Why is writing so easy to procrastinate?

"Today is Sunday. I'm presenting at a conference this coming Saturday. But I want to have this paper done, and the slides done, by Tuesday. I've been working steadily on this paper for weeks. But today I have been procrastinating for two hours. I've changed the batteries in my smoke detectors, assembled a rolling cart from Target and made it my "beauty cart" for putting on my makeup in the morning, decluttered a shirt I didn't like, and washed some dishes. All great pursuits. But not when I have a looming deadline. Or least—get the writing done first, and then do those other great things."

I wrote that blog opening back in March. As I often do, I wondered, why is it so easy to do those other things and so hard to write, which is a Quadrant One to-do item—important and urgent? (see my talk on my GPS system for more)

Why is writing so easy to procrastinate?

Procrastination often happens when a task feels too big or ambiguous. Writers—me among them for sure—tend to think things like "today I need to write" or "I want to make some progress today." Writing and progress are vague and uncountable concepts that make for hard, if not impossible, starting points.

Then our inner resistance can fire up, seemingly out of nowhere, and make all that even more daunting!

Writing, I think, mega-charges that resistance. Writing is so personal, so full of strivings and failures. It exposes our souls and deepest selves. It's hard to hide in writing. Whether we see our writing as good or bad, we know it pulls away the veil that covers our inner worlds. That can be scary.

We need ways not just to set reachable writing goals but to encourage ourselves.

What if you try this tomorrow? Identify one small goal that you think you can meet in whatever writing time you have available—say, "1 hour: finish reading that article on enchantment in Yvain and incorporate my responses into my current chapter." Then put it on your calendar or to-do list or daily agenda, whatever tool you use to plan your time for the day. When the time comes to write, watch the resistance shrink down to something manageable, and tell it "We're just making a rough draft here. No one has to read it. Write as badly as possible for just one hour."

I'll confess, I didn't meet my Tuesday goal for that conference paper I told you about in the first paragraph. I'm not perfect and I don't always reach my goals—I hope that comforts you! We're all in the same boat. But I'm always working to improve, and for my next paper, I actually got it done early! Shocking even to me. I think that's a first. Perhaps that gives you some reassurance that it's possible. How did I do it? I actually took my own advice.

Writer, you've got this!

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay