How to successfully overcome procrastination
Most writers would like to be prolific in their chosen field, but not many really want to be prolific procrastinators.
Being one myself, I have discovered that there are countless ways to put this innate ability to work. After all, how can I write when my head is still fuzzy from sleep? This needs to be overcome first, which means having a cup of tea, taking a shower, tending to the dogs’ needs, and catching up on the morning news via TV.
That’s where my procrastination comes to an end. Until now.
Recently, I read a story about a baker who puts up a beggar for the night, even though his business is in trouble. The next day, the beggar tells him: “Whatever you start, you will do all day.” The baker decides to make cookies with his last bit of flour and give them to a sick child. The delicious aroma wafting out onto the street attracts many customers, but the baker is too busy to serve them. They serve themselves and leave the money on the counter. The baker’s business is saved for one more day.
A fellow merchant seeks out the beggar, puts him up for the night, and receives the same message the next day: “Whatever you start, you’ll do all day.” So the shopkeeper sweeps the floor and counts his cash in anticipation of all the customers. When they arrive, he is too busy to serve them, so they leave without buying anything. And the merchant spends the day sweeping and counting.
When I read that story, I realized how much truth there was in it. From the moment I turned on my television each morning, nothing else happened. Oh, I’d find time to wash a few dishes under the tap, nibble on a sandwich, inspect my 2,500-square-foot “estate” to make sure everything was still there, look up at the sky to make sure either one hadn’t disappeared, and take a moment to sit in the sun to rest my brain, tired of absorbing all that information.
Later, when the news would repeat itself and I would find myself watching a version of “Murder She Wrote” for the fourth time, I would start reading about writing. Know your trade. Isn’t that what the experts say? However, you can never learn enough.
Over the years, I’ve tried many techniques for writing, rather than just reading about it. One such attempt was to make a schedule of my day and detail everything from reading and responding to my email for just one hour and searching the Internet for markets or resources for two hours a day, to writing letters, queries and articles for four hours a day. day. .
Its success was minimal because the internet took a long time with my slow computer. And then there are all those intriguing links that seem important enough to turn me away from my research intent. For the most part, they would lead me to good information that will be useful for an article I might want to write in the future, but do nothing to further today’s efforts.
Trying to survive on a budget that doesn’t even fit a budget makes the job search a double whammy. Before long, I was spending more time job hunting and research than approaching a specific market or developing story ideas. The schedule still hangs on my wall, almost forgotten.
Looking back on my former life as a secretary, I wondered why I was more organized and motivated then than I am now. My desk was cleaned every night and unfinished projects were stacked in order of importance in my inbox, ready to be completed and turned in the next morning. So it was necessary to have such a system, because my bosses were swarming like vultures around my desk wondering when their work would be finished. With five hits, I’d soon have a mini-swarm blocking my light.
Putting this concept into practice, I designed a notebook, complete with a bright orange sun on the cover with the words “Things to do today”. It turned out to be the biggest turning point in my procrastination career.
At the end of each day, I write down everything I want to do and give them a date. It is not an end date. I head each page with the date I entered it. In one column, I write the task, and in another, I enter a check mark or a date it was completed. Every day starts with a new page and new goals. And every morning, I review the list from the day before to see what I have accomplished and what remains to be done. The idea is to finish all the old tasks before starting the new ones.
At first, the pending tasks outnumbered the completed ones. Seeing all those outdated items every morning was unsettling, especially when I was most inspired to work on the new ones. What I hadn’t anticipated was how much it would bother me to look back at old lists and see so many things unchecked. Obviously, checking off items on my list became the real goal.
Somewhere along the way, getting the chores done became the bonus and my focus. There was something satisfying about watching your life and accomplishments unfold one task at a time and being able to say to yourself every day, “I did all of that.”