Excuses come pre-installed. Nobody has to think to use one; that’s why they’re so popular.

Reasons for not doing something take no effort to produce, which makes them suspiciously abundant. Your mind generates a plausible one instantly, in the same moment the task appears, and that speed makes it feel like judgement rather than avoidance. Some of them are even true. Truth is not the test here, because a true reason and a real obstacle are different things.

Next time one arrives, notice how fast it came. Anything produced in under a second is worth examining. Then ask what you would do if that excuse were unavailable.