Wants, shoulds, and have-tos

When I have a chunk of unscheduled time, my mental list of options is divided into "want tos" and "should dos". If I have items in both categories, I feel guilty for not prioritizing the "shoulds" over the "wants". Instead of picking from one or the other (or maybe even... one of each), I freeze up and find a way to procrastinate that doesn't involve accomplishing items from either list.

I'm pretty good at recognizing "have tos". If there's something that actually needs to get done (usually motivated by some external deadline), I will work on it even if it isn't high on my want list.

But when there's something I feel I should do, but don't have to do, it becomes a barrier to accomplishing anything. Doomscrolling to avoid explicitly picking a "want" over a "should" doesn't actually get the "should" done - it just guarantees I do nothing.

When I'm confronted by the paralysis of a "should", I need to decide whether it's a "have to". This can go both directions - if I consider something a priority, I need to prioritize it. And if it's something I can't justifying prioritizing, then I need to be OK moving on. Either way, I need to spend less time choosing and more time doing.