As a writing coach to technical professionals, one of the most common complaints I hear is that writing eats up too much time. Busy professionals seem to assume that the complex process of turning mental images and ideas into written language should be as easy as swiveling in an office chair. But if writing were so simple an activity, then the Pulitzer committee would award prizes each year to America’s fastest typists rather than to those with superior skill in word-craft.

This false belief that writing should be as easy as forking up pie causes people who are normally self-disciplined about time management to behave in strange ways. Rather than treating a writing project they way they would a technical project and working steadily on it, bit by bit, they put off the writing task till the last minute. Then, in one long, adrenalin-hyped writing session, they produce an entire draft, seldom pausing to doubt themselves and marveling, when they’ve reached the concluding paragraph, at the amount and rate of output.

After such a period of rapid, sustained writing, writers often feel the smug satisfaction of Little Jack Horner polishing off his plum pie. They congratulate themselves for “being productive” and not over-thinking the writing task. What a good (efficient) boy (or girl) am I!

But managing writing tasks in this way isn’t really managing them—it’s avoiding them and then rushing through them with a false sense of achievement. It’s short-changing a complicated process that should evolve over time and include detailed QA procedures. And, in the end, relying on a last-minute rush of activity to get the job done doesn’t make writing as pleasurable as eating pie; instead, it turns writing into a pie-eating contest.

The official term for this feeding-frenzy approach is “binge writing.” If you tend to cycle between procrastination and frantic drafting, then you’re likely a binge writer, and I’d bet a dozen donuts that your writing shows the tell-tale signs. While you may feel that you’re more productive when you tackle a writing project all at once, approaching writing as if you’re competing to scarf down a pie a minute tends to result in messy document structure, bloated sentences, and foggy thinking.

Moreover, the feeling of performing at your peak during a writing binge is not be trusted—that’s just the adrenalin talking. Research studies (such as those by psychologist Robert Boice) have shown that the most efficient way to produce a document is to break your writing into short, frequent sessions. Doing so not only allows you to budget time for QA activities (revising, editing, and proofing), but it also enables you to build up your writing skills through regular practice.

To overcome binge writing, here are some strategies to try:

1. Develop a personal SOW for each major writing project. Project-manage your writing time by making a list of tasks you need to complete and assigning a deadline to each. Anticipate potential difficulties and identify people you might approach for help with them.

2. Set internal deadlines. Rather than thinking of the boss’s due date as your deadline, set a date at least three days earlier as your personal deadline. That way, even if you fall into the binge-writing trap, you’ll still leave yourself time for revising and editing.

3. Plan your writing sessions for the week. A good time to do this is Friday afternoon or Monday morning. Block off your writing sessions in your calendar as fixed appointments.

4. Keep a writing journal or writing log. Keep track of your writing goals and the time you spend working toward them. Creating accountability is the key to improving productivity.

5. Find opportunities to write. If you tend to procrastinate about writing because your job doesn’t require you to do it very often, then find new reasons to write. Start a blog, keep a journal, or volunteer to create an article for the company newsletter.

So what are you waiting for? Which of these strategies will you try today?