Procrastination is a form of self-destructive behavior

When you get an idea of what you should write it's such a cool feeling. It's like "Oh, wow, yeah, I LOVE that. Has anyone else written that before? I don't think so. Okay, awesome." You write it down. Please tell me you write it down somewhere, anywhere. Okay, great. Then it becomes about time and time management to see that idea through. And something else. Something harder than schedules and pens and paper and a new laptop and the right cup of tea and meditation.

It becomes about you showing up for your writing on a daily basis.

When can you write? How long can you write for? Can you stay focused? In earlier posts I discuss lots of easy methods and tricks to keep you on point. And while we all have moments where we fuck off, and I do believe fucking off is a part of the process, completely fucking off is part of a cyclical behavioral pattern that keeps you down, hidden, small and oftentimes, at war with yourself. Oh, and unemployed, unpublished and pissed.

So...

What are you getting from that behavior? Ask yourself. And even though maybe there's something interesting in the answer(s), what I can tell you from my own experience is it doesn't make you feel good about yourself. You don't get a finished piece of writing procrastinating. To me it feels like pigging out on really bad food that has a lot of calories. You feel bad about yourself, your body suffers and it wasn't worth it. Empty eating. 

Sad face.

Yeah so like perusing online for hours, calling every friend you ever made or washing your dishes for the bamillionth time doesn't really get you far in life. And what it absolutely does not get you is a script. Or novel. Or a sampling of the thing you say you are. A writer. Well that shit right there is painful. So painful. Yep. That's the bonus to procrastination. You end up feeling terrible about yourself and a fraud for calling yourself a writer.

Been there. Done that. And so I'm not judging, I'm telling you I get it. Therefore I'm sharing with you what works to stop being self-destructive and start being the writer you know you are.

Set your time to write, turn off your WiFi, and do your spark of Divine Inspiration a solid. Report to a friend who has similar goals on the daily what you've accomplished. ON. THE. DAILY. Yeah there are other things that work but those simple suggestions right there can yield great returns.

The internet will always be there. The dishes will get washed. And your friends who you lost contact with, well, you know, yeah, call them but WHEN YOU GET YOUR WORK DONE. When you sell something or finish something. It certainly will make for far better conversation than "Yeah, I haven't written anything in awhile but I do have this really good idea..." Yuck. You know what I'm sayin?

"In order to kick ass you must first lift up your foot." - Jen Sincero

-CGD