Can"t Start Writing? Overcome Procrastination Today
Procrastination: Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Until Tomorrow? The hardest thing about writing is that first you have to clean the refrigerator.
Ernest Hemingway Like most people, you might sometimes feel the urge to procrastinate about writing projects; the trick is not to let that urge control your actions.
Procrastination takes many forms.
Of course, the best ones are those that actually look like work.
Who could fault you for returning phone calls, deleting saved messages from email, and sorting papers? As you busily punch buttons on your telephone, only you will know that you actually have a proposal, report, or letter due by the end of the day and you haven't started it yet.
In addition to doing pseudo-work, you might choose one of the personal-maintenance methods of postponing your encounter with the naked page: getting a drink of water, using the bathroom again, smoking a cigarette, buying a snack, or getting another cup of coffee.
When you've exhausted all these methods, you can resort to pointless activities like watering the plants on your desk (even if they're artificial), reading the newspaper, or interrupting someone who is actually trying to work.
Here are a few techniques that helped me shake the manana syndrome.
They might help you.
1.
Make an appointment with your reader.
If a client were waiting for you in the lobby, would you keep him or her waiting while you returned phone calls and rearranged papers on your desk? Probably not.
Think of your writing time as time that you have committed to spend with your reader.
Block out writing time in your schedule and then honor that commitment as firmly as if your reader had arrived in person to get your message.
You'll stay on task more effectively.
2.
Break the task into manageable chunks.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Writing a 100-page report may seem overwhelming, but drafting an outline or filling in a small section of the outline seems manageable.
Create many interim goals and hack away at them one by one.
Offer yourself small rewards when you meet an interim goal - calling someone you love, taking a stroll around the block, getting something to eat.
3.
"Just Say No" to your inner child.
Sure, you need to be in touch with your inner child - sometimes you have to tell it to shut up.
If your procrastination is getting out of control, your inner parent may need to have a little talk with your inner child.
The inner child is the voice in your head that seems to be jumping around saying, "I can't write until I have more cookies!" The inner adult is the one who says, "Forget it! You can stop working when you finish this section of the report!" There's no shame in wanting to stave off a writing project.
The greatest writers have shared that desire.
Just don't delay too long: Time flies, even if you're not having fun.
Ernest Hemingway Like most people, you might sometimes feel the urge to procrastinate about writing projects; the trick is not to let that urge control your actions.
Procrastination takes many forms.
Of course, the best ones are those that actually look like work.
Who could fault you for returning phone calls, deleting saved messages from email, and sorting papers? As you busily punch buttons on your telephone, only you will know that you actually have a proposal, report, or letter due by the end of the day and you haven't started it yet.
In addition to doing pseudo-work, you might choose one of the personal-maintenance methods of postponing your encounter with the naked page: getting a drink of water, using the bathroom again, smoking a cigarette, buying a snack, or getting another cup of coffee.
When you've exhausted all these methods, you can resort to pointless activities like watering the plants on your desk (even if they're artificial), reading the newspaper, or interrupting someone who is actually trying to work.
Here are a few techniques that helped me shake the manana syndrome.
They might help you.
1.
Make an appointment with your reader.
If a client were waiting for you in the lobby, would you keep him or her waiting while you returned phone calls and rearranged papers on your desk? Probably not.
Think of your writing time as time that you have committed to spend with your reader.
Block out writing time in your schedule and then honor that commitment as firmly as if your reader had arrived in person to get your message.
You'll stay on task more effectively.
2.
Break the task into manageable chunks.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Writing a 100-page report may seem overwhelming, but drafting an outline or filling in a small section of the outline seems manageable.
Create many interim goals and hack away at them one by one.
Offer yourself small rewards when you meet an interim goal - calling someone you love, taking a stroll around the block, getting something to eat.
3.
"Just Say No" to your inner child.
Sure, you need to be in touch with your inner child - sometimes you have to tell it to shut up.
If your procrastination is getting out of control, your inner parent may need to have a little talk with your inner child.
The inner child is the voice in your head that seems to be jumping around saying, "I can't write until I have more cookies!" The inner adult is the one who says, "Forget it! You can stop working when you finish this section of the report!" There's no shame in wanting to stave off a writing project.
The greatest writers have shared that desire.
Just don't delay too long: Time flies, even if you're not having fun.
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