Hi kadie,

Just the phrase "big deadline" sounds potentially anxiety provoking, so your "avoidance" sounds understandable
Do you think you could break the project down into smallish, more manageable steps?? e.g. tell yourself you'll do 15 minutes in the studio before a break, and then if you manage more then great, and if not.........hey it's still an achievement, right?? A step nearer??
And just having the "deadline" in your mind could maybe be making it feel a whole lot more pressurised and dampen any spontaneity?? So maybe if you set yourself some schedules just thinking..........I'm going to fit in x hours a day, it'll be easily finished by *date* not deadline??
Just the word deadline can create a feeling of "need to" with much less "want to" and that doesn't always help some people perform to their best.
Plus any way of planning/allocating stages of the work?? So as you can either kick of with some "interesting/fun" bits to get you motivated more or get the less "interesting/fun" bits out of the way first so you have more to look forward to.........if either option may work for you??
And maybe there are certain times of the day you could be more motivated..........so scheduling around those times might help a little??
And maybe give yourself a reward after you've finished x amount of work or in a break.........something small to celebrate another step towards..............??
Or maybe you could add an incentive to being in your studio, like playing music you like..........could ease the loneliness factor just a little in there too??
Just a few thoughts..........

And finally, really pleased for you that you have great things going on and coming up!!

Alison