Ugh! You got me!
I meant to write my weekly blog a week ago, but instead, I decided to do literally anything else first. Fitting, right? Welcome to this week’s blog on procrastination — which almost didn’t happen because of, well, procrastination.
Right now, I’m stuck in a bit of writer’s block with the book proposal I should be working on. I can’t seem to summon the drive or energy, and I keep wondering why. Lately, even small tasks feel like they’re draining me. This isn’t the usual me. Is it the change of seasons? Self-doubt? Imposter syndrome? Being back after a year away? Or maybe just… life being life?
This isn’t a woe-is-me blog; I’m just looking for anyone who can relate. I’m trying to stay consistent — one blog a week sounds easy enough. And it is!
Until you throw in a manuscript edit, a book proposal submission, a website tweak, among other things, because, of course, the minute anyone in publishing might actually see what this sixty-something woman is about, I suddenly need to have my A-game!
The Productive Procrastination Zone
My younger son says, “It’s hard because you care.” Gotta love him — he’s basically giving me my own advice back. And maybe he’s right. Perhaps the reason I stall, second-guess, and overthink is that I do care. Because I want the words to be good enough — or maybe I want to be good enough.
Maybe that’s the heart of it — caring makes things harder, but also more meaningful. If I didn’t care, I’d just crank out a few paragraphs and call it a day. But I do care, which means I get stuck somewhere between wanting it perfect and fearing it won’t be. I think most of us live in that weird space between effort and avoidance — the “productive procrastination” zone.
The Week in Projects
Case in point: this week I managed to paint two bathrooms and a feature wall in the bedroom (by a painter, of course), fix a few things around the house (because I’m pretty handy when I need to be), and I even hammered up a gallery wall — perfectly imperfect, and don’t look too closely at all the extra holes behind the artwork. And then there are those boxes — still not unpacked after all this time. Why? Because I don’t want things to land where they’re not supposed to. I want everything to be organized, in its place, just right. So yes, it’s procrastination… but the kind that wears a very convincing disguise of “getting ready.”
Maybe procrastination isn’t always the enemy. Maybe it’s our brain’s way of slowing us down just long enough to figure out what really matters. Sure, it’s messy and inconvenient — my brain even hurts right now! — but it’s also human. So if you’re reading this instead of doing something you “should” be doing, welcome, friend. You’re in good company.
And maybe that’s progress in its own weird way. At least the bathrooms look fresh and new (I still need to pick up some white, fluffy towels), my pictures turned out fabulous (at least I think so 😉), and then there are those boxes — still glaring at me, ugh — but I’ve written something. I’ll call that a win.
Here’s to getting something — anything — done this week. See you next week (assuming I don’t procrastinate 😅).
Hi Llorea,
This is Brent an old workmate of Rob’s. As someone who writes for two of my own blogs and contributes to two others, procrastination is a respected enemy. I’ve only found two things that really work. One is having to produce to someone else’s deadline and your reputation or the work relationship is on the line. This works because to paraphrase an old English writer, “knowing you are going to be hung in an hour concentrates the mind wonderfully”. Of course it’s different when one is both writer and editor as you are always going to give yourself a break. In that instance, there’s a simple if not-always-easy-answer. Just start. When you ignore all those distracting voices and their excuses and just start typing, they all shut up pretty much instantly. I’m sure I have more or less the same chorus of naysayers and lazy louts in my head as you do. Yes, once you step into the writing process and your own stream of consciousness, it takes over. To start just throw everything you”ve got in your mind on the subject at hand against the wall of the blank page. You will usually find that your automatically start rearranging and elaborating what you are trying to get out onto the page what you are trying to express. Woody Allen said correctly I think, that “90% of it is turning up”. Just start. Give it a try. Keep Writing Llorea. Brent