I’ve noticed a set of related issues that kept coming up in sessions with clients. So, I’m writing about them over the next few posts for others who struggle with the same topics. This one is my heartfelt rant to all of the caring people trying to improve the world who are burdened with the persistent, negative feeling of never doing enough.

Lily always waits until the last minute before the deadline and then feels terrible that she produced a crappy piece of work. She feels guilty when she’s procrastinating, but repeatedly fails to start early enough to do a good job.

Paul thinks he should produce a blog post each week, but settles for one a month. Yet, he often misses his deadline and feels guilty that he can’t manage even this small goal. He dreads starting the next post.

Norann sees her coworker easily completing tasks that Norann struggles with, and feels anxious that she’s not good enough. She has to force herself to work but still never feels like her projects are good enough.

These people all have one thing in common - they feel guilty that they aren’t doing enough. But doing work doesn’t make them feel better. Doing work just makes them think about the fact they are failing to meet their goals.

The default way to escape that cycle is to not think about work.