writing and research

If you are a writer then you probably love writing, you also probably know every trick in the book to avoid writing. I find that getting started is the hardest part, once I get down to the actual writing then I enjoy myself and the time flies. Just like many other writers I couldn’t really explain why I procrastinate, why I spend too much time checking my email or reading other people’s blogs instead of writing, I only known that I do.

Procrastination is the Thief of Time

Whenever you put things off or procrastinate you are losing time, time that could have been spent getting on with your writing, and maybe even having the time to finish that difficult chapter of your novel, or find the next line in a poem. Sometimes I find that I have to tell myself to stop, it’s writing time – usually this works, but there are times when it doesn’t. Part of the problem, at least for me, is that I take on too much and then feel suddenly overwhelmed by the huge volume of work. I’m a fast typist and my work is usually quite accurate so that a simple spell check usually does the trick. Yet I still put things off, even though I know that once I start I will enjoy what I am doing.

Managing Yourself

There’s a lot of talk about time management, but all that we can really manage is ourselves, time just is, it’s our attitude to ourselves and our own actions that is usually the problem. I know full well that I cannot hope to build a successful writing and research business unless I can manage myself and my bad habits. I do try to write everything down in my moleskin notebook/diary, but there are days when this goes by the board. When I don’t keep a schedule, I am much more likely to procrastinate because I haven’t broken down tasks to a manageable size.

When you try and tackle something head on as a whole project, it can seem like too much. You’re frightened fo failing and getting the job wrong, you’re scared that you won’t be up to it – and you won’t unless you take some time to break large tasks into smaller, more manageable little ones. The best way to manage yourself and stop procrastinating is to give yourself a break. Instead of beating yourself up about what you haven’t done, make sure that you have appropriate tasks that don’t overwhelm, then it is so much easier to get started.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Top 5 Tips for Organizing Your Writing Day
• A Freelancer’s (wry) Look at Getting Things Done
• How Do You Get a Quart Out of a Freelance Woman’s Pint Pot

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post