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Quite a few writers blame procrastination for their unproductiveness.
Perhaps these writers are right. On the other hand, they may be sadly mistaken.
They may
be blaming the wrong issue.
After all, procrastination may be their minds' way of saying, "Give me
a break! I'm all burnt out." But many of us, including myself, stubbornly refuse to listen. We are afraid to cut our minds
a little slack for fear that once we temporarily leave a given writing project, we leave it, no, we abandon it forever. If
that is the case, then perhaps we are burning ourselves out for no reason.
Seriously! So what can
you do?
While you will surely want to take that necessary break, you will also want to change your
perspective a bit. That is, forget about saying that you are procrastinating. That is a lie. You are giving your mind some
time to mull things over and come up with the same old stuff that keeps you going around in circles all of the time. Just
changing your perspective can help a lot, jumpstarting a project that you are ready to abandon.
You have no reason
to leave it and simply saying that you just don't feel like ----- is no excuse at all. Somewhere, deep down in your mind and
heart of hearts, you know that you will indeed return and finish that project. So even though you are not working on it at
the present, consider giving yourself one or two goals and deadlines. Keep everything simple and manageable at first. For
example, state on paper or on your calendar that you will have completed a rough draft of Chapter 3 or an article. Then circle
that day in red or orange crayon or marker. That day is red(or orange) letter day.
And change your doubts and fears
by vowing that you can rather than you can't. As my third-grade teacher used to say, you can do it if you want to. So make
yourself want to. Tell yourself and your mind that you will definitely do it, or else.
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Plan the first time you return to your formerly-abandoned
project:
- When will you return to it?
- Where will you work?
- What will you work with --- a pad of paper, notebook
or computer? Use whatever makes you feel the most comfortable.
- What comfortable clothes will you wear?
- What soothing beverage will you be sipping as you work?
No, this is not a joke, but serious stuff. You have to prepare
your mind, coax it slowly out of its temptation to return to never-neverland. So give it something to look forward to and
keep whatever promises you make.
Your mind will thank you in the long run. It will
never run out of steam or ideas, especially since you are a writer. Feed it material it can work with, such as pleasant memories
or something that you keep replaying. Probe all of that stuff and ask yourself who would love to hear about it. Then write
for all you are worth and for goodness sake, KEEP GOING!!!!
And every so often, cut your mind some
slack and let it head for the next rest stop. It will only need a little time to recharge. Then get ready for the words to
come rushing forth.
Happy writing!
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