One trick I’ve frequently played on myself is “since THIS isn’t good enough yet, there’s no point in doing THAT.”

I allow a weak link to become a dependency with the power to invalidate the whole chain.

“Since the design for my blog isn’t quite right yet, there’s no point in posting anything.”

“Since I’m not in the shape I want to be in, there’s no point in dressing nice.”

“Since I don’t have a perfect system for organizing my stuff, there’s no point in putting anything away.”

I’m writing about this today because I need to remind myself that these are all false dependencies. They’re tied to self doubt, to a feeling that I’m not good enough, that I don’t have what I need to do X or Y.

I forget that I’m ultimately responsible for setting any dependency.

I have a habit of adding as many false dependencies as possible, aiming for this perfect set of conditions before I can start.

Constraints in creative work are essential and important. Dependencies are not.

A Constraint helps us finish something. A Dependency prevents us from starting something.

A (simple) Constraint: “I have one hour to post 250-500 words.” A Dependency: “Once this (task of indeterminate length) is ready, I can start.”

Dependency is Constraint’s evil twin.