I am most distressed to admit that procrastination has become part of my writing process. I suspect that this started long ago, during the break in my writing that occurred when my daughter was born, and no word I could put on the page could compare to the wonder of being her mother. Prior to that, I'd developed the habit of getting up and getting immediately to work on days off, a.k.a. writing days. I was motivated. I was disciplined. I was on-task.
These days, I am much more easily distracted than I was then. Then again, these days, I also have 24-7 access to the Internet, email and multiple social networking tools that allow me to fool myself into thinking I'm writing when I'm really just avoiding a project that needs to be done.
Maybe I hate having my creativity put in a box - whether that box is format, time frame or topic. Or maybe I'd just rather play than work. If it's the latter (and I strongly suspect that it is), then why do I find myself organizing, cleaning or doing laundry instead of writing?
Leaving the house often works, (especially when the destination is Starbucks), so I'm taking my laptop outside, away from everything else that seems to be calling my name. Perhaps the combination of guilt over time wasted and a change of scenery will nudge me into productivity....
Stay tuned. In the meantime, tell me: what do you do when you find yourself procrastinating?
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