Podcast Ep 432 - You know what to do, why aren't you doing it?

What If You Don’t Hate That Part of Your Photography Business—You Just Haven’t Found a Better Way to Do It Yet?

Have you ever sat down to work on your photography business, opened your laptop, and suddenly found yourself doing anything except the thing you actually needed to do?

You check your camera gear. Make coffee. Organize your desk. Open Lightroom. Close Lightroom. Maybe answer an email that could have waited until tomorrow. Before you know it, the day is almost over, and you’re left wondering, “What did I even accomplish today?”

Then comes the judgment. You should have been more productive. You should have finished the gallery. You should have followed up with that inquiry. You should be further along by now.

But what if distraction isn’t always a discipline problem? What if your brain is trying to move you away from something that feels uncomfortable—and the solution isn’t to force yourself to work harder, but to understand what makes the task difficult in the first place?

Your Brain Might Not Be Distracting You for the Reason You Think

In a recent coaching conversation, I worked with a photographer who was struggling to finish an event gallery. She had approximately 2,500 images to review, narrow down, check for sharpness, select the best photographs, and eventually upload the final gallery. She loved taking the photos, but the selection process felt exhausting and never-ending. Every time she sat down to work, she found herself looking for something else to do.

The coffee machine suddenly became interesting. The view outside needed attention. Cleaning the house seemed strangely urgent. Even a bird somewhere outside could become a compelling reason to leave the computer.

Sound familiar?

It’s easy to look at this behavior and conclude that you’re lazy, undisciplined, or simply not serious enough about your business. But my question shifted the conversation: What are you thinking and feeling in the exact moment you want to walk away?

The photographer recognized that the task felt boring, endless, and risky. She was worried she might accidentally leave out a great image or include one that shouldn’t be there. Once those thoughts were brought into the open, the distraction started to make sense. The brain was looking for relief from discomfort—not necessarily trying to sabotage her business.

And that distinction matters because you can’t create a useful solution for a problem you haven’t identified.

What Are You Really Trying to Avoid?

Discomfort can show up in almost every part of running a photography business. You might avoid writing an email because you don’t know what to say. You might postpone following up because you’re afraid the client will say no. You might avoid looking at your financial numbers because you’re worried about what they’ll reveal, or delay creating an offer because you’re afraid of choosing the wrong one.

Sometimes, the task itself isn’t particularly difficult. It simply carries an emotional weight that makes starting feel unpleasant.

Think about marketing your photography business. The phrase “market my business” sounds simple, but it can mean creating content, writing captions, researching clients, sending emails, following up, improving your website, and trying to make yourself visible online. When you place all of that into one enormous task, where exactly are you supposed to begin?

What if you’re not avoiding marketing? What if you’re avoiding the uncertainty of not knowing what to do next?

Photographers in online communities frequently describe a similar struggle. Some love taking photos but dread editing, while others feel overwhelmed by the pressure of managing photography, marketing, administration, and client work all at once. One recent discussion described the mental inertia of sitting down to edit, even when the photographer genuinely enjoys the finished result.

The goal isn’t to convince yourself that every task is enjoyable. Some tasks will remain boring. Some will always require effort. The more useful question is: How can I make this less painful?

That question moves you out of self-judgment and into strategy.

Stop Asking Yourself to Do the Impossible

One of the easiest ways to create avoidance is to give yourself a task with no clear beginning, middle, or end.

“Finish the gallery.”
“Work on marketing.”
“Fix my bookkeeping.”
“Create a month of content.”

These are not necessarily actions. They are large projects disguised as instructions, and they can make your brain feel overwhelmed before you even begin.

Instead of telling yourself to finish 2,500 images in one sitting, try creating a process with smaller stages. The first pass could focus on removing unusable images. After a break, the second pass could narrow the remaining photos by section or time of day. The final pass could focus on making the final selections. I suggested this type of approach to help turn one enormous task into several manageable steps.

You could also set a specific finish line: review 100 images, work for 20 minutes, complete one section, or write only the opening paragraph of an email. The point is not to make the entire project disappear. It’s to make the next step clear enough that you can begin.

What if the task feels overwhelming because you keep asking yourself to finish everything instead of simply starting somewhere?

A smaller task is not a sign that you lack ambition. It’s a way to work with the energy and attention you actually have.

Build a System for the Photographer You Are

There’s a version of productivity advice that assumes you wake up every morning full of energy, focus for fourteen uninterrupted hours, and complete everything on your to-do list without needing a break.

That person does not exist—not consistently, anyway.

As a photographer, you have to build systems around your real life, not an imaginary version of yourself who never gets tired, distracted, sick, busy, or emotionally overwhelmed. Your strategy needs to account for your energy, responsibilities, attention span, and the type of work you’re doing.

If editing feels boring, pair it with something enjoyable, such as music, a podcast, or a show you save specifically for that task. If you’re worried about making mistakes, decide what “good enough” means before you start. If you don’t know what to do, reduce the task until the next action becomes obvious.

You can also schedule breaks before you feel desperate to escape. A walk, coffee, or short change of environment can become part of the system rather than something you use to avoid the work entirely.

This isn’t cheating. It’s designing a workflow around the reality of being human.

Are you trying to become better at forcing yourself through difficult tasks, or are you learning how to make those tasks easier to complete?

There is a difference.

Replace “Should” With “Could”

There’s another layer that makes difficult work even harder: the language we use with ourselves.

“I should have finished this already.”
“I should be getting more clients.”
“I should be more productive.”
“I should have sent that email yesterday.”

The word should often sounds like a simple instruction, but it can quickly become an accusation. If you believe you should be doing something and you aren’t doing it, your brain may interpret that as evidence that something is wrong with you.

I suggest replacing should with could.

“I could finish the gallery today.”
“I could follow up with that inquiry.”
“I could review my numbers.”

That small change creates a sense of choice. You can choose to do the task, choose a different time, or get curious about why you don’t want to do it right now. You can also replace should with want: “I want to finish this gallery because I want to serve my client and move on to the next project.”

You may still dislike the work. You may still wish it were easier. But you’re no longer treating the task as punishment for not being good enough.

What would change if you stopped using your to-do list as a way to measure your worth?

You are allowed to want the result without enjoying every step required to achieve it.

Don’t Turn One Failed Attempt Into a Final Conclusion

Sometimes, you try a new workflow, and it doesn’t work. You plan your editing process, set a timer, create smaller sections, and still find yourself struggling.

That doesn’t automatically mean you failed. It means you collected information.

Maybe the time block was too long. Maybe you started with the wrong part of the project. Maybe the environment was distracting, or the task required more mental energy than you had that day. Instead of using the experience as proof that you’re incapable, you can adjust the system and try again.

The goal isn’t to find the universally perfect productivity system. It’s to find a system that works with your brain, energy, responsibilities, and business.

This is particularly important for photographers who constantly compare their processes to someone else’s. Another photographer may edit an entire wedding in one day, post every day, or manage a full client calendar with ease. That doesn’t mean their workflow will automatically work for you.

What if you stopped asking, “Why can’t I do this like everyone else?” and started asking, “What would make this work better for me?”

Your business does not need to be built around someone else’s capacity.

The Task May Not Be the Problem

Consider the parts of your business you repeatedly avoid.

Maybe you don’t hate sales. Maybe you hate reaching out without knowing what to say. Maybe you don’t hate content creation. Maybe you hate trying to create an entire month of content in one sitting. Maybe you don’t hate bookkeeping. Maybe you hate facing six months of numbers all at once.

And maybe you don’t hate editing. Maybe you hate looking at 3,000 images and telling yourself you cannot stop until every single one is finished.

The task may not be the problem. The way you’re asking yourself to do the task might be the problem.

That doesn’t mean every uncomfortable task can be solved with a playlist, a timer, or a better checklist. Some struggles may require support, delegation, professional guidance, or a deeper look at your workload and expectations. But curiosity gives you somewhere more useful to begin than self-criticism.

Start with one recurring point of friction. Not your entire business. Not every unfinished project. Just one task you keep avoiding.

Ask yourself:

• What specifically feels uncomfortable about this?
• Does it feel boring, confusing, endless, uncertain, or emotionally risky?
• What would make the task smaller?
• Where could I create a clear finish line?
• What support, template, reward, or change of environment might help?
• What can I experiment with this week?

You don’t have to solve everything today. You just need to stop treating the struggle as proof that you are the problem.

Build a Business You Can Trust Yourself to Run

The real benefit of a workable system is not that every task suddenly becomes enjoyable. It’s that you spend less energy negotiating with yourself, worrying about whether you’ll finish, and judging yourself for struggling.

Over time, a reliable process can help you trust yourself. You know how to approach the work. You understand how long different stages take. You know what to do when your energy is low, and you have a plan for adjusting when something doesn’t work.

That kind of trust is more sustainable than relying on motivation every day.

So the next time you find yourself reaching for your phone, reorganizing your desk, or suddenly deciding that your camera bag needs to be researched for the tenth time, pause before criticizing yourself.

Ask, “What feels uncomfortable about this task, and how can I make it less painful?”

Then get curious. Break it down. Change the language. Create a finish line. Ask for help. Try something different. Because the goal isn’t to become a photographer who loves every part of running a business.

The goal is to understand yourself well enough to build a business that works with you—not against you.