Outsmart Procrastination + Other Forms of Resistance

Are you procrastinating when you want to be writing your novel? 

You are not alone and we can fix it! 

Join me on the Write It Scared podcast, where we delve into the art of beating procrastination and finding the courage to write your novel. This episode is packed with practical strategies and insightful discussions that will help you overcome your writing hurdles!

In episode two of the 'Write it Scared' podcast, we chat about the challenges writers face, particularly procrastination. It's not because of poor time management but rather an emotional coping mechanism that has gone astray and a response to the stress or perceived stress of writing. 

Self-criticism won't help. Instead, I suggest practical methods for understanding and overcoming procrastination and other forms of resistance, such as re-evaluating one's beliefs and fears about writing and taking small but consistent steps to set and achieve writing goals. 

If you want more help overcoming resistance and moving past creative blocks, download my free guide: The Write Mindset.  www.writeitscared.co/thewritemindset

01:03 Understanding Procrastination in Writing

01:41 The Real Cause of Low Writing Productivity

02:31 The Role of Stress in Writing

02:49 The Impact of Fear and Self-Doubt

03:17 The Cost of Procrastination

03:34 Understanding Procrastination as an Emotion-Focused Coping Habit

04:38 The Truth about Procrastination and Resistance

05:35 Strategies to Overcome Procrastination

06:22 The Role of Fear in Procrastination

07:41 The Power of Action in Overcoming Procrastination

08:07 A Simple Process to Overcome Resistance

08:48 Questions to Ask Yourself to Overcome Procrastination

11:08 The Power of Belief and Action in Overcoming Procrastination

12:10 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

12:44 Resources to Help You Overcome Procrastination

Transcript

 Well, hello, writer. Today, we're going to talk about how to beat procrastination and other forms of resistance so you can get on with writing your novel. 

Do you think that you would be more productive and less likely to procrastinate if you had better time management skills?  If you say yes, you're not alone. 

Most of us feel that way. Myself included and as a book, coach one of the main struggles my client's face is how often they procrastinate when they want to be writing.  

But what if I told you that procrastination and time management issues Aren't the real cause of low writing productivity.  What if I told you that procrastination wasn't the issue at all? 

Did your eyebrows just go up? 

My clients often do, especially when I tell them the truth. Procrastination is actually trying to help you.  Procrastination is your body's attempt to solve the problem it's facing the blank page. The scene, you have to rewrite, the outline, the heap of words you need to revise the query letter and the synopsis that has to be drafted. Or the story idea that you've romanced writing forever but you've never actually typed a word of.  

Even though though these tasks can feel daunting.  They aren't really what's triggering your procrastination or your poor time management either. 

So, what is?  Stress.  Or perceive stress to the mind body it's one in the same. 

And to writers writing is often stressful, especially when we focus on outcomes, we can't control like: what are people going to think? What if no one likes it?  Is it even worth it? What if I never get published? Who am I to write about this topic? It's probably a dumb idea. Anyway. And then there's the scarcity side of things:, I don't have the time or the authority or the ability or the status or the know-how or the talent or the skills or the creativity or the authenticity we could go on and on here. Right.  

So procrastination is one mechanism your body can use effectively and efficiently to temporarily reduce your stress levels.  But it comes with a big cost. I recently read a book by a doctor of psychology  Tim cycle. Called solving the progressive procrastination puzzle. A concise guide to the strategies for change. And, I’ll paraphrase here but  he says in that procrastination is any emotion-focused, coping habit. And it's a problem of self-regulation in the same way that eating a second row of cookies in the bag. Isn't going to make you feel better. Putting off things isn't going to make us feel better either. We, but we hold this naive belief that this is what we need to do right now. 

Our present self believes that we're going to benefit BUT our future self is who pays the price. I just found it incredibly eye opening. The procrastination is an emotion focused coping habit.  

So, if you are caught up in procrastination and not writing your book or doing the work to reach your publishing dreams, and you are beating yourself up about it. Please hear me. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not lazy. 

You are not weak. It's not because you're ill-equipped to do this work. You are a human.  And procrastination, which is just one of the many forms of resistance.  That we can gravitate to is a natural response to difficult and uncertain situations. So don't beat yourself up over your biology, but do investigate. Because feelings are not facts. 

I knoww if you know me, you know, I say that a lot,  because it's true. And I have to be reminded of that fact because my feelings are very powerful and can easily derail me. 

So I invite you to pop the hood and investigate what's really going on underneath your lack of progress. And first and foremost, remember that not all delay is procrastination. Sometimes there are very legitimate reasons for putting off our writing. The kids get sick. We get sick, something unforeseen or terrible happens or something positive happens. 

We go on vacation. You know, we live this messy life. My point is don't beat yourself up when when you have to rejigger your priorities. And that means that writing falls to the bottom rung.  

But when lack of progress, isn't related to life outcomes, you can't control. Then you need to do some digging and examine what the tape is saying. That's playing inside of your head. So what are some ways to do that? Right about it, get it outside of you. Talk to somebody you trust, be honest about it because only when we are willing to faceo our resistance and fears can we move beyond it. 

One of my clients recently experienced what I like to call the cozy stuck. They frustrated by thei lack of progress in thei draft and instead of working on the scene that was to turn in to me, they were focused on. on character development and world-building and organization. Things they felt comfortable in. Yes they were very frustrated by their lack of traction.  After a little discussion turn out that they felt really overwhelmed by all the decision they needed to make and were afraid of making wrong choices. That’s very real. Cue mind-body stress. Cue procrastination..

So I asked. If you stopped worry about getting it right, dropped your expectations to the dirt, what would it actually hurt you to try? And they just kind of looked at me.  

And.  You know, the fear of getting things wrong is very, very real,But the truth is … So what if you get it wrong? So what? you'll fix it, that's what we do as writers. The only thing we can do is improve the work so long as we continue at it. We can't be perfect and even if we could be it wouldn't protect us from pain.  It wouldn't protect us from uncertainty. Though our egos beg to differ. 

So I invite you to really look what's going on inside of yourself and figure out what's holding you back because please no one can write your book, but you.  

As writers we often face resistance to doing our creative work. It's a normal part of the process to have doubt, to feel unsteady. Procrastination is one of those forms of resistance. 

But if resistance keeps us stuck for too long, we got to do something about it. So I have a simple process that I use with my clients and it begins with cultivating awareness of what our brain wants us to believe in order to stay safe. So we look at those beliefs and determine what's true. And if it serves us. If those, those beliefs don't serve us the way we want them to, we got to find a way to rewrite them and take ownership of our decisions and the consequences of our actions. 

Because writing a novel is an inside job. I say that a lot too. So, if you're dealing with resistance, you're avoiding the blank page, avoiding the edit. Or you've been in an endless research and pre-writing cycle. Try this process by answering these questions and see what comes up. Number one, ask yourself, what do I ultimately want in regards to my writing right now? Number two.  Why do I believe I can't have it. Number three. Notice what the, but statements are that come up when you think about.  What you want.  And slow down and consider if fear isn't is hiding inside that, but statement. And recognize that fear is a natural response to uncertainty and ask how that, but statement. is keeping you safe.  And now look for the truth.  I often say that fear.  Is a false expectations. Appearing real. Directing your action.  So.  Look. At those, but statements, those expectations, those fears you have that are holding you back, are you absolutely certain that those things are going to happen? Are you absolutely certain you can't write a novel in 20 spare minutes that you have at night. Are you 100% sure that if you start revising your book, your changes won't really matter and it'll still be a mess.  Are you absolutely sure. 

You'll never be able to fix this first draft.  Do you have a crystal ball?  No me either. So there's a very good chance that what you're afraid of is not going to happen. And by leaning into resistance tactics like procrastination or perfectionism, you're never going to have to find out you won't have to risk it. You will be able to stay safe, which your body mind thinks is good. 

So high five self, we dodged another bullet there, but your higher self. The, the conscious self-aware you knows that you're still going to be here, still stuck with a desire that you haven't moved on. And I don't think that's what you want. You wouldn't be listening to me.  If that was what you wanted. 

So you need to find a way to convince your body mind that you're already safe to do this work.  So if your but statements are not fact.  Ask yourself, what do you need to learn to believe instead?  To be able to take the action. You need to, to move towards your goals. So you put this belief into practice by doing it because action is how we cultivate confidence. So, whatever these beliefs are, it may be.  I, the only thing I can do is make this book better by continuing the work.  Every word I write matters and counts. And serves towards creating a body of work that I'm proud of. Maybe those are the beliefs that you need to lean into that you probably don't believe at all right now, but that's okay. You don't have to believe it to take the action, but let that belief become your daily affirmation. 

Say to yourself a million times as you continue to take action to achieve your goals. Act your way forward. That is the key. Is action.  Taking action. small steps.  On a consistent basis in service to our goals. So writer, friend, remind yourself that feeling resistance or fear is a natural response to uncertainty. 

There is nothing wrong with you. You are not weak. You are not lazy. You were not ill-equipped. But feelings are not facts and you are safe to begin and to continue even if the outcome is. Unknown. Resistance is always going to come before growth. The bigger, the resistance you feel. The greater the growth you are going to experience, and you can do this. And if you would like more help working through these types of resistance, I have a free guide that you can download. 

free mindset tool called Facing Writing Fears and Moving Past Creative Block

Which will help you learn to manage your expectations and identify and reframe unhelpful internal narratives.

You can find it  at www.writeitscared.co/thewritemindset

I will also drop the link in the show notes.

 thank you for tuning in today. And I hope this is helpful and I will see you next week.