Are You Procrastinating? Here are Five Surefire Ways to Beat it.

Lately, I’ve felt very distracted and unorganized. Every time I turn on the TV the news is blasting a bunch of negativity and it’s bringing me down.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear death tolls everyday and rising numbers of virus infections around the world, it’s hard to write about fru-fru stuff that has no real bearing on the world.

But is my writing insignificant? That is a question I ask myself. I don’t know the answer to this specifically, but I do know that even if it helps just ONE person then I’ve done my job. So I’m going to continue to tell myself my writing is having an impact somewhere in the world–don’t burst my bubble–I’m going to look at ways to keep writing even when it’s the last thing I may want to do.

A. Take a deep breath and believe.

I think that’s what I had to do when I still feel bombarded by the negativity happening in the world right now. I do believe my writing makes a difference. Even if it makes one person smile, or another have an Ah-Ha moment of clairty–it’s worth it. And, if not for an audience–then for me.

B. Don’t be SO hard on yourself.

Today is a new day. Say good-bye to all the crap you didn’t get done last week and march forward. If you stay mired in the muck of not doing…you’re going to remain stuck.

C. Remind yourself of the satisfaction you get from writing.

Do you have a writer’s group where you can chat with likeminded people? maybe meet up for a quick coffee and get re-energized? The thing is that writing is like anything else. If it becomes a monumental task that needs to get done then it can lose its appeal.

Where did the fun go? Can you find it? Put some of it back into the process. Maybe you need to blast some tunes, go sit in the park to observe the goings ons, or perhaps you need to write something different.

Writing something different seems like a cop out because the “job” (ie: the novel, the posts, the articles etc.) aren’t getting done but a shift can perhaps provide the break you need.

See if you can put the fun back into it!

I now play with poetry…not well…but still its writing and it’s a distraction that allows me the time away from a certain project without being away from the habit of writing.

D. Accountability.

Sigh…I know, I know. Boring advice but it works. Get a buddy that makes you want to write. Either in a sense of a Write In or in having to hand over what you’ve written in a designated time.

This can be done in many imaginative ways.

Maybe if you fail to do your word count you need to buy lunch.

or

Perhaps both of you throw in $2 each time you’re to meet. See how big you can get the pot. The one who fails to produce the required word count/documents/ whatever loses the pot.

or

Maybe work on getting it up to $50 then celebrate and go out to dinner together.

Have fun with it and check in to be accountable.

E. Start RIGHT NOW…not later…not on Monday…or tomorrow…you must do it now.

Go write ten lines on your work in progress.

What are you waiting for? Now, means now….GO!

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