Unblock Protocol

---
name: unblock-protocol
description: "Get unstuck on purpose — the stuck-type diagnosis (don't-know-how, can't-decide, waiting, avoiding, too-big), the matched unblock move for each, and the timebox that stops noble struggling before it eats the day. Use when asked I'm stuck on this and don't know why, I keep avoiding this task, how long should I struggle before asking, or unblock my stalled project. Produces the stuck diagnosis, the matched move, the ask-for-help script that preserves standing, and the stuck-log pattern read."
---

# Unblock Protocol Skill

"Stuck" is five different states wearing one feeling, and the wrong move for the type wastes days: struggling nobly on a *don't-know-how* (when a 10-minute ask solves it), asking for help on a *can't-decide* (when the decider is you), grinding on an *avoiding* (where the block is emotional, and effort slides off it). The protocol: diagnose the type first (one minute, five questions), apply the matched move, and honor the struggle-timebox — the pre-committed point where solo effort converts to an ask, because "I should be able to figure this out" is how competent people burn days protecting an image nobody's watching.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The diagnosis** — which of the five stuck-types this is, from the tells
- **The matched move** — the type's specific unblock, not generic "take a break" advice
- **The ask script** — help requested in the form that preserves standing and gets answers ([the well-formed ask])
- **The stuck-log** — the recurring-pattern read: which type keeps happening, and the structural fix it points to

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The stuck thing and its symptom** — what's stalled and what happens when they try ("I open the doc and re-read my notes" is a different disease than "I know exactly what to write and keep not opening the doc")
- **How long and how it's felt** — an hour or a week; frustration (usually know-how), dread (avoiding), or fog (too-big) — the feeling is diagnostic data
- **What's been tried** — the failed attempts refine the diagnosis and feed the ask script (well-formed asks lead with them)
- **The stakes and deadline** — the timebox calibrates: a due-tomorrow block gets a 30-minute struggle budget; a someday project affords more

## Framework: The Five Types and Their Moves

1. **Don't-know-how (tell: frustration, repeated failed attempts):** the move is the *timeboxed struggle then the well-formed ask* — struggle has real value (the attempts sharpen the question) but expires; the pre-committed box (30–90 min by stakes) converts it. The ask leads with the attempts: "trying to X; tried A and B; A fails with Y — what am I missing?" — which gets fast answers *and* reads as competence, because it is ([the shame math is backwards: the silent stuck day costs more standing than the sharp question ever could]).
2. **Can't-decide (tell: research loops, re-reading the options):** more information is the disguise procrastination wears — the move is [decision-journal](../decision-journal/SKILL.md) mechanics: options on paper, the falsifier question ("what would make this obviously wrong?"), the reversibility check (two-way doors get decided *now*, by coin if needed — the deciding beats the option), and a deadline for the one-way doors.
3. **Waiting-on-others (tell: "I sent it and…"):** the move is [follow-up-chaser](../follow-up-chaser/SKILL.md) cadence plus the parallel-path question ("what can advance while blocked?") — and the honest lane change: waiting work leaves the active slots ([personal-wip-limits](../personal-wip-limits/SKILL.md)) so it stops masquerading as progress.
4. **Avoiding (tell: dread, the task survives every triage untouched):** effort doesn't fix emotional blocks — the moves that do: shrink the exposure ("open the doc, write one bad sentence" — [the-price-pushback](../shutdown-ritual/SKILL.md)-grade tininess), name the fear (usually judgment, imperfection, or the conversation the task implies — named fears shrink), or the swap (do it *with* someone: body-doubling dissolves avoidance embarrassingly well).
5. **Too-big (tell: fog, no obvious next action):** the task isn't a task, it's a project wearing one line — the move is decomposition to the *first physical action* ("'launch the newsletter' → 'list five newsletter tools'") — fog is almost always the absence of a next action, and the [task-triage-matrix](../task-triage-matrix/SKILL.md) intake discipline prevents the re-fogging. **The log closes the loop:** each unblock logs its type; three same-type entries point at the structural fix (chronic know-how = a skills gap worth naming; chronic avoiding = a role misfit conversation; chronic waiting = the [escalation-email](../escalation-email/SKILL.md) territory).

## Output Format

# Unblock: [the stuck thing] — stuck for [duration]

## The Diagnosis
[The type, from the tells: (the symptom evidence) · the feeling noted as data]

## The Move
[The type-matched unblock, concretely: the timebox set / the decision forced / the chase+parallel / the shrink+name / the decomposition]

## The Ask (if type 1, box expired)
["Trying to X · tried A, B · A fails with Y · what am I missing?" → sent to (the right person)]

## The Log Line
[Type recorded · the pattern count · the structural note if this is entry #3 of a kind]

## Quality Checks

- [ ] The type was diagnosed before any move was prescribed
- [ ] The move matches the type — no generic advice
- [ ] Struggle timeboxes are pre-committed with stakes-based lengths
- [ ] The ask leads with attempts and a specific question
- [ ] The log entry exists and patterns get structural reads

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not struggle nobly past the box — the silent stuck day costs more than the sharp question
- [ ] Do not research can't-decide blocks — information is that type's procrastination costume
- [ ] Do not effort at avoidance — shrink it, name it, or pair on it; grinding slides off emotional blocks
- [ ] Do not let waiting wear the active badge — it's a lane, with chase dates
- [ ] Do not treat chronic same-type stucks as bad luck — three entries is the system telling you the structural thing