Back when i used to work, I found that talking about what I was working on with someone knowledgable enough to engage in a conversation helped me focus on the task. Do you get the stress reaction if you talk in detail about the work ahead, or only when you sit down to do it? Do you get it if you imagine doing the work?

There's an expression 'paralyzed with fear'. Are you afraid of work or of the stress reaction or neither or both?