How to beat writing procrastination – once and for all!

It’s a bold claim.  We can all beat writing procrastination for a day.  Maybe for a couple of days, or even a week.  But “once and for all”… well, that’s completely different, isn’t it?

You might think the secret has something to do with habit-forming.  I always used to.  Books like Atomic Habits are insanely popular for a reason.

But the ‘secret’ has more to do with the kind of person you are.  It’s also about what you really, honestly, want.

“It’s tough.  You have to want it.”

I got this feedback as part of an exceptionally damning critique from a friend, an experienced writer and editor, after I’d sent him the first draft of my first novel.  He said this because it’s hard to write a good book, so you have to want to write a good book.

(It can be hard to write a bad book as well.  But if you don’t care whether your book is good or not, you probably aren’t procrastinating over writing it).

This may seem like an obvious question, but do you really want to write whatever it is you’re procrastinating about?  Because if deep down you don’t, you can admit it and finally stop beating yourself up.

The relief can be palpable.

But if you do, read on.

Play around with different scheduling methods…

 …until you find the one that works for you.

One almost certainly will work.  It just might not be the same one everyone’s talking about, or that your favourite productivity guru swears by.

Over the years, I must have tried every scheduling method going.  I’ve bought huge, expensive wall-charts and used them to plan exacting, colour-coded writing schedules.

I’ve purchased the productivity books and tools recommended by people who are really good at getting things done, from The Clockwork Muse to Cal Newport’s Time-Block Planner.  Not to mention the aforementioned Atomic Habits.

And I’ve tried simply crossing writing-days off on a calendar, as Jerry Seinfeld was said to do when writing his hit comedy – the idea being that you have an unbroken line of crosses.  (Jerry Seinfeld has said he never actually did this, but clearly once a rumour starts it’s hard to stop).

None of these things worked for me.  But I’ve included all the links because it’s possible they might work for you.

What did work for me was a combination of practical realism (how much time have I reasonably got?) and setting a deadline to work towards.  For example, I’d give myself a month to write a book-chapter.

Then, I trust myself to meet the deadline.

Insane in the brain

This works for me, because I’ve got one of those annoying minds that rebels against regular routines.  So if I try to force myself to do a writing session just because it’s in the calendar, I’ll try everything I can not to do it.

If I don’t do it, I’ll consider myself a ‘failure’ for not being able to stick to a schedule… and if I’m such a failure, why bother writing at all?  And so the vicious cycle continues.

On the other hand, if I tell myself that “by the end of the month I’ll have written a chapter”, my mind works with me on finding slices of time to sit down and write.  Usually, these slices are not planned in advance.  Instead, I might finish a piece of client-work early, or have an unexpected evening to myself.

For me, not having a schedule means I can just enjoy the process of writing, which is really rather lovely.

The moral of the story?  There is no one, universal way of beating writing procrastination – once and for all. 

But there is your way.

You just have to find out what it is.

Now.  Is there a writing idea you’d like to make real?

It could be a book, a blog, or a short story.  Whatever it is, you keep thinking about it, but you haven’t written it.

Yet.

On Thursday 27^th July, I’ll be running an online session with a small group of other writers.  It’ll start at 6pm and finish at 7:30pm BST. 

Here’s what will happen:

• You’ll share your idea (don’t worry if it’s hazy… as Charles Dickens once said, “an idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.”
• You’ll hear thoughts and insights from the rest of our little group, to help flesh your idea out.
• I’ll share some tips and tricks that have helped me write 2.5 books (I’ll tell you more about the .5 during the session!) and this very, weekly-updated, blog.
• There will be 30 minutes of dedicated writing-time, for you to make notes or craft a plan that takes the intimidating brain-fuzz away.

It’s just £25 to join the session, and places are limited to make sure everyone gets the chance to talk about and offer feedback on ideas.

If you’d like to take a place, message me to book. It’d be lovely to see you there.