Kat 2. Work Self To Lather. Rinse, Repeat

Life lesson #34 from the remix: writing about procrastination makes me procrastinate. A lot.

It’s ridiculous. So far today I’ve wandered from my laptop six times, for no real reason. I’ve thrown on music, cleaned… done everything but sit and type.

As a writer, I’m a fantastic procrastinator. I’m even better at justifying procrastination. I moved house this week, and if unpacking isn’t the perfect procrastination tool, I don’t know what is. Every time I look up from my screen, I see something else I should go and sort. Every time I look back down, I remember how the chairs are too short for the table I’m working at. Maybe I should go and get the chairs from the garage? Maybe another coffee?

The silly thing is that I love to write. When I’m terrorising my keyboard or notebook, I’m happy. It’s when I stop that I notice the things I should be doing. I’m not alone, though. When the proverbial starter pistol fired for the 24 hour project, the determined slap of keys didn’t exactly echo through the room. Many of the writers found themselves going for coffee, or posting online- anything but writing their story.

Until last year, the idea of procrastinating with something I loved baffled me. It wasn’t until one of my lecturers made an offhand remark that I understood. Like with most things, writers procrastinate because writing is hard.

Baumeister and Vohs tell us that we procrastinate for many reasons. Sometimes, it’s to protect ourselves from the negatives of poor performance- this is especially true if it’s a task you’re being evaluated on (and haven’t I just wandered into dangerous territory?) Another theory is that procrastinators hold a sense of self-uncertainty from early in life. If we got in trouble for poor results, we’re more likely to procrastinate. This is also true if you had controlling parents. Which is all well and good, but my upbringing was fine and failure isn’t exactly high on my priority lists. Right now, I’m working myself into a lather over a severe case of life-in-the-way.

Thankfully, it may not be all about childhood issues and forging parental bonds with teachers or bosses. According to Clegg and Bailey (2007, 1307), there are four types of procrastination:

(1) academic procrastination, concerning postponing academic assignments; 

(2) life routine procrastination, dealing with current life routines, such as buying Christmas presents or filling out tax forms; 

(3) decisional procrastination, which means lack of timely decision making, in minor or major issues; and 

(4) compulsive procrastination, which includes task and decisional procrastination in the same person. These four types may be subsumed into task and decisional procrastination. 

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King argues that the cure for procrastination is ritual and habit. Force your butt in a chair every day at the same time, and for a certain amount of time or word-count, and your brain eventually learns that it’s writing time. Have a writing spot, and use it daily. It’s advice I’ve followed to the best of my ability, but now that my writing spot isn’t available, I’m
floundering a bit. Somewhere along the line, I’ve started associating my desk with my ability to write. I’d advise not doing that. Maybe it’s a case of write daily, but write in different locations so you remember that it’s not the stuff around you, it’s the stuff inside of you that matters.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s what I’ve learned about procrastination this week

• I’m brilliant at it (how about you? What’s your crowning moment of procrastination?)
• Remove the word ‘should’ from your vocabulary. It’s a dodgy word at the best of times, but it’s a way of making you feel guilty about whatever it is that you’re doing.
• Realise that not everything has to be done now.
• Don’t associate stuff with your ability to write/draw/do your work.
• If all else fails, have a friend who will shamelessly bribe you with cupcakes and DVD nights. 
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Baumeister, Roy F. and Vohs, Kathleen D. 2007. The Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Accessed September 17, 2013. 
Clegg, Stewart R. and Bailey, James R. 2007. International Encyclopedia of Organisation Studies. Accessed September 16, 2013 
King, Stephen. 2000. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York: Scibner Publishing.