I started this Blog over a month ago, at the time vowing to myself to write a new blog every week. Then my old enemy stepped in -- procrastination.
Why do people procrastinate? A lot of writers have the habit, including myself. I'll get up in the morning, eager to work on my novel. Ah, but first I must shower and have breakfast. Maybe tidy the house and do the laundry. Finally all my household chores are done and I have the rest of the day to write.
Do I write? No! I read, play games, go shopping, and sometimes, in desperation, it seems, I'll wash walls or clean windows.
Anything to avoid sitting down at the computer and working on my novel.
Why do we procrastinate? A handout I found on procrastination blames it on fear. We may not all fear the same thing. The two most common fears are "fear of failure" and, believe it or not, "fear of success."
With fear of failure, we're afraid that what we are turning out is inadequate, that no publisher will accept it, that we'll finally discover we're not proficient writers at all.
Fear of success, on the other hand, is being afraid our writing will be accepted, that we'll become famous and in demand. How is that going to change our lives?
Procrastination might also be the result of poor time management or a need for perfection.
Mind Tools has these tips to overcome procrastination:
Why do people procrastinate? A lot of writers have the habit, including myself. I'll get up in the morning, eager to work on my novel. Ah, but first I must shower and have breakfast. Maybe tidy the house and do the laundry. Finally all my household chores are done and I have the rest of the day to write.
Do I write? No! I read, play games, go shopping, and sometimes, in desperation, it seems, I'll wash walls or clean windows.
Anything to avoid sitting down at the computer and working on my novel.Why do we procrastinate? A handout I found on procrastination blames it on fear. We may not all fear the same thing. The two most common fears are "fear of failure" and, believe it or not, "fear of success."
With fear of failure, we're afraid that what we are turning out is inadequate, that no publisher will accept it, that we'll finally discover we're not proficient writers at all.
Fear of success, on the other hand, is being afraid our writing will be accepted, that we'll become famous and in demand. How is that going to change our lives?
Procrastination might also be the result of poor time management or a need for perfection.
Mind Tools has these tips to overcome procrastination:
"The key to controlling and ultimately combating this destructive habit is to recognize when you start procrastinating, understand why it happens (even to the best of us), and take active steps to better manage your time and outcome."
Don't let procrastination put your life on hold. Do something about it today. I'm going to. Let's not put it off
2 comments:
What a timely post, this morning as I'm procrastinating again with this WIP of mine. I think I procrastinate some times because I feel overwhelmed with the scope of what needs to be done. Of maybe that's just fear that I might not accomplish the goals in the said time line as well as fear over what would occur if I met the goals. Maybe procrastination is just needless worrying. Thanks Florence - your post got me back to where I should be - writing that darn WIP.
I'm glad my post was helpful to you. I think one of my problems is I bite off more than I can chew. I make lists of things I have to do, and when I look at this great long list of "jobs" I know I can't get them all in, and I can't decide where to start, so I never do get started.
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