This has been a wonderful thread and I am really grateful to everyone who shared. I feel less alone with this challenge, and convinced that I need to set regular reminders to refocus on a physical notebook and pen.

All solutions are temporary solutions it seems. That's the nature of the beast.

One more observation though, one that hasn't come up in the replies but was itching the back of my brain. Another reason I'm finding it hard to sit at my desk and just get shit done is because the last few years have been really difficult... And have brought a lot of failure.

I don't just mean covid. And the war mongerers. And tech bros making everything shit. But personally I've gone through immense failure over the past decade. This is normal when you're self employed, but it does take a toll. When you first set off as a freelancer you have to learn that things don't always go well, and to ride it through. You need a thick skin.

But after three decades that thick skin can feel heavy and tiresome. It's really difficult starting off a new project and watching it die, let alone after three decades of that. Every so often something works and that keeps the lights on, but honestly most of being creatively self employed is rejection and failure.

And that's one reason I'm struggling to even get started on stuff right now.