023: How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Writing
Everyone has struggled with procrastination at one point or another. It can happen in the writing process too. Learn how to stop procrastinating so you can get back to writing.
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how to stop procrastinating and start writing
Hi, friends. It's funny that this topic for the this week's podcast episode is procrastination because I have to be perfectly honest with you, I've been procrastinating on my podcast episodes. I'm recording this just a couple of days before the episode is set to come out. And part of it is I was out of town visiting my husband's family that lives in Charleston, South Carolina. So I was you know, traveling and not able to I didn't want to bring my microphone, so, but I've just been a little bit behind on my podcast episodes. So it's kind of funny that that's the topic for this week. So we're going to talk about how to stop procrastinating and how to start writing. But really the tips that you the things that we talk about in this episode you can use for anything. If you're procrastinating on something around the house, something related to your job, something that has to get done that you just have been putting off and putting off and putting off, you can you can use these tips too.
So three tips to stop procrastinating and start writing. Number one, tip number one is mindset related. Step back and try to look at the situation objectively to see if you can identify why you're procrastinating. So that's tip number one identify why you're putting this off? What is it about it that you're afraid of? What is it that you don't want to do? I'll give you an example here. I know I've talked about this on the podcast before but I did not want to make a big change to my book that my agent suggested I was pushed out I got that we had a phone call, I got the note from her I got the suggestion, which by the way, I completely agree with I 100% believe that the book is better because I made this change. But it required a lot of adjusting required writing a lot of new chapters, kind of changing the ending of the book a little bit. So there's a lot that I had to do, right. And I was afraid I was afraid of how much work it was going to be. And so that's why I was pushing it off. I didn't want to get in there I was it was at a busy point in my business… busy point in my life, I had a lot of stuff going going on. I just felt like it didn't have the capacity to really devote a lot of time to it. And I was afraid that I just wouldn't have the time to do it. That it was going to take me weeks and weeks and maybe potentially months to get this done.
So for you if you are procrastinating on editing your book, if you're procrastinating on finishing a scene that's challenging. If you are pushing off like starting your first draft or finishing your first draft, whatever writing related thing it is you this might not always be possible, but just just ask yourself, like kind of get honest. What am I afraid of? Why don't I want to do this. It's like putting a name to things can help take away some of the power that it has, right? So maybe it's procras.., you're procrastinating because, like me you're afraid of going to work it's going to be or you're afraid of it not being good or you're afraid of you're afraid that potential readers won't like the direction that the story is going in your you've got imposter syndrome, you've got self-doubt, you've got all kinds of things going on in your mind that caused this reaction caused this behavior rather, and the behavior is you're procrastinating, you're not doing it. That's tip number one.
Tip number two is similar in that you're stepping back to look at the situation or the project or the task objectively. Okay? But instead of looking at the feeling, instead of trying to identify the feeling or the emotion or the why - you're identifying if there's something different that you can do, as far as like actually completing the task, the actual implementation. So is there a writing strategy that you can that you can use that feels easier that feels better? Is there a direction that the plot can go in that feels less... It brings up less resistance in you not to say that the easier path is always the best one But sometimes if there's a lot of resistance, and you really don't want to do something in the plot, like maybe that's not the right decision for the book, and that's why you have resistance. But is there a way that you can actually do the task, do the thing differently.
So for me with my manuscript change that I had to make, I was afraid of how much work it was going to be, I was afraid I was going to have to carve out like two hours a day to work on this, because I was so busy, my schedule was so full, I just, I felt like I didn't have that time. So I figured out, okay, what I need to do what I need to break this into pieces, break this into a smaller number of tasks, and then spend 20 minutes in the morning, before I log on to my computer, or before I like, you know, open email and start my editing business, like how do I can I do this in the morning for like, 20 minutes. And that was a lot simpler, it made the task feel less daunting and overwhelming, it was a much easier way to do it.
I also had this crazy thought I've been I've been doing writing sprints for a long time, like I hardly ever sit down and write for long stretches. But I did have this thought. Because I can edit for longer periods of time actually love the editing process. I mean, surprise, surprise, i'm an editor. But I love editing my own work, I love shaping it. So I can do that for longer than just sitting down to write the first draft. But I was thinking to myself, like Huh, maybe I can even block off like a whole Sunday and just knock out the book. And the idea of that was so overwhelming to me that I didn't want to do it. So I had to look at it objectively and say, Okay, that's hard, that's going to be very difficult for me to do, it's going to be much easier, and I'm gonna be a lot more likely to actually follow through and do it. If I break it down into small tasks and do like 20 minutes a day, you know, in the morning. And I did actually end up doing some longer stretches of like an hour or two hours. But that's not how I set up my schedule. I was just feeling inspired and was like, Oh, I'll keep going. I'm really into this now. And did I did have to rush a little bit at the end, to be totally honest. But I have it, so that's okay. So is there a way for you to finish your writing task, you're senior your chapter your whatever in a way that's more manageable.
Tip number three is to use something called habit stacking. Now, habit stacking is this concept of if you want to do something regularly, if you want to develop a routine or a habit, it's so much more effective. And you're so much more productive. If you put that habit in between habits that you already have. Let's take the example of a morning routine. Now if you're not a morning person, you just like roll out of bed and start work immediately. You're like I don't even I can't even function in the morning, that's fine, you can do the same thing that we're talking about in this example, in the evening. And you might be like, Well, I don't really have an evening routine. But I bet that you do it. But you have kind of a similar process that you go through after you're done with work or like before you get ready for bed, for example. So you can you can do the same thing in the evening if you want or midday, whatever, whatever it is.
But the point is, is sandwiching this new practice this task in between things that you're already doing. So if your morning routine is you get up, brew yourself a a cup of coffee, get ready for your day, you know, take a shower, do your hair, whatever you have to do get dressed, brush your teeth, all that stuff. And then you you know, go to your home office and log on and start work for the day, if that's your morning routine. Habit stacking says okay, well how can we incorporate this into all of those things that you're already doing. So maybe the new morning routine is get up, pour yourself a cup of coffee, get ready for your day, and then go over to your computer 15 minutes early, sit down at your desk, and for 15 minutes before you start work, you work on whatever it is you've been procrastinating on finishing your scene, writing your first draft whatever it is in and it's so much easier to do it this way as opposed to thinking okay, I have to completely shift my entire morning routine I have to get up at 5am I have to write for two hours. And then I have to log on to work like that's that's like so overwhelming and daunting to think about doing.
Some people are internally motivated and internally driven and can do this and it's not a big deal. But for a lot of us that's just not sustainable. It's just not and it doesn't feel fun to kind of force yourself to do something that you're really not enjoying. This is where I'm going to preach about writing sprints again because Setting aside 15 minutes to do the writing thing that you've been procrastinating on is so much more manageable than forcing yourself to do an hour of it every day. It just is. And if you're inspired, and you want to keep going, you can, I mean, if you sandwich it, if you have it stacked right before you start work, you might not be able to obviously, cause you have to sign on to work. But there's really something about doing short bursts of time where that's all you focus on is just doing the writing thing that you're procrastinating on. Doing it for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever length of time you decide. And then moving on. If you really are procrastinating on something, and it's a really, like, it's such a struggle to do it, set a timer for five minutes. That's it. See what you can get, you can get done in five minutes, and then work your way up.
So those are my tips that procrastination is such a big concept. Like there's so much that goes into it. There's guilt there’s shame, there's perfectionism. There's so much mindset stuff that goes into it, it's not possible to address every single like reason for procrastination, or how this manifests in our behavior in a single podcast episode, but hopefully, there's some quick tips here that can help you. And I do just want to say if you have let's say you have ADHD, for example. A quick tip like this might not be enough. And I just want to encourage you to be gentle with yourself, be kind to yourself. If you listen to these tips, and you try to implement them, and it doesn't work. Even if you don't have ADHD like this is there's complex stuff that goes on in our conscious mind and our subconscious mind when it comes to procrastination. So if it's not like, I don't know, a flip switches, and suddenly, it's just easy and you never procrastinate. Don't beat yourself up. You know, go through the steps we talked about in this episode. Break it down into manageable pieces. See if you can identify why you procrastination, why you're procrastinating. Look at your task objectively to see if there's a different way you could do it. And try the habit stacking method. And just you know, like I said, set a timer for five minutes, 10 minutes, whatever.
Okay, bonus tip I didn't imply, I didn't mention this because this is this doesn't work for everyone. But accountability can be a huge way to not procrastinate. If you've got a writer friend, you can say, hey, I'm really procrastinating on finishing chapter 10. Can we write together for 30 minutes on Saturday? Or, Hey, I'm going to text you as soon as I'm done with this. And if you haven't heard from me, by the end of the day saying I did this thing, call me. You know, you can use that too. That's something that's something that I use with, with coaching clients, sometimes it's like, really structured accountability, like, Okay, tell me what your plan is for today. And then let me know at the end of the day, what you got done. And it's never from a place of shame. It's never trying to say like, you're a horrible person, you're a bad writer, you're never going to finish your book. If you didn't do it this day. That's not what it is. It's like loving accountability. You know, kind of being right there with you and saying like, Hey, you can do this. It's okay. So I hope you you turn that loving accountability back on yourself if that's something that you choose to implement.
All right, it feels so good. It feels so good to not have procrastinated on this podcast episode. Man, it feels so good to cross something off my to do list. That's something you can look forward to when you stop procrastinating as well. So, good luck out there on your writing journey on whatever thing has been on your to do list that you've been procrastinating on. Hope you can get through it.