, because the more concrete, the more likely you’ll actually do it.

Founder's Message + Bringing JournalingFix to your team or event

Thanks to everyone who's provided testing and feedback, spaces to speak, and other guidance over the past four months. I'm excited about the traction JournalingFix is getting and thankful for all the support. I'm diving into product development in the coming months and will share updates on that next week.

A big focus for me right now is reaching more people through workshops and events, and I'd love your help.

I'm actively looking for companies, teams, conferences, and communities who would be served by this work. If you're up for making an introduction or exploring what a session might look like, I'd genuinely appreciate it.

Thanks for being here,
-- Áine