How to avoid procrastination in writing
Procrastination is the process of delaying or postponing doing a task. Many students procrastinate due to their inability to deal with challenging tasks, boredom, anxiety, frustrations, or the fear of failure. It’s easy for most writers to put off challenging tasks until the last minute. However, procrastination may leave a writer stressed, frustrated, and unable to show their best writing skills. Understanding the different types and their causes is crucial in understanding how to deal with procrastination.
Types of procrastination
There are different types of procrastinations affecting a writer’s ability to write or complete a task. They include:
Anxious procrastination
Anxious procrastination is where a writer puts off writing due to anxiety associated with beginning or completing a particular task. The fear usually arises when a writer finds a project challenging on a cognitive level.
Perfectionist procrastination
Most writers are obsessed with writing perfect work. They always strive for the best, are self-criticizing, and try to be too impressive in their writing. Most perfectionists are afraid of producing low-quality work and have a constant fear of failure, making them overwhelmed, eventually stalling in their writing.
Fun procrastination
Most students would rather engage in fun and exciting activities instead of participating in a boring, challenging, or time-consuming project. Some students are easily tempted to do things that make them feel happy instead of doing stressful and exhausting projects.
Enough time procrastination
Many writers find it difficult to begin or complete a task or project when they know they have enough time before the deadline. When writers think they have enough time, they tend to engage in other activities and put off important projects until it’s too late. Assuming you have a lot of time gives you a false sense of security, and you end up writing hastily and producing shoddy quality work in the end.
How do you avoid procrastination?
Avoiding procrastination may be a daunting task for many writers. The following guidelines will help you avoid procrastination and enable you to be more productive in your writing.
Get organized
The best way to beat procrastination is by getting organized. Figure out the tasks that need to be prioritized and all the deadlines of your projects. Use a schedule to help you create a plan that will enable you to do your activities and create realistic timelines. A good program will help you work steadily towards your writing goals and keep you on track towards accomplishing your projects. You can also use a planner or schedule to keep track of all your objectives and goals.
Set simple and achievable goals
Most people put off writing because the task at hand seems too challenging or too long to be done at once. It’s easier to accomplish your assignments when you set achievable and straightforward goals. This can be done by breaking down your goals into smaller tasks that are easier to tackle. Smaller tasks will make your writing projects seem less daunting and make them attainable.
Identify and get rid of distractions.
To effectively avoid procrastination, it’s crucial to find out the things that distract you from your writing. One of the hardest parts of eliminating your distractions is identifying and acknowledging them. When writing, you should take note of the things that prevent you from writing. Distractions come from social media, family, friends, and many others. Once you’ve compiled a list of all the distractions, get rid of them, and you will find yourself more focused on your writing.
Set deadlines
One of the things that lead one to delay writing is a lack of deadlines. It’s crucial to set deadlines for when you want to complete your tasks. Setting deadlines will enable you to get down to business and help you complete tasks before the actual due date giving you more time for revision. However, you should set realistic deadlines that can be easily achieved to avoid frustrations and disappointments.
Get started
The process of starting something is usually the hardest. Most people end up procrastinating by not knowing how to begin a given task. It does not matter how slow you begin, but once you start writing, it will be much easier for ideas to flow, and you will be motivated to continue writing.
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