Effectively Dealing with Writing Procrastination

Novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette plucked fleas from her bulldog, Souci, as a procrastination habit. She’d pluck them one by one, switch to other forms of procrastination, and finally sit down to write.

When you procrastinate, you probably don’t pick fleas from your dog’s back. More likely, you check your email, clean your house, or water your plants.

What’s the most effective way to deal with writing procrastination? It  depends on the flavor of procrastination you’re experiencing. Maybe you could be diligently writing each day. On the other hand, maybe your subconscious is at work and you just need a few days away from the piece.

Let’s talk about how to deal with each variety of procrastination.

Productive procrastination

You wrote a first draft and tried editing it but didn’t make progress. Your subconscious needs a few days to process what you wrote.

Here’s how to deal with productive procrastination.

Write something else

Productive procrastination doesn’t mean you replace your writing time with getting to level nine of Candy Crush Saga. You still have self-discipline and write when you normally would, you just don’t force yourself to work on that piece.

If you are purposefully procrastinating, how do you spend your writing time?

1. Switch it up: For example, draft a different chapter of the book you’re working on.
2. Go freestyle: Try freeform train-of-thought technique by writing what comes to my mind (without hitting backspace or delete).

Bake procrastination into your writing deadlines

Pad extra time into your writing deadlines. Jerry Jenkins finds this useful for his book deadlines:

When I’m scoping out my writing calendar for a new book, I decide on the number of pages I must finish each writing day to make my deadline. Then I actually schedule Procrastination days.
-Jerry Jenkins

There is one caveat to this strategy: Jenkins never lets his procrastination get out of hand. He keeps his deadline sacred, so the number of pages he has to write per day is always within his capacity.

Plan for procrastination while keeping your writing deadline sacred. Share on X

Now let’s talk about when the act of writing feels uncomfortable.

Discomfort procrastination

When you sit down to write, it feels uncomfortable. Someone deep inside you is screaming I don’t wanna do this, can we go watch Youtube instead?

Discomfort is normal when writing isn’t part of your routine. When speaking of his morning routine when writing a novel, Haruki Murakami said, “It’s just a routine. It’s kind of boring. It’s a routine. But the routine is so important.”

You feel more emotional about writing when you do it less. Studies show that tasks becomes less emotional the more often you do them. When your writing becomes less emotional, that’s a good sign you’re on your way to developing a habit. (Stephen Guise wrote an excellent blog post about this.)

Here’s how to deal with discomfort procrastination.

Figure out why you aren’t writing

Get out your journal. Ask yourself Why am I choosing not to write? Then ask why five more times. This is called the 5 Why’s Technique, see examples of it in Get Energized to Write.

Drilling into your why for not writing, your emotions are revealing. Fear is a sign that you need to push forward:

Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.
-Steven Pressfield, The Art of War

Lower your writing benchmark

You’re setting the bar too high for yourself, your first draft is going to suck, and that’s okay. Set your writing benchmark lower to find your personal writing sweet spot.

It’s counterintuitive, but setting your writing goal ridiculously low will lead to more writing output. I have a goal to write 50 words each day. That low bar leads me to action, and I usually surpass it by 10-20x. I use a Don’t Break the Chain calendar printable to keep myself accountable.

Just write something

If you don’t know what to write about, or you are in between writing projects, try to sit down and write something. Try freeform train-of-thought writing by putting on your creator hat and writing what comes to mind. Don’t hit backspace or delete. Or use a writing prompt to give yourself focus.

Fear is a sign that you need to push forward. Try to sit down and write something. Share on X

Key Takeaways

• Productive procrastination is when your subconscious needs a few days to process your work
  • Step away from the piece you are procrastinating on, not your writing routine
  • Bake procrastination into your writing project deadlines
• Discomfort procrastination is when the act of writing feels uncomfortable
  • Discomfort is normal when writing isn’t part of your routine
  • Figure out why you aren’t writing
  • It’s counterintuitive, but setting your writing goal ridiculously low will lead to more writing output
  • Focus on sitting down and writing something

(photo by rawpixel)

Please subscribe to the newsletter below for more writing productivity tips.