A patient recently asked me how to deal with the innere Schweinehund.
If you’re not from Austria or Germany, that phrase probably sounds ridiculous. Literally translated, it means “inner pig dog.” In practice, it’s that little voice telling you not to train, not to start your project, not to write the essay, not to clean the apartment… maybe tomorrow.
I’ve written about this before, but this conversation made me realize something.
We often treat procrastination as one problem. It isn’t.
Right now I’m dealing with two completely different situations. On the surface they look identical—I keep postponing the task—but underneath, the reason couldn’t be more different.
In one case, the task is boring.
In the other, it’s overwhelming
The solution isn’t the same. But it feels the same.
Take my documentation as a physiotherapist.
I genuinely dislike writing it. Not because it’s difficult, but because my brain has already moved on. The treatment happened, the patient left, and mentally I’ve already put a checkmark behind it. Revisiting it feels like reopening a finished chapter.
Unfortunately, documentation isn’t optional. Besides helping me keep track of a patient’s progress, it’s also part of my professional responsibility.
When I notice myself avoiding it, I use a simple question I learned from David Allen’s Getting Things Done:
What’s the next step?
Not “Finish the documentation.”
Just:
- Open the browser.
- Open the documentation software.
- Select today’s patient.
That’s it.
Once I start moving, the rest usually follows on its own.
The second question I ask comes from Ali Abdaal:
What would this look like if it were fun?
When I wrote my bachelor’s thesis, that meant listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack to make the whole thing feel a little more epic.
For documentation, the answer was different.
I realized I was still using the documentation format I had learned at university three years ago. It never really matched the way I think. So I redesigned it. I created a structure that lets me jot down notes more naturally during the session and makes writing everything up afterward much easier while capturing the important stuff.
The task didn’t become exciting.
It simply created less friction.
Now compare that with something completely different.
About three and a half weeks ago I discovered a new exercise software that could significantly improve how I create exercise programs for my patients.
And for three and a half weeks…
…I did absolutely nothing.
Not because it was boring.
Because it felt enormous.
My brain already imagined the perfect system, all the possibilities, everything this tool could eventually become.
Ironically, that’s exactly what stopped me from opening it.
So again, I asked myself:
What’s the next step?
- Find the email.
- Click the link.
- Create an account.
- Click around.
Nothing more.
But this time there was a second ingredient.
I gave myself permission to fail.
I wasn’t trying to build the perfect system anymore.
I was trying to build Version 1.
If it turned out to be terrible, great. I’d know more than I did yesterday.
Nobody was watching.
Nobody expected perfection.
I was simply gathering information for Version 2.
And that’s when I finally got started.
The interesting part is that both situations looked identical from the outside.
In both cases, I procrastinated.
But the intervention was different because the underlying problem was different.
One task needed less friction.
The other needed less pressure.
Maybe that’s the real lesson. And if I think about it, that’s exactly what Ali Abdaal wrote in his book Feel-Good Productivity.
When you catch yourself saying, “I just don’t feel motivated,” don’t immediately ask how to become more disciplined.
Ask a different question first.
Why am I avoiding this task?
Because once you understand the real obstacle, finding the right solution becomes much easier.
🧪 Let’s Experiment
Procrastination is a symptom, not a diagnosis.
The next time you catch yourself avoiding a task, resist the urge to tell yourself you simply need more discipline.
Instead, get curious for a moment.
🎯 Try This:
First, identify what’s actually getting in the way.
- Is the task boring?
- Does it feel overwhelming?
- Or are you simply struggling to get started?
Then ask yourself:
“What’s the next step?”
Finally, match the strategy to the problem.
- If it’s boring: What would this look like if it were fun?
- If you’re overwhelmed: I’m allowed to fail. Version 1 is enough.
- If you can’t get started: I’ll do this for five minutes. After that, I’m allowed to stop.
🧠 Final Thought:
Sometimes the best intervention isn’t more willpower. It’s a better diagnosis.