Wordstruck - How to banish the procrastinator

I often get asked how to deal with the dreaded ‘p’ word. Unfortunately the procrastinator—just like the critic—seems to be part of a writer’s lot. It can mean avoiding that article you know you have to write; spending ages researching a story and never writing it; or the classic, getting three-quarters through and not finishing.

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Sometimes it’s our busyness not our laziness that gets in the way. It’s all those things that we do instead of writing: washing up, vacuuming, FaceBooking. The list is endless.

It often looms when you are starting a new project. Sometimes this is because of fear—that you aren’t any good.

Then there are other fears:

• Fear of failure

• Fear of being judged.

• Fear of rejection—by readers, publishers, family.

There isn’t an easy solution to this. When you put yourself out there, you often face rejection. That’s life. The key is not to take it personally, pick yourself up and try again.

Then there’s the professional-crastinator. You know the sort: they file everything rather than write the report. They bury the contract rather than sign it. They never respond to emails. This sort is often very indecisive and that’s at the root of their procrastination.

Next comes procrastinating when you’re revising a piece of writing. This is particularly tough when it’s an entire book. In this situation I trick myself into starting. I’ll give myself one task. Or I say I’ll do this for one hour. Once I’m into it, I find a rhythm.

This slothful-sleepy-dog-type can be avoided if you stick to a routine. I’ll aim to be at my desk at 9am, get emails out the way and start by 9.30am. I treat writing like a job.

If the procrastination is caused by overwhelm then doing a mind-map helps. Or a spreadsheet. Once you get a system organised you start breaking the project down—and ticking off the tasks.

If you know you’re the sort of person that will spend too long researching your story then break your day into research and writing. Find a balance between the two.

I suggest start the day with writing. You’re less likely to waste half of it.

For me the really bad sort—a mean purple-banshee-inner-procrastinator—is when I’m chewing words over in my head so by the time I sit down, I’m exhausted—or bored—by what I’m writing.

That sort of procrastination needs to be nipped in the bud.

The best thing to do is just to get it down on paper. Or hammer it into the computer. Once it’s down, it has less power.

But just sometimes, procrastinating can be helpful. This is when you’re mulling over a piece of writing and letting it percolate inside. You know you’re doing this when you actively think about your book or narrative while doing mundane chores.

That’s where I’m at right now. I’m thinking of my next book, coming up with ideas, jotting them down. This sort of procrastination is allowing our subconscious to do the work.

Last chance to join me for a weekend intensive travel memoir course in Sydney, this weekend, October 19 & 20.