Let's talk about messy entrepreneurship, late-night email drafts, and the weird little brain gymnastics required to keep going when your context keeps breaking.

****

✨ How this episode is meta✨ 

 I recorded and edited in one sitting. I'd built myself a blanket fort to sit in because I read this would dampen outside noise. It did way too good a job and some of my consonants are just... missing. Wooed away by the lure of blankets and the magic of sitting in a fort in the living room. 

But I did NOT rerecord. I listened to it. You guys I'm talking way too fast. And the audio is choppy. but GUESS WHAT I ONLY TOOK A SMALL WINDOW TO DO IT and f✨k perfectionism. I am determined to walk my talk y'all. Enjoy the episode.

****

Bonuses: research that will help you feel better about interruptions, legendary writers who squeezed magic out of the margins, and how I trained my focus like a defiant puppy.

If your brain feels allergic to transitions, if your to-do list keeps laughing at you, if you’ve been waiting for perfect conditions, you need this. I'm with you.

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 In Case You Need to Show This to a Doubter 

Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress.  Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems  , 107–110.  https://doi.org/10.1145/1357054.1357072 

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🎯  The Focus Routine  If 15 minutes is all you’ve got, make it count. Download my free Focus Routine—your ADHD-friendly starter ritual that helps you go from chaos to clarity faster than your coffee kicks in. 👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌊  Wavelength  Wish you had someone to sit beside you while you tackle that next big (or tiny) thing? Wavelength is my virtual coworking community designed for brilliant, interrupted brains like yours. Super awesome people. Like you! And me! Come on in. 👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

This episode explains why your creativity stalls—and how to fix it.

This episode unpacks the hidden cost of modern decision-making—and why your brain might be too drained to do the work you actually want to do.

Mia explores the science of decision fatigue, the rituals of iconic creatives, and how a simple 15-minute buffer can protect your creative energy. You’ll learn why sameness is a secret weapon, how your yoga pants might be your genius uniform, and how to build a personal decompression chamber for your mind.

If you’re a solopreneur, writer, or thinker who feels burned out before you even begin, this episode gives you back your spark.

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The Focus Routine

Still trying to create after a dozen morning decisions?

Steal my beautifully uncomplicated buffer ritual. It's designed for brains like yours (and mine).

It’s free, ADHD-friendly, and linked in the show notes.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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Wavelength

Wavelength is our cozy, smart coworking space for solopreneurs and creatives with real lives and real brains.

If you’re tired of trying to focus alone, come work beside us—same time, same rhythm, less resistance.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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Studies Proving You're Not Just Being Dramatic

• Levitin, D. J. (2014). The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. Dutton.
• → Shows that decision-making consumes more neural energy than complex creative work.
• Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin Press.
• → Reveals willpower and decision-making draw from the same mental resource; includes judicial decision fatigue study.

Turtlenecks, Rituals, and Creative Workarounds

• Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster.
• → Details Jobs' daily uniform as a decision-reduction strategy.
• Currey, M. (2013). Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. Knopf.
• → Highlights creative professionals using repeatable routines to protect focus.

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Episode Keywords: decision fatigue, creative burnout, focus routine, ADHD productivity, solopreneur mindset, creative rituals, buffer time, reduce overwhelm, transition ritual, executive function, procrastination, brain reset, mental clarity, neurodivergent tools, how to start working, how to stop procrastinating, body doubling, overcoming resistance, Wavelength coworking, Mia Torr, Transition Space, creative resistance, ADHD routine

 In this episode, Mia shares reflections from a deeply human chapter that reshaped how she sees creative work, emotional intensity, and the role of ritual in recovery. Alongside iconic creators and surprising research on how we think and make in the midst of chaos, this episode traces a quiet, brave path back to creative momentum.

 So many of us wait for perfect conditions to start. The research, and our lived experiences, suggests that meaningful work actually begins in the middle of the mess. Whether you’re in the fog or just feeling disconnected from your creative spark, this is your permission to plant something anyway.

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🪜 The Focus Routine

If your to-do list feels like a wall, this is the ladder.

Download my free, super awesome ADHD-friendly Focus Routine and give your brain a starting ritual that works.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌊 Wavelength

Do you ever get tired of all… this? (gesturing vaguely at everything)

Find a protected, positive space to do your best work with heart-centered people.

Join Wavelength, my virtual coworking community designed for neurodivergent solopreneurs and quietly brilliant creatives.

✨ Work gently, together.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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💬 and if this feels bigger to you than just a creativity block…

If something stirred while listening—if you felt a wave of emotion or recognized yourself in the storm—you are not alone.

Sometimes what looks like procrastination or creative block is actually something deeper asking for care.

If there’s a quiet voice inside you wondering if it’s time to reach out… please listen to it. That voice is wise. You are allowed to want support. You are worthy of feeling held.

Below are some trusted resources. You don’t have to explore them all right now. Just know they’re here. And if your next step is simply pausing and breathing, that counts too.

You’ve already begun. I’ve got you.

🛟 Mental Health & Crisis Support

International & Text-Based:

• Mental Health Resources Worldwide – CheckPoint
• Find A Helpline – Mental health support lines globally
• Crisis Text Line (US, UK, Canada, Ireland) — Text HOME to 741741 for free, 24/7 support

Canada:

• Wellness Together Canada — Immediate mental health support and counselling
• Talk Suicide Canada — 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645, 24/7

US:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988, 24/7
• NAMI HelpLine — 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

Therapy & Peer Support:

• Open Path Collective — Affordable therapy directory
• Warm Line Directory (peer support)

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📚 Omg though. I want to research everything.

I got you.

🎨 Van Gogh’s Asylum Period

Van Gogh Museum – “Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy” The Starry Night was painted in June 1889 while van Gogh was at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum.

✨ Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity Without Suffering

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (2015). Riverhead Books. ISBN: 978-1594634710 Quoted from Chapter 2: “Enchantment.”

🎤 Watch her iconic TED Talk: Your Elusive Creative Genius

🧠 Emotional Creativity Research

Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005). “Affect and Creativity at Work.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3), 367–403.

This is the study that found a 40% increase in creativity on emotionally intense days.

🧬 How Emotion Shapes the Brain

Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The Emotional Life of Your Brain. Hudson Street Press. ISBN: 978-1594630897

Breaks down how your amygdala communicates with innovation centers in the brain. TLDR: Feeling things deeply may actually boost your creative edge.

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Episode Keywords: emotional creativity, creativity and mental health, creating during emotional overwhelm, procrastination support, how to stop procrastinating, how to get started when you're overwhelmed, writing through grief, art as healing, creative recovery, emotional intensity and productivity, focus during emotional chaos, how to create when life is hard, expressive writing, therapeutic creativity, the psychology of creativity, working through emotional fog, healing through creative practice, starting small when things feel big, inspiration on hard days, creativity in the storm, creative momentum, resilience and creative work, solopreneurs, coworking, focus routine

The Stoics have a strategy for that, and it might work better than motivation ever did.

This week, Mia takes you inside a modern productivity spiral (yes, the sock drawer makes an appearance) and shows how one ancient Roman emperor’s journal became the unlikely catalyst for getting unstuck.

You’ll hear what happened when she stumbled on a Marcus Aurelius quote mid-doomscroll, what the Stoics actually taught about resistance, and why perfectionism dies faster when you just tie your shoes and begin.

Mia shares how her early running habit taught her to override the inner voice that said, “I’m not ready,” and how even a pandemic-rattled philosopher-warrior-emperor managed to keep showing up—one sentence at a time.

If you’re a solopreneur, a perfectionist, or a procrastination-prone creative with ADHD and 47 open browser tabs, this episode is for you. You'll learn:

• Why ancient Stoic strategies still slap in 2025
• How transitional rituals override the emotional static of executive dysfunction
• What to do when you don’t feel ready (and how to get your momentum back anyway)
• Why motivation follows action—not the other way around
• What Marcus Aurelius and your sock drawer have in common

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🔗 🚀 Your Launch Sequence for the Easily Distracted

Have you rearranged your desk 12 times but haven't typed a word? Want a ritual that actually gets you moving? Download my ADHD-friendly, neurodivergent-approved Focus Routine and learn how to turn "just getting started" into your new superpower. It’s ten minutes, zero pressure, and scientifically delicious.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌀 Wavelength: Virtual Coworking for the Neurospicy

Join a crew of delightfully distracted creatives who understand that sometimes, body doubling is the secret sauce. Wavelength is my virtual coworking space for solopreneurs and neurospicy creatives who thrive with structure, body doubling, and vibes. Weekly focus sessions. Ridiculously low-stakes accountability. High-five-worthy momentum.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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Research, References, and Rabbit Holes

• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5.1, translated by Gregory Hays (2002)
• Gilliam, J. F. (1961). “The Plague under Marcus Aurelius.” The American Journal of Philology
• Harper, K. (2017). The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire.
• Robertson, D. (2019). How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.
• Irvine, W. B. (2009). A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.

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Episode keywords: Stoic productivity, ADHD motivation, executive dysfunction help, transitional rituals, procrastination strategies, start before you’re ready, solopreneur mindset, how to get unstuck, Marcus Aurelius quotes, creative resistance, perfectionism and productivity, emotional regulation and focus, productivity hacks for creatives, ADHD-friendly workflow, ancient wisdom modern focus, motivation without pressure, resistance and routine, focus rituals, Stoicism and modern life, momentum mindset, self-discipline, how to stop procrastinating, getting started

In this first episode of Transition Space, we take a deeply honest, weirdly funny look at why getting started is so hard—and why that doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you. If you've ever felt behind on something that still really matters to you, this is your reminder that procrastination and brilliance can absolutely coexist.

We visit the chaos brains of history’s great procrastinators (hi, Leonardo), tell the story of a law project I never submitted (RIP), and dig into the neuroscience of what’s actually happening when you freeze before starting.

You’ll hear about ADHD, perfectionism, emotion regulation, and the strange things we Google instead of writing. More importantly, you’ll hear a gentle invitation to start in the way your brain can actually handle.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll finally make peace with your half-done draft.

------------------

🌟 Ready to stop doomscrolling and actually start?

Download my free Focus Routine — a cozy, ADHD-friendly ritual that gives your brain a gentle nudge into motion.

✨ Like a warm-up for your to-do list.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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👯 Need a body double to wrestle your resistance?

Come cowork with us inside Wavelength — the virtual community where solopreneurs log in, get focused, and actually finish the thing.

Yes, even that thing.

✨ Structure. Support. Snacks encouraged.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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📚 Science, but make it emotionally validating

• Pychyl, T. A., & Sirois, F. M. (2016). Procrastination, emotion regulation, and well-being. In Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (Eds.), Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being. Academic Press.

• Sirois, F. M. (2014). Procrastination and stress: Exploring the role of self-compassion. Self and Identity, 13(2), 128–145.

• Blunt, A. K., & Pychyl, T. A. (2000). Task aversiveness and procrastination: A multi-dimensional approach to task aversiveness across stages of personal projects. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(1), 153–167.

• Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005). Affect and creativity at work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3), 367–403.

Episode Keywords:

ADHD, executive function, creative resistance, solopreneur productivity, perfectionism, procrastination, body doubling, focus routine, neurodivergent strategies, getting started, meaningful work, small wins, progress principle, transition rituals, motivational podcast, origin story, how to stop procrastinating, how to get started, solopreneur, work from home, virtual coworking, ADHD inertia, ADHD paralysis, pathological demand avoidance, PDA, AuDHD, focus for neurodivergent brains, transition rituals, task paralysis

Yeah, me too. In this episode of Transition Space, we’re talking about the taste gap—that maddening space between what you want your creative work to be and what it currently is.

Mia shares why this gap is not a problem—it’s actually proof you have excellent creative instincts. You’ll hear what NPR’s Ira Glass says about pushing through this stage, why your frustration might be the most hopeful thing about you, and how to keep showing up even when your inner critic is roasting your entire project.

Also: Sabine's opinions about growth. My goodness.

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🪜 The Focus Routine

Your taste is elite. Your skills are getting there.

But first? You need to start. Download my free ADHD-friendly Focus Routine—a cozy, low-pressure transition ritual to help you move from "ugh" to "okay fine, I’m doing it."

Perfect for those moments when your brain says, “I want to make something great,” and your hands say, “What if we just scroll instead?”

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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👯‍♀️ Wavelength

Your work deserves to exist—even if it’s not perfect.

Wavelength is a cozy virtual coworking space for solopreneurs and creatives who are currently somewhere between genius and gremlin.

We use body doubling, gentle structure, and mutual “you’ve got this” energy to help you get unstuck and actually finish the thing.

Come make messy magic with us.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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📚 Research? In This Economy?

Click responsibly. Your taste is not responsible for your four open tabs right now. Probably.

🎧 The Taste Gap Origin Story

Glass, I. (2009). Ira Glass on Storytelling. This American Life.

Yes, that quote. About the gap between your good taste and your “eh” execution. Legend status.

🧠 Growth Mindset 101

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House. ISBN: 978-0345472328

She’s the reason your elementary school told you failure builds character. (And they weren’t wrong.)

🚗 Fear Rides Shotgun

Gilbert, E. (2015). Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. Riverhead Books. ISBN: 978-1594634727

The book with the metaphor where fear is allowed in the car but doesn’t get to touch the radio. Iconic.

🏋️‍♀️ How Skills Actually Get Gooder

Ericsson, K. A. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

ISBN: 978-0544456235

This is where we learn that talent is fine but deliberate practice is where the glow-up happens.

🌀 Why Creativity Feels Like Chaos (but Actually Isn’t)

Kaufman, S. B. & Gregoire, C. (2015). Wired to Create. TarcherPerigee. ISBN: 978-0399174100

Spoiler: You’re not a mess. You’re a creative work-in-progress with excellent wiring.

🎨 Resources for Creators Who Are in the Gap and Doing It Anyway

Online Creative Communities

• DeviantArt – for your digital daydreams

• Wattpad – for your moody YA fanfic

• SoundCloud – for your mixtape era

• Behance – for pixel perfectionists

Creative Practice Ideas

• The 100 Day Project – pick a thing, do it 100 times

• NaNoWriMo – write a novel in November, or just pretend to

• Wavelength - cowork with your fellow weirdos so it actually happens

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Episode Keywords: how to stop procrastinating, taste gap, Ira Glass taste gap, creative confidence, solopreneur mindset, ADHD and creativity, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, how to finish creative projects, start before you’re ready, creative resistance, creative momentum, executive function tips, body doubling, coworking, focus routine, content creation struggle, growth mindset, inner critic, neurodivergent creative, productivity for creatives, ADHD productivity tools

This episode gives you the alter ego to do exactly that.

In this episode, Mia explores how a playful alter ego might be the productivity wingperson you didn’t know you needed. With stories from David Bowie to home office heroes, you’ll hear how top performers use secret identities, physical anchors, and deliberate self-talk to unlock their best selves—and how you can too. This isn’t about faking it. It’s about tapping into the most powerful version of you… one superhero pose at a time.

Mia shares her own journey from internal resistance to identity-based momentum, drawing on research from psychology and neuroscience to show why shifting your stance (literally and figuratively) can shift your state of mind. Whether you’re procrastinating on a project or psyching yourself up to speak out loud in a meeting, this episode offers playful, science-backed ways to show up as the version of you who gets it DONE.

This episode is your permission slip to stop waiting and start summoning the version of you that already knows how to begin.

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🔮 Download Your Focus Ritual

If your to-do list feels like a bossy older sibling, it's time to eat the last cookie and blame it on them.

✨ Download The Focus Routine (it's free! woohoo) and get a body-doubling ritual that actually works for your rebel brain.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌊 Wavelength: Body Doubling With People Who Get It

You don’t have to conquer your inbox in isolation.

✨ Wavelength is our coworking community for solopreneurs, creatives, and visionaries building momentum their own way.

Come for the body doubling, stay for the vibe shift.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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🕵️‍♀️ Evidence That Your Alter Ego Might Actually Work

If you're about to start naming your inner productivity icon, you’re in excellent company. If you devour research citations: also for you. Here’s where the science, storytelling, and pop culture receipts come in:

🎭 Primary Source — The One That Started It All

Herman, Todd. (2019). The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life

Harper Business. ISBN: 978-0062838636

→ This book is basically superhero school for grown-ups. Read it, name your alter ego, thank me later.

🧠 Talking to Yourself = Science, Not Madness

Kross, Ethan, et al. (2014). “Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(2), 304–324.

→ TL;DR: Saying “You’ve got this, [Your Name]” can make you calmer, clearer, and better under pressure. Coach mode = activated.

🫁 Move Your Body, Shift Your Brain

Tang, Yi-Yuan & Posner, Michael I. (2014). “Training brain networks and states.”

Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(5), 222–227.

→ Your physical posture, breath, and focus don’t just reflect your mental state—they help rewire it. Your superhero stance is legit.

👨‍🎤 Bonus: The Stardust Origin Story

Leigh, Wendy. (2016). Bowie: The Biography

Gallery Books. ISBN: 978-1476767079

→ A beautifully detailed account of how David Jones transformed into David Bowie, and then into Ziggy Stardust—alter ego legend status.

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Episode Keywords: how to stop procrastinating, alter ego productivity, main character energy, ADHD productivity, identity-based motivation, creative resistance, how to beat perfectionism, executive dysfunction support, focus rituals for solopreneurs, productivity hacks for ADHD, embodied focus tools, using self-talk for motivation, Ethan Kross research, Todd Herman Alter Ego Effect, creative rituals that work, neurodivergent entrepreneurship, self-coaching for creatives, confidence triggers, anchor objects productivity, transition rituals, coworking, focus routine

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In this episode, Mia shares what a foggy fall, a sleep hygiene obsession, and a bedtime tea collection taught her about one of the sneakiest forms of procrastination: the kind that dresses up as self-improvement.

Mia shares how a season of burnout and caregiving turned into a full-on quest to biohack her sleep—until she realized she wasn’t chasing rest, she was avoiding the work. With relatable stories and sharp insight, she unpacks how over-researching, over-optimizing, and over-thinking can actually be resistance in disguise. You’ll hear how our most meaningful work attracts our most sophisticated distractions—and how to spot the moment when curiosity becomes a compass instead of an escape.

This one’s for the brilliant overthinkers, the library-lurking perfectionists, and every ADHD creative who’s ever been stuck in an endless loop of “learning first, action later.” Learn how to harness your intellectual depth, flip the script on your resistance, and turn your research rabbit holes into launchpads.

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💫 Want to Get Started (for real)?

✨ Download the Focus Routine

For ADHD-friendly solopreneurs, creatives, and overthinkers who need help starting their work:

→ authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

It’s like a work warm-up for people who hate starting.

🌊 Join Wavelength

Our coworking community for curious, neurodivergent solopreneurs. Includes body doubling, content co-writing, goal-setting, and other weird people who Get It.

→ authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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🔬 Just In Case You Want To Read My Favourite Book In the World

(JUST DO IT if you haven't already. You need this book. This is your sign.)

(Mr. Pressfield you are my hero.)

• Pressfield, Steven. (2002). The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. Black Irish Entertainment LLC.
• Referenced as the go-to framework for identifying resistance, especially when it shows up wearing productivity’s costume. Also referenced as my favourite book. Yes, it's still on my desk. It's right here. See? Always.

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This episode dives into procrastination, perfectionism, and the kind of creative resistance that masquerades as productivity—especially for solopreneurs, neurodivergent creatives, and overthinkers. If you've ever found yourself stuck in analysis paralysis or research spirals, this one’s for you. We unpack motivation vs action, productivity myths, and how to overcome executive function challenges with transition rituals, body doubling, and ADHD-friendly strategies. Inspired by The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, we explore why your curiosity, focus, and meaningful work are too important to let resistance win—and how even sleep struggles can become a metaphor for the way we avoid starting. Whether you’re navigating emotional avoidance, productivity blocks, or just trying to get started on the one thing that matters, this episode offers practical tools to move from thinking to doing.

This episode will change how you think about beginnings.

You don’t need clarity to start. You don’t need confidence. You just need one honest step in the direction of what matters.

Through the stories of Darwin, Beethoven, and Harper Lee, Mia explores what world-changing procrastinators can teach us about hesitation, self-doubt, and the myth of perfect timing. You’ll hear why readiness is something we build—not something we wait for—and how to take action even when the stakes feel high and your inner critic is loud.

This one’s for the solopreneurs, creatives, and quietly brilliant people sitting on half-finished magic. The moment to begin is rarely comfortable—but it’s always available.

------------

🧰 The Focus Routine

If your to-do list feels like a wall, this is the ladder.

✨ Download my free ADHD-friendly Focus Routine—a short, structured ritual that helps your brain start (without the fight).

Perfect for solopreneurs, creatives, and anyone currently locked in an eye-staring contest with their blank screen.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌊 Wavelength: Your Virtual Coworking Oasis

Stop trying to focus alone. That’s a solo sport no one trained us for.

Wavelength is my cozy online coworking space built for the neurospicy among us. We use body doubling, shared structure, and gentle accountability to help you get unstuck and stay with it.

Whether you're deep in a launch or just trying to answer your damn email, there's a place for you here.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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📚 Further Reading for Curious Brains

(Not to be pursued at the expense of actually starting. You know who you are.)

🧬 Charles Darwin & On the Origin of Species

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859).

Referenced in this episode as a case study in glorious, prolonged procrastination. 📖 Read it free on Project Gutenberg

Browne, Janet. Charles Darwin: Voyaging (1995) and The Power of Place (2002). Everything you ever wanted to know about Darwin’s brain, hesitation, and that Wallace letter plot twist.

Wallace, Alfred Russel. On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type (1858). AKA the moment Darwin realized he’d better hit publish.

🎼 Ludwig van Beethoven & Für Elise

“Für Elise” (Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor), composed ~1810, published posthumously in 1867.

Mysterious muse? Check. Timeless melody? Also check.

🎧 Read more from Classic FM

🖋 Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). The Pulitzer-winning debut that took major courage to publish.

📚 More from Britannica

Shields, Charles J. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (2006).

• A peek inside the writer’s reclusive, powerful creative life.

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Episode keywords: start before you're ready, overcoming perfectionism, creative procrastination, how to stop procrastinating, purpose-driven productivity, ADHD-friendly momentum, imperfect action, get started on big ideas, solopreneur motivation, clarity after action, overcoming fear of failure, high-stakes creativity, waiting for the right time, Notes app ideas, self-doubt and action, productivity for creatives, Darwin and procrastination, Beethoven's messy process, imposter syndrome help, resistance to starting, how to launch before you're ready, storytelling inspiration, getting out of your own way

Ever waited for motivation that never showed up?This episode shows you how to begin without it.

Whether you’re sorting your snack drawer or negotiating with your to-do list, you’ll learn how to unlock momentum with one small move. No hype. No pressure. Just a real story, a powerful brain hack, and a new way to enter flow—through the side door.

Perfect for solopreneurs, creatives, and neurodivergent thinkers who are done waiting to feel ready.

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🔎 The Focus Routine: Built for brains that overthink and understart.

My free (and AWESOME tbh) Focus Routine is your executive-function-friendly onramp to progress, clarity, and actual done-ness. It's so pretty. My inner design nerd is satisfied. ❤️

⁠authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine⁠

--------------------

🌊 Wavelength: Virtual Coworking for the Neurospicy Solopreneur

Join a crew of delightfully distracted creatives who understand that sometimes, body doubling is the secret sauce. We work together, apart—turning “I’ll do it later” into “Look what I just did!” Come on in and get weirdly productive.

⁠authenticnetworker.com/wavelength⁠

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🧪 Research Notes for the Research-Inclined

📉 University of Chicago Study

Fishbach, A., & Choi, J. (2012). When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit.

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 118(2), 99–109.

Referenced for this gem: People who wait to “feel motivated” report 60% less progress than those who just start with a small action. (This is your sign.)

—

📈 Harvard Business School Study

Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work.

Harvard Business Review Press.

Referenced for the magic stat: People who take immediate, tiny steps—even when they don’t feel ready—are 300% more likely to stick with their projects.

Tiny win = big momentum. Science says so.

—

💫 Now get out there and do one gloriously unready little thing. You’ve got this.

✨ M.

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Episode keywords: motivation for solopreneurs, how to get started, neurodivergent productivity, ADHD and motivation, the progress principle, executive dysfunction, how to build momentum, tiny habits, creative resistance, starting rituals, task initiation strategies, flow state hacks, productivity without pressure, overcoming inertia, productivity for creatives, momentum for ADHD, micro-actions for progress, perfectionism and procrastination, getting unstuck, creative motivation tips, productivity mindset shift, progress over perfection, stop procrastinating

This episode explores the science (and relief) of starting with play.

Ever get everything set up perfectly—coffee made, phone silenced, workspace cleared—only to freeze the moment you face the blank page? This episode is for the solopreneurs with ADHD, neurodivergent creatives, and executive-function warriors who’ve done everything right to begin… and then feel like a deer in the productivity headlights.

Mia shares how a tiny act of low-stakes tinkering helped her move past perfectionism, dodge procrastination, and finally get started—plus what science says about why playful entry points matter. You’ll hear how the Progress Principle fuels motivation, why small wins beat big plans, and how five minutes of font-fiddling might be your most powerful focus strategy yet.

This one’s loaded with simple getting started rituals, body doubling energy, and solopreneur productivity tools that actually work with your brain, not against it.

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Stuck in perfectionism or executive function limbo? 🫠

Download my free Focus Routine—a simple, ADHD-friendly way to break through procrastination and build momentum one small win at a time.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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Work better with other brilliant weirdos. 🤓

Wavelength is ADHD-friendly virtual coworking for solopreneurs who thrive on body doubling, structure, and tiny wins. Also: best. community. ever.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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🔗 Links for Your Brain’s Additional Enjoyment

(Look up only when you are definitely not procrastinating. lol I see you. It's actually possible I am you.)

📘 The Progress Principle

Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Harvard Business Review Press.

🧠 Wired to Create

Kaufman, S. B., & Gregoire, C. (2015). Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind. Perigee Books.

😂 Papyrus Sketch – SNL

Because Ryan Gosling lost sleep over a font, and honestly? Same.

• Watch on YouTube

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Episode Keywords: how to stop procrastinating, ADHD productivity tips, playful productivity strategies, how to start when you're stuck, solopreneur focus tools, body doubling for productivity, ADHD-friendly rituals, executive function support, getting started with ADHD, perfectionism and procrastination, productivity hacks for creatives, low-stakes momentum strategies, small wins motivation, the progress principle, font fiddling productivity, how to overcome creative paralysis, momentum for neurodivergent entrepreneurs, tiny habits for focus, solopreneur ADHD workflow, starting rituals that work, how to beat the blank page

Suddenly your brain is on strike, your to-do list is the enemy, and you’re questioning every life choice.

In this episode of Transition Space, Mia gets honest about what happens when motivation meets resistance. She shares what changed once she stopped trying to force productivity—and started understanding how her brain actually works. From childhood rebellion to the Four Tendencies to some wild identity-based motivation science, this one’s for the rebels, the avoiders, and anyone who needs a gentler (but sneakily powerful) way to get things done.

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The Focus Routine

If your to-do list feels like a dare, not a plan…

✨ The Focus Routine was made for you. A free, downloadable momentum-friendly ritual that fits your rebel wiring.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🧠 Wavelength

Need more help to get your work done consistently?

Join a whole bunch of weird people, showing up to do our work together so we don't end up spending the whole day watching cat videos.

✨ Wavelength is a coworking community for neurodivergent solopreneurs who thrive with structure that doesn’t suffocate.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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💬 Citations, you say? I've got you.

🧭 Four Tendencies (a.k.a. Why You Hate Being Told What to Do)

Rubin, G. (2017). The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too). Harmony Books.

👉 Take the quiz — it takes 5 minutes and may explain your entire life.

🧬 Identity-Based Motivation (Your Brain on “Should”)

Oyserman, D., & James, L. (2011). “Possible identities.” In Handbook of Identity Theory and Research (pp. 117–145). Springer.

🧠 Research takeaway: You’re 45% more likely to stick with a goal if it feels like something someone like you would do.

🌀 ADHD & Pathological Demand Avoidance (The Struggle Is Neurological)

Newson, E., Le Maréchal, K., & David, C. (2003). “Pathological demand avoidance syndrome: a necessary distinction within the pervasive developmental disorders.” Archives of Disease in Childhood, 88(7), 595–600.

📚 For anyone who’s ever whispered “Don’t tell me what to do” to their own to-do list.

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Episode keywords: ADHD productivity, rebel tendency, Gretchen Rubin Four Tendencies, pathological demand avoidance, PDA, identity-based motivation, creative resistance, neurodivergent focus, procrastination, how to stop procrastinating, productivity for rebels, motivation strategies for ADHD, how to get things done with ADHD, working with resistance, emotional productivity, solopreneur mindset, executive dysfunction, dopamine-driven focus, productivity mindset, rebel workflow, authenticity in work, identity and behavior, body doubling strategies, gentle accountability, resistance to expectations, coworking, focus routine