Dithering And Delays
“I’m taking care of my procrastination issues. Just you wait and see.”
Have you ever put off a task and promised yourself to “make up the time” later? Everyone has suffered from the condition known as ‘procrastinitis.’ Writers, because of their creativity, seem especially prone to this ailment. Writers can make up endless scenarios and delays before actually writing.
There is more than one root cause for procrastination; it isn’t always as simple as laziness or poor planning. Writing this article is a perfect example. I had the idea weeks ago. It is something I struggle with for a couple of reasons. Maybe other writers have some of the same problems.
1. Life-Changing Events
Thankfully, for us, it isn’t anything tragic. In fact, it is a good event. But it has rearranged our family rhythm and schedule. It has taken over much of my concentration and mental energy. I kept thinking “I’ll get to this tonight after work” but family responsibilities cropped up. Then on evenings when I had time, my concentration wasn’t up to the task. Thus, leaving writing this article almost to the last minute.
2. Unforeseeable Obstacles
Nature doesn’t always cooperate. Life doesn’t always play fair. Those who have suffered at Dorian’s wrath are derailed from their normal lives. Sometimes, for no good reason on a perfectly sunny and non-windy day where I live, we lose power. Sicknesses are never planned. Accidents are random.
3. Poor Planning
“Warning: dates on this calendar are closer than they appear.”
I try to avoid this, but there are times when I fail. Again, using this article as an example, I knew I was behind schedule on its creation, so I tried to mentally map out what I wanted to write, and then got up extra early before work to get a chunk done. Normally, I would have worked on it long before the deadline and been revising it during pre-submission crunch time but in the interest of full disclosure, it didn’t happen this time, and I found myself scrambling to get it in on time.
4. Blank Page Syndrome
“When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.”
Here is the real root of the matter for most writers. Many people who aren’t writers think we sit down and there is a wonderful period of time with fervent creativity. Maybe with some suspenseful and inspirational music playing in the background but the reality is, once we get over the procrastination, we sit down to the blank white page and stare.
*Cue the crickets.*
True confession time: writers are terrified of blank pages. For some writers, getting started is the hardest part. I may have an idea that has been brewing. I may even have a pretty little outline. But sitting down to the blank page and trying to get started is intimidating. In order to avoid the terror (hello fight or flight instinct) my brain comes up with a hundred and one tasks I suddenly need to do. I’ll suddenly remember I need to pay the internet bill, do laundry, de-flea the cat, have a root canal or gargle peanut butter while standing on my head just to prove to my kids it can be done. Anything and everything suddenly becomes urgent. That is when you know procrastination has a hold on you.
“Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.”
~Robert Benchley
How to overcome procrastination is easy to say, hard to do. The strategy that works best for me is to just plan time to procrastinate. I will put in my writing schedule twenty minutes to fiddle around at the screen or throw in a load of laundry or whatever I think is so important. Then I will enforce my writing time.
If you are a writer and you find that you suffer from the same blank screen syndrome as described above, the best advice I can give you is to follow Nike’s example and just do it. Engage in some free-writing time before you get into the meat of your task. Give yourself ten minutes to write whatever. It can be genius, crap, or anything in between. You can just delete it or throw it away later. That will help get something on the screen, effectively obliterating your blank screen syndrome, and as a bonus, it will get your writer’s creative juices flowing.
Some say procrastination is an art. But anything that takes away from what we love to do and instead increases our skills for dithering and delays needs to be overcome.
