I first learned when I taught English at university that procrastinators are the rule, and not the exception. Almost everyone finds it difficult to sit down and get to work.
Procrastination isn’t something to be ashamed of, since it’s the norm. Not procrastinating is a superpower — a totally attainable one!
[AdSense-B]
Once you figure out how to overcome procrastination, you will have the world on a string. Not only will your writing benefit, but so will your day job, your studies, your relationships, and every part of your life.
Not doing a thing may suck up more time and energy than you realize. And while we might sometimes think of disciplined people as being joyless, research suggests that the exact opposite is true.
I learned a lot about procrastination from the book The Power of Habit, which also gives a lot of insight into why people do what they do. Here are a few of ways to stop putting off your writing. I think they’ll apply to other things, too!
Remember That The More You Do It, The Easier It Will Get.
If it feels hard to sit down and work, it may be because it runs counter to the habits you’ve developed so far. We all have things we do every day, and when we do something else instead, it makes us uncomfortable.
“I don’t have enough discipline,” we say. But to stop procrastination, it might help to know that if we keep on making ourselves write on a daily or at least somewhat regular basis, after a while, it won’t feel uncomfortable. It will be a normal thing to do, like logging onto Facebook or watching TV. The thing that makes it difficult now—habit—is exactly the thing that will make it easy later.
I know many, many writers who are more productive than I am, and I am working on the habit of taking too many Internet breaks, but writing is at least something of a habit with me. It no longer feels like an act of great discipline.
Allow Yourself to Do Just a Little Bit.
One of the reasons we procrastinate with many things, particularly with our writing, is that we make it out in our heads to be a huge commitment and a radical departure from the rest of our lives. We imagine that we’ll need hours of uninterrupted time in order to make any progress. It’s just not true.
If you’ve never been able to establish a regular writing habit, try doing just twenty minutes every day. You can even set a timer on your phone, if your phone has that function.
Twenty minutes is nothing. You can’t even watch a TV show in that length of time. But for a creative project, twenty minutes on a regular basis is a big deal. Fair warning, though — you may find yourself getting inspired and going longer.
Give Yourself a Little Reward — Every Time.
This is advice from my friend Jennifer, and I am really bad about remembering to follow it! The principle is rock solid, though.
You know how if you’re training a dog, you give them a treat every time they do the correct thing? Human behavior gets reinforced in exactly the same way. Reward yourself with a piece of chocolate, a bubble bath, an episode of a TV show you love, a latte, a little trashy reading (and I say “trashy” with the utmost respect), or whatever you think will make the connection in your brain between writing (or any desired habit) and enjoyment.
~
I always get great ideas from other people’s comments, so if something else has worked for you, please let me know! Thanks for reading!
Bryn – you are so right – I blogged on this subject – would you mind if I posted the link here? Thank you.
Go ahead, Jack! I’d love to see different takes on the subject. 🙂
Thanks, Bryn – here is the link – https://jackstr952.wordpress.com/2015/10/19/first-things-first-beat-the-procrastination-demon/
It is editing that makes me procrastinate not writing, I either write ,talk, read, blog ,tweet or play scrabble. I can revise, research, rewrite fine but the E word haunts me… ?
Oooh, that’s a good point — editing can be especially daunting!
This is good. I got the book “One Year to an Organized Life,” and I can already see that I’m not going to do it all in a year, but I have a good start on changing some habits. Need to learn to make writing more habitual, not something negotiable that I do when everything else is out of the way.
I think it’s so easy to put it last because it feels like it’s just for us, and because it takes so long to finish something (for me, anyway.)
Your writing is really good though, Rachel, seriously (no surprise — I mean it always was.) I vote for it being a priority!
Thanks, and likewise.
As per procrastinating: I get a major thrill checking things off my ‘to do list’, so if there is anything I know I need to do, I either put it on my list OR I schedule it the same way I would any other appointment.
BTW, excellent advice, I plan to share the link to this post.
Have a wonderful weekend, Bryn.
ME TOO Jeanne! I have an old-school Franklin Covey planner (I ditched it for years, but never stopped missing it) and sometimes I write things down just to check them off. 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend yourself! I have my Sunshine Blogger post scheduled for Tuesday… I had to really think about some of those questions!
I had to really think about Erica’s questions, too…. and I’m amazed to hear that I’m not the only one that writes things down for the sheer joy of checking them off my to do list! That give me an immense sense of accomplishment.
Thank you for sharing. I have been really trying to change some of my habits lately. I picked up the book you mentioned-hopefully it will help!
Oh, I hope you like it! It’s also a pretty interesting study of human behavior in general — it really got me thinking. Thanks for stopping by!
Reblogged this on solpicador and commented:
Wonderful ideas!
what a find! today is almost over. I’ve been reading a fun old book, but in spite of the fun, it has been a chore. the whole day has been a chore and I don’t want to do anything. I’ll make dinner soon, because I have to. I may need to print out this post! Cuz crawling under the blankets to sleep isn’t really the best option.
Aww, sorry yesterday is a chore. I sure have days like that too — and sometimes it can be hard to ‘re-boot’ in the middle of the day! Hope today is better Kris 🙂
I am a granny, and my daughter is working lots of OT lately, so I have my 3 yo grandson a lot. Trying to think and hearing ” what ya doin'” a lot is a problem. Have to see if I can shut the door and the family can care for him more I think….
Hi Pat! The “what ya doin” made me laugh (but it probably wouldn’t make me laugh if I heard it dozens of times)! It’s a blessing for family to be close, and at the same time, you shouldn’t have to shoulder more than your share of the responsibility. <3
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
Especially good advice for me, for us all.
Thanks for sharing, and thank you for reading!
Yeah, my entire four years in college was spent watching Netflix (or working, I had two jobs) until the night before something was due. Then it was full speed ahead to get it done. Even a few times, the paper was due at noon so I started it at 8am that day. I made it through college, just more stressfully than was necessary, lol.
It’s so common! I started requiring a quick, early rough draft for 25% of the final paper grade. You got an A for that portion if you made your page count on time and it was all on topic. 😀 It forced people to write better papers by not letting them put it off!
Bryn,
I was going to blog about this topic but kept putting it off…and you beat me to it! Thanks for sharing about an obstacle many (all?) writers struggle to overcome.
Ha! Thanks for the kind words. Hey, I really like your blog, by the way! http://tylersehn.com
Tyler – see my blog link above – you can always offer your own spin to it and tell us how either you overcame it or plan to overcome it. 🙂
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.