~May you soar to heights yet to be discovered
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The are two types of procrastinators. The first type is comprised of those who tend to put off doing task they might consider insignificant in the grand scheme of things, annoying but necessary tasks such as cleaning, or performing other mundane chores, this is not to say they are lazy. It only attest to their inner anxiety that their time could be better spent doing more important things.
The second type includes those who perhaps feel a bit overwhelmed because the task at hand may seem too big to control, or they may fear completion of the task might have a significant impact on their life. They may be experiencing an unconscious fear that they may not be capable or ready to handle the consequences. For example many writers procrastination may, in fact, be due to the challenge and fearfulness of becoming published or from the simple fear of rejection. It becomes almost like a defense mechanism that gives them an excuse for not completing the task at hand.
Many times procrastination is the result of a person who has set unrealistic or uncertain goals brought on by feelings that they lack the ability or focus to successfully complete their work. They tend to find any excuse to put off the task at hand. They may intentionally or unintentionally set enormous plans that aren't realistic due to their life style. Procrastination can lead to increased feelings of guilt and apprehension. This can soon become a cycle of failure and delay, as plans and goals are put off, penciled into the next day or week and often times leads to the person giving up on their goals.
One key to help over come procrastination is not to think about the task in its entirety, because that can often be overwhelming. Focusing on the completion of a task where you can't even clearly envision all the steps necessary for completion, can bring on stress and the task or goal no longer becomes something you want to do but something you feel forced to do; so you wind up delaying the task as long as possible. By allowing this self-doubt to creep in it robs you of your desire to accomplish the task at hand.
The trick to avoiding this dilemma is to break you goals down into small task or achievable goals that are realistic. For example a writer who wishes to write a novel might be totally overwhelmed at completing a 50,000 to 1000,00 word novel, however if he thinks of it in smaller chunks, such as scenes or chapters the goal doesn't seem as daunting. After all a novel is simply a complied story of scenes. Often times we allow our nasty little subconscious to riddle us with doubt concerning our abilities and before we know it we think that in order to complete the task it must be done to perfection. Perfection only comes with practice, knowledge, and training, which takes time and perseverance.
Sometime procrastination can be the result of knowing that in order to complete the task we know we are going to have to make certain sacrifices. For writers it is often a time issue. "I only have 20 or 30 minutes a day to contribute to writing, I can't possible accomplish anything in that amount of time." Well lets do the math, 30 minutes a day adds up to (7x30) 210 minutes a week which adds up to (210x4) 840 minutes a month, (840 x12) which is 10,080 minutes a year, which is approx 168 hours of writing time. If you only typed say 200 words an hour that's 33,600 words a year. Not bad for 30 minutes of work a day. Of you could say that if you typed 200 words a day for 30 days that would be about 6000 words a month which translates to about 72,000 words a year. By breaking it down into small increments the task no longer seems impossible.
As procrastinators we must learn to over come the fears that are holding us back and not focus on the insurmountable whole but make our accomplishments realistic, so as to avoid failure and the urge to just give up.
As a procrastinator myself, if I am honest this indeed makes perfect sense.
Therefore, in order to accomplish our dreams and goals we must overcome the fear that breads our procrastination tendencies and step out of our comfort zone. We must concede to just do what our heart tells us we need to do. Forget about perfection, forget about the outcome and legitimatly concentrate on the immediate task. One step at a time will get you there. You are not running a marathon you are pursuing a dream.
So to my fellow procrastinator writer friends, I say make 2009 the year you tell Mr. or Mrs. procrastination to go find another partner in crime, because you are no longer going to submit to his/her wily ways.
"She may not have anything to say, but she says it anyway because she is a WRITER and who knows where it might lead.
Happy Writing,
Granny
