---
user-invocable: true
name: unstick
description: Get unstuck when you're blocked, overwhelmed, or spinning
tokens: ~400
cloud-ok: true
---

# Unstick
#claudeai

## When to Use
You're stuck. Could be decision paralysis, overwhelm, procrastination, or just not knowing what to do next.

## First: What Kind of Stuck?

Tell me what's going on, or pick your flavor:

| Type | Feels Like |
|------|------------|
| **Overwhelm** | Too many things, can't start any |
| **Decision paralysis** | Can't choose between options |
| **Procrastination** | Know what to do, not doing it |
| **Confusion** | Don't know what the right move is |
| **Fear** | Know the move, scared to make it |
| **Perfectionism** | Can't ship because it's not good enough |

## Unsticking by Type

### Overwhelm
1. List everything in your head (brain dump)
2. Cross off anything that doesn't matter this week
3. Pick the ONE thing that would reduce stress most
4. Do that one thing for 25 minutes
5. Reassess

### Decision Paralysis
1. What are your actual options? (usually only 2-3)
2. What's the worst case for each?
3. Which worst case can you live with?
4. Is this reversible? If yes, just pick one and go.
5. Set a decision deadline: "I will decide by [time]"

### Procrastination
1. What's the smallest possible next action?
2. Can you do just 5 minutes of it?
3. What's actually blocking you? (usually fear or uncertainty)
4. What would you tell a friend in this situation?

### Confusion
1. What specifically don't you know?
2. Who could you ask? (5 min call > 5 hours guessing)
3. What would you do if you HAD to decide today?
4. Can you run a small experiment instead of deciding?

### Fear
1. What specifically are you afraid of?
2. What's the actual probability of that happening?
3. If it happened, would you survive it?
4. What's the cost of NOT acting?

### Perfectionism
1. What's "good enough" for this? (not perfect, good enough)
2. Can you ship a worse version now and improve later?
3. Who actually cares about the thing you're polishing?
4. Done > perfect. Ship it.

## The Nuclear Option

If nothing else works:

1. Stand up
2. Go outside for 10 minutes
3. Come back and write down: "The next action is ___"
4. Do that action for 25 minutes
5. Repeat

## One-Liner Mantras
- "What would this look like if it were easy?"
- "Done is better than perfect"
- "If I had to decide in 5 minutes, what would I choose?"
- "What's the smallest possible next step?"