We’ve all been there.
Ever notice that there’s nothing like a looming deadline to get the dishes washed, the laundry folded and the hard drive organized?
No matter your style, when you procrastinate, you’re busy focusing on anything but the writing.
And that’s a bad thing, right?
I don’t think so.
I think typical thinking about productivity fails us.
We’re not machines, we’re writers—potentially mercurial, charged with simultaneously cultivating our creativity, marketing our writing, and tending to all the other stuff in life like making a living, caring for kids, plants or pets, and keeping up with others.
We miss out when we fail to acknowledge the inherent wisdom in our writing blocks. And when it comes to procrastination, I believe we procrastinate for a reason.
Sure, we may procrastinate because we’re scared. But we may also procrastinate because we need to burn off energy or anxiety. We may need to synthesize new information or solve a problem we can’t seem to solve with our usual minds.
In my experience, the best way to push through resistance is NOT to push through. It’s wiser to allow procrastination to let it have its way for awhile, to let that energy think it’s getting the best of us while we’re slyly minding the clock behind the scenes.
Your inner rebel will think it’s getting a break. (For a time, it is!) You might even sink into the rhythm of dishwashing or email inbox-clearing long enough to feel your anxiety melt away.
Honoring our need to procrastinate isn’t conventional advice. But it works!
Don’t go looking for opportunities to blow off your writing, but if you find yourself suddenly dusting the mantle instead of writing, try to go with it. Give productive procrastination a try, and see if you aren’t fresher when you get back to your writing.
From my experience coaching lots and lots of professional writers, an occasional session of robust procrastination can be just the productive prelude you need for a session of focused and fulfilling writing.
This article is taken from my audio tutorial for writers: “10 Secrets of Highly Productive Writing.”
—————-
If your writing career needs a jolt of fire, energy and inspiration, sign up here to learn 3 keys to renewing your creativity, vitality and forward momentum. Get your free MP3 recording and 13-page transcript to download and keep. It takes fire in the belly to go for your writing dreams.
