How to Use Procrastination for Creative Writing.

Turning Procrastination into Creative Fuel

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Procrastination happens for a reason. Your mind gets overwhelmed by the task, or there is some other issue that you might not know about at the conscious level, but on a deeper level, your unconscious mind knows about it.

There is a way in which you can use your mind’s own coping mechanism against it for your own benefit.

We need to give our minds a creative task that we want to do and let it process in the background while we are doing other things.

I note down the topic that I want to write an article on, and before sleeping, I see it with an empty page title written on top. When I wake up, I remind myself about the article I need to write.

Then I do my daily routine work. And in the background, my mind is processing what should be the introduction of that article, what could be the outline, and what are some relevant points that can be added to that article.

Even though I’m not putting my conscious energy into it, I’m getting the ideas for my article from all the knowledge that is stored in my brain. Once I’ve got the feeling that my mind is done processing that article task, I sit down and start writing it, and words flow like rivers. I feel the article is already written, and I’m just transcribing it from my mind.

These articles are much different than the ones I would write while looking at the cursor blinking, and I’m writing whatever I think of about the topic at that moment.

Instead of fighting with your brain, you need to learn how to use it to work in your favor.

Here is the process that you can follow if you want to use procrastination for creative writing.

1. Decide the topic.

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You can’t expect yourself to write down a topic that you don’t even like or have never read about in your life. Your mind can only bring up the idea from the information that is already stored in your brain.

You need to write down a clear topic that you have read about, and you would also love to write about it. Even if you think you don’t know enough about it at the moment or what you will write in it,.

I’m giving you some examples of different interests.

Productivity

• How to work less and do more
• How to manage your time effectively

Entertainment

• The top 10 best movies for inspiration
• The Top 10 Best Comedy Shows on Netflix

Tech

• How to use your phone for better performance
• Why you should use blue-light glass while working on a computer

I hope you got the idea from it. Now write down your own topic.

Once you write down a clear topic that is interesting and within your knowledge landscape, your mind will be able to gather information during procrastination.

2. Write it on your to-do list.

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We are using procrastination as a tool to find creative ideas for our writing, but we should be aware that it can backfire if we don’t plan to overcome procrastination when it is time to sit down and actually write the article.

To deal with that situation, you need to make it an important task for the day so your mind knows it is actually an important task that we need to complete; otherwise, we’ll not feel good.

In this way, you’ll be aware that you need to write it down, and most likely, you’ll write it down.

When you add writing an article on xyz topic to your to-do list, it will create stress for you, which is a healthy level of stress, and it will trigger your procrastination. When you wake up the next day and check your to-do list, you’ll have time to get ideas between the time you wake up and when you sit down to start writing the article.

3. Solitude (gathering information)

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You won’t know what your mind found out to write in the article if you never give yourself the time to listen to your own thoughts.

As we are bombarded with information everywhere, it keeps us away from our thoughts, and when we are bored and still alone, that is the time our thoughts come to us in our conscious mind, but to avoid dealing with those thoughts, we start using social media. It kills the creativity and the conversation that happens between our conscious and unconscious selves.

You need to be in a state of solitude where you are not consuming information from external sources. Basically, you need to shut off the world to listen to your mind.

This is the only way to bring ideas about what to write from your unconscious mind to your conscious mind. You can’t expect to get the introduction, outline, and relevant points to write in an article if you don’t give yourself enough time to be aware of those thoughts.

I mostly do these activities to gather my thoughts, and you can do the same.

• Go for a walk.
• Do some chores.
• Take shower
• Go to the bathroom without your phone.

The best article I wrote came out of my mind while I was in the washroom without my phone. That’s a pretty boring time, so my mind brought out all the thoughts going around in my head at that time, and I’ve had the time to process them.

4. Sit down and write the article.

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You must be aware that by using the procrastination method, you are delaying the article until later in the day so you can get the best idea of what to write. But this will be a total waste of time if you don’t discipline yourself to actually sit down and do the task.

You must make the task one of your deep work tasks for the day. It is not a 5-minute task you’ll do alongside other important tasks.

You’ll have to schedule your day in such a way that you have the energy to do this task.

While you have procrastinated on the task the whole day, when it is time for writing, you’ll have to force yourself to sit down and just write the first paragraph. Once you do that, you’ll see the words start coming automatically into your mind about what to write.

You’ll get to know that you can write pretty good articles.

Don’t edit the lines while writing; just let the words come, and once you are finished, you can delete the part that doesn’t make sense. I’ll suggest writing the draft one day and proofreading it the next day.

In this way, you’ll get some more time to see if there’s something else you’d like to add to it.

This is how I’ve been writing my articles: one day I write down the article draft, and the next day I proofread and edit it for publication. In this way, I’m making sure that I get enough time to write down everything that I know about the topic.

Summary

In order to use procrastination as a tool for your creativity, do these four things:.

1. Decide on the topic you want to write about the next day before sleeping.
2. Make it your important task of the day so your mind can feel it’s a must-do for the day.
3. Give yourself enough time to process the ideas running around in your mind for the article.
4. Force yourself to sit down and just write the first paragraph.

If you liked this story, you can follow me on Medium so you can get my life lessons to become a happier, more productive, and more wealthy person. Mindful Kamal

Thank you for reading this story.

Kamal