Avoidance is going around something instead of through it, and in the short term it works — the discomfort drops, the pressure eases. That is why it is so easy to keep doing. Over time the avoided thing gets heavier, and the effort of going around it starts costing more than the thing itself would have. The relief is real and the interest rate is steep. Most avoidance is not dramatic; it is a series of small postponements that never announce themselves. Today, pick the smallest thing you have been going around — an email, a call, a sentence you owe someone — and do just that one.
The thing avoided rarely shrinks while it waits.