3 Not-So-Simple Steps to Regain Momentum After Putting Your Work on Hold
It’s either hitting the gym,
Eating clean, getting in five plants a day,
Keeping a meditation streak,
Journaling daily,
Or staying consistent with your Substack writing.
You’re on a roll—until something happens.
And suddenly, you put it on hold.
Maybe it was inevitable, necessary perhaps?
Maybe it was just an excuse for a single skipped day.
Then another.
And another.
Until a week has passed.
And then another week passes.
At first, you avoid thinking about it.
Then comes the overwhelm—realizing you’ve stalled.
Then anxiety, sometimes even panic.
Yet, you still can’t bring yourself back.
There’s an invisible wall in front of you,
Too big to climb, too heavy to push through.
Just start.
That’s all it takes, right?
Starting isn’t unfamiliar.
You’ve done it before—that’s why you’re even here.
So why does it feel so much harder now?
You have the experience, the wisdom.
Starting should be simple.
Yet, it feels like pulling yourself out of quicksand.
Then it sets in
It’s not just starting.
It’s starting again.
Starting is scary because of the unknown.
But starting again comes with the weight of expectation.
The pressure to perform better.
The belief that it should be easier this time—yet it’s not.
The fear of not measuring up to your past self.
The overwhelm of everything you’ve missed,
The weight of unfinished tasks and backlogs stacking up.
And the self-blame whispering—
"If only I hadn’t stopped."
"If only I’d endured a little bit more."
"If only I’d tried to push a little bit more."
We hear a lot about how scary it is to start, but not much about starting again
In this issue, I’ll share how I push through—because lately, I’ve been struggling with it myself.
If you’ve been here a while, you know I started writing last September and hit 200 subs in just three months. But this January? I struggled to stay even 20% consistent with my writing and creativity.
Why? A big career milestone—my microbiology certification.
Since September, I’d been preparing for it, and in January, I decided to give it my full focus.
For me, this was the final push—the certification was in the third week of January.
That meant pressing pause on Substack. Well, not entirely—I still tried to show up when I could—but it was a pause nonetheless, and it had a bigger impact than I expected.
For what it’s worth, I did anticipate the consequences before making that decision, so it wasn’t exactly surprising. I knew my workload would pile up, especially on the engagement side.
But what I didn’t think much about?
The consequence of losing momentum.
3 Not-So-Simple Steps to Regain Momentum
First, don’t get caught in the blame game
Forgive yourself and Accept things as they are.
Maybe your break was out of necessity, a misjudgment, or just pure whim. Maybe you just got lazy. Either way, it's fine—this happens to more people than you might think.
The reason doesn’t matter.
Why? Because it already happened. There’s no turning back—only dealing with it.
Eliminate self-blame. Most of the time, once you do this, you can finally confront everything else.
Self-blame sounds like:
"I shouldn’t have taken that break. I think I could’ve handled juggling both, and everything would’ve been fine."
or
"I should’ve set myself up for a better exit so that I could’ve returned smoothly."
But if you had taken the other route, maybe you’d still be filled with regret, thinking:
"I should’ve just focused on one thing instead of forcing both."
or
"I should've taken a rest; I was too tired."
It’s important to understand that the actions you took were the most likely ones your current self would have taken, and that’s nobody’s fault.
Instead of getting stuck on what could have been done better, it’s more productive to forgive yourself and focus on how to improve and move forward. By doing this, the next time you face a similar situation, you might be better equipped to make the 'better course of action' you were aiming for
Don't get caught in the 'blame game'—it's an endless cycle that keeps you from seeing what's beyond and moving forward.
Easier said than done, I know. And for some people, forgiving themselves is especially hard.
But even just recognizing that this toxic self-blame is happening can help loosen its grip.
Next, break free from the paralysis of fear and expectations.
When I tried to recognize what’s really keeping me from starting again—aside from pointless self-blame.
Most of the time, I observe that it’s fear.
The fear of not doing as well as before.
The fear of being judged.
The fear of not being good enough.
For writing, especially for the types of topics I cover in NBD, it’s the fear that my readers will notice I’m out of practice, that I won’t meet my own standards, that I won’t be able to walk the talk.
And as someone who writes about consistency and time management, this fear feels especially heavy.
Again, Awareness helps, like A LOT.
The moment I recognize that fear is what’s holding me back, I can actively work through it.
Whatever the consequences, I can handle them.
Fear shrinks when you truly believe that, no matter the outcome—even if your worst-case scenario happens—you have the capacity to handle it.
It’s simple and very straight forward, almost too simple, but that’s what makes it powerful.
Of course, just saying it isn’t enough.
It’s one thing to tell yourself you can handle anything, and another to actually trust in that belief.
It takes practice—repeated exposure to uncertainty, setbacks, and failures until your confidence in yourself outweighs your fear.
Lastly, let go.
After I let go of what’s holding me back, I try to only look forward.
Focus
Give my utmost focus for what’s ahead.
To do this, I try my best to clear my head, write down the things I need to do (physically—because for me, handwriting is more calming than a digital to-do list), and focus only on what needs to be done—basically, just what’s written on my list.
If it’s not on the list, it’s none of my concern, at least for the moment.
This helps me get more things done. Then, once they’re done, I make adjustments if needed. Tackle those other things that needs attention.
Because overthinking—constantly analyzing how to make things perfect, trying to make up for lost time, or worrying about whether something could have been done better—just stalls my progress.
Just do what needs to be done first, then worry about making it better later.
Over-optimizing leads to overcompensation, which is counterproductive.
Again, it takes practice. It’s easier said than done. But the more you do it, the better you become at all of this.
So, if you’re struggling at the start of your journey, don’t be surprised. Know that it’s normal—and it gets easier.
As always, thank you for reading!!
Have a great day ahead!
- Frey
Thank you! I needed to read this. I am engaging in my favorite activity: procrastination.