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| Procrastination is the enemy as a writer |
This article aims to assist readers or offer answers to the problem of procrastination, which affects both writers and the general population. You may have heard or come across this term before, but let's first define what procrastination actually is.
Procrastination: What Is It?
Procrastination, according to Wikipedia, is the act of purposefully delaying or postponing something while being aware of the repercussions of doing so. These could include delaying necessary work or putting off daily chores.
Illustrative of Procrastination
Whether done intentionally or unintentionally, procrastination shows up in a variety of ways and in many spheres of our lives. Here are some instances of putting off things:
⦁ Inability to follow your own plans on a regular basis
⦁ Repeatedly missing deadlines for starting or submitting your task.
⦁ Resting or engaging in pointless activities such as social media, rather than starting on critical duties at that specific time.
Why Do People Procrastinate?
Procrastination is common, is seen to be natural, and we cannot completely avoid it, as was already said before; perhaps the only difference is its severity. Here are a few explanations on why people put things off:
⦁ Distracting circumstances, such as neighbors throwing a party or visiting you right before you sit down to study.
⦁ Lack of goals or poorly defined goals may motivate you to act in ways that may undermine your ultimate goals.
⦁ Lack of fervor, energy, or spark to motivate you to do what needs to be done.
Why Do Writers Procrastinate?
As stated above that the spirit of procrastination spares no one, here are some of the reasons why writers might procrastinate:
⦁ Writing involves a lot of technical work - especially long projects- which can make you easily get bored.
⦁ Writing can emotionally swallow you when your work contains deep thoughts or emotional elements.
⦁ When you are occupied with other tasks.
⦁ If you want your mind to regain its freshness so that you could write efficiently.
How to avoid excessive procrastination as a writer?
To avoid the consequences of procrastination that you might experience as a writer, some of the solutions lie in its very root; the causes. Listed below in no order of importance, are some of these solutions:
⦁ Choose a place that has the favorable conditions to have your thoughts written down; away from distracting environment like friends or people who might even try to discourage you and extinguish that shinning light inside.
⦁ Set clear or SMART goals about whatever you want or intend to achieve with your writing. That should act as your guide, and should drive you to keep on writing.
⦁ Choose something that should provide you with the energy or the desire to write; for example joining a writers club or sharing your work for feedback. Any positive feedback you can get, will definitely provide the motivation for you to keep on writing.
⦁ Come up with a schedule for your writing, and try to practice your mind or yourself to strictly follow it even if you're feeling like not. That would help in slowly becoming attached to your writing.
⦁ Do self-assessment to know if all the above stated ways are working and also know when and how you procrastinate. This would help you to come up with your ways to fix those.
Conclusion
That's all we had to share with you. Now you know that procrastination is a common experience, and it's natural - the only difference being its degree. Some of the causes are intentional or unintentional, and writers can cope with procrastination by: choosing a free from distraction environment, setting realistic goals, coming up with a schedule and doing self assessment. You may want to watch the video below for a better understanding. Thanks a lot!