It is said that a writer’s worst enemy is the blank page… But is the blank page really the enemy?

I would naturally want to agree with that notion. At least, it provides me something to blame for my inability to have these blog posts ready until the publish date. I would often spend the entire week (or weeks, depending on the idea) ruminating over the idea but not getting anything tangible on paper (screen actually). I usually start writing on Sunday morning to be published that same day.

It’s always nice to have someone or something else apart from yourself to blame when we have these shortcomings. The blank page just happens to be a convenient victim for writers. However, I have realized that the “resistance” I feel towards getting started on the blogposts as early as I’d love to, is not isolated to writing alone. It’s a common experience across different commitments that demand my attention. For whatever reason, I’d rather busy myself with a thousand other non-relevant tasks than actually work on the things that move the needle.

Recently, I’ve been trying to make headway on some highly significant tasks. In the process, I have had quite some encounters with similar “resistance” as the one that plagues writers – maybe even stronger. And regardless of what the task is, the pattern is the same. I have an idea that demands execution or an important task to fulfill, and then I spend a lot of time thinking about taking action on it. I somehow can’t get through the resistance to take action, so I distract myself from the task and procrastinate it. And the cycle continues.

So I figured the problem might just be much more than an innocent blank page. I also noticed that the more significant the task or project is, the greater the resistance to hitting the ground running. In my curiosity, I decided to find out if this problem was unique to me. As you might have guessed, it isn’t. In fact, you might even find it relatable in your own dealings. But what sponsors this phenomenon in the first place?

The Brain vs New Ideas

These days, there’s pretty much a scientific explanation to everything – well, almost everything. And although some scientific arguments don’t seem to hold water (that’s a discussion for another day), I sometimes find it helpful to turn to them for some logical insight.

Scientifically, the concept of “mental resistance” can be linked to some neurological communications between certain parts of our brain.
The basal ganglia stores records of habitual actions, including those that make us feel good when we are stressed. Depending on what the situation is, it deploys these presets to restore us to our comfort zone.

Essentially, when we’re faced with a new idea or concept, the prefrontal cortex is activated. This part of the brain processes ideas, perceptions, and logistics, and it is energy-intensive. When some change is required, it exerts extra effort in dealing with such information. This might lead to physical and mental discomfort.

This discomfort in turn triggers the amygdala, the region of the brain in charge of the “flight or fight” response to danger or stress. This signal manifests itself as fear, anxiety and it can lead to confusion or even cause us to panic.

In that instance, based on our stored habits, the basal ganglia provides us options to escape this discomfort. That’s when we revert to watching random YouTube videos or mindlessly scrolling through our phones. In such cases, we subconsciously choose the “flight” response. The next question now is how do we “fight” instead?

Acknowledge the Battle

You cannot fight a battle you’re not aware of. The first step to getting past this mental obstacle to optimum productivity, and probably the most important, is to understand why the situation is the way it is. Having the correct orientation puts us in a better position to attack the problem.

You can even take it a step further. Beyond just acknowledging the resistance you feel, you can take it as a cue that the task at hand is significant enough to stir such feelings of fear and confusion. In Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, he writes, “Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it… If it meant nothing to us, there’s be no resistance.”

Get it Out of Your Head

When we have adequately acknowledged our internal battle against change or discomfort, one way of combating it is by changing the battlefield. Having stated that the brain is averse to change or discomfort, it seeks to fight any such idea by sending those signals of fear, anxiety, or confusion that we mentioned earlier.

It’s difficult to win that battle just by thinking about it. The more we try to process the thought or idea, the more we exert more pressure on the prefrontal cortex, which triggers the amygdala, and the resultant fear or confusion increases.

Getting those ideas out of your head and onto a sheet of paper (or any other means of documentation) allows for two things. One, it helps to free your brain of the stress and discomfort that triggers fear or confusion; two, you’re able to process the concept with more clarity.

There’s something about putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) that provides for clarity. With a visual representation, you’re able to link different parts of the idea to each other more easily and build out the concept even better.

Still under getting it out of your head, you might also want to find someone you trust to serve as a good sounding board for your idea. This extra opinion can help you consider the idea from another perspective that you probably wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.