If you want to find more time to write, you first have to review all of the activities you do each day so that you can plan better.
It’s not an accident when you get a lot done one day and then get behind on your work the following day.
There’s something you do on days you get a lot done that you might overlook.
I’ll get to that smart habit in a bit, but let’s first differentiate the art of waiting from procrastinating.
The art of waiting vs. procrastinating
I used to say that I liked procrastinating.
I prefer to be flexible about the mini-deadlines I set for my writing projects, and as long as I meet my final deadlines, procrastination never felt like a threat.
Perhaps I planned to write a draft of a certain article, but my writing for the day ended up being a few pages of messy notes in a lined notebook and a scattered outline for a different article in a digital text file.
Maybe I just researched some offbeat inspirational quotes for writers.
If that’s the type of writing that happened that day, that’s the type of writing that needed to happen that day.
My top-priority writing project will probably benefit from the other work I did, and I can always return to it the following day to stay on track to finish it on time.
Then I realized my conscientious creative process didn’t rely on procrastinating at all.
It relies on the art of waiting.
It’s important for me to clarify these two concepts, so I don’t recommend the wrong one.
Here’s the difference, in plain terms:
- The Art of Waiting: the time necessary to develop an idea
- Procrastinating: you know what you need to do, but you’re not doing it
Procrastinating actually would be detrimental to my productivity.
And micro-procrastinating eats away at our days the most, leaving us with less time to do meaningful work that’s important to us, but not a top priority.
What’s micro-procrastinating?
Micro-procrastinating is when you take a quick, unscheduled work break. Let’s say a micro-procrastination is a 10-minute break in between two items on your daily agenda.
Taking breaks can help you write better content, but professional writers know disciplined creativity involves designating times for relaxation and fun.
When you have a long to-do list and almost magically get each item done with time to spare, you’re not micro-procrastinating. You’re going from task to task without taking an unscheduled break that slows down your momentum.
Not micro-procrastinating is the smart habit I mentioned above.
Stop micro-procrastinating to find more time to write
Micro-procrastinating throughout the day can add up to 30 minutes or more, so cutting back on it is how you find more time to write.
Seemingly innocent breaks often prevent you from finishing your responsibilities on time, and when you’re behind schedule, you’re less likely to fit in the extra writing work you want to do.
Identify what you do when you take unscheduled breaks during your day and designate specific times for those activities.
Here are three things you might do when you micro-procrastinate:
- Play a game on your phone
- Check social media
- Watch news or videos
Especially if you’re new to working from home, it’s easy to get distracted. Instead, plan for these activities and give them your undivided attention once you’ve completed your most important work. (You’ll also be free of procrastination-guilt at that time.)
In turn, your to-do list gets your undivided attention too. Effective time management boils down to staying focused and knowing you’ll get to everything you need and want to do eventually.
If playing a game on your phone, checking social media, and watching news or videos each take 10 minutes out of your workday, you could gain an extra 30 minutes if you postpone them until after you finish your main tasks for the day.
Then you can decide to do those activities, or you could … write.
It’s hard to say you don’t have time to write when you look at it that way.
What you could write with 30 extra minutes each day
Don’t underestimate the power of a 30-minute writing session.
Your work doesn’t have to be “perfect.” It doesn’t initially have to make much sense. You just have to practice.
You could perform one of the two exercises from earlier this week on Copyblogger: get clear about the content you want to create or try using perceptual contrast in your copy to boost sales.
The benefits of having 30 extra minutes a day are particularly clear when you look at what you could potentially complete over a five-day period.
- Day 1, 30 minutes: Brainstorm blog post ideas
- Day 2, 30 minutes: Outline one of the article topics
- Day 3, 30 minutes: Perform research for your first draft
- Day 4, 30 minutes: Write a draft of the article
- Day 5, 30 minutes: Finish draft of article
Editing, proofreading, and publishing can happen during future 30-minute sessions.
You could also use that schedule to develop audio or video content.
It could be time to learn a new skill.
It could be time to enhance your current content with visuals.
It could be time to build an online course.
It’s time to work on something that matters to you.
And it all starts with first completing your existing responsibilities without distractions.
Reader Comments (11)
Hi Stefanie,
I often get delayed due to procrastination.
I am not a professional writer, I am learning SEO and content marketing, that is the reason I have started writing from last month.
Often due to lack of proper words or lack of energy I get delayed with my writing schedule.
I am trying to improve my concentration to finish my writing on time. And I will follow your guide also to finish my work on time.
Thanks
Dipanjan Biswas
Hello Stefanie!
Really very interesting..
Required writing works with or without the muse. Required writing works around the fear and through the judge. Required writing puts creativity in a pressure cooker which can and in the case of natures creativity does produce diamonds.
Deadlines are life savers. Deadlines offer the structure that moves us toward our goal. Required writing and the Deadline we rebel against are the task masters we seem to require to get where we want to go — a page of words, a book — to have written.
Problem. There is no required writing here. There are no deadlines. Like Mission Impossible you choose or choose not to enter into the “practice.” That practice begins simply, ” Write for fifteen minutes.” We either exercise our will and do it or we exercise our will and refuse to practice. Painfully simple.
When we argue, it is ourselves we argue with. When we rebel, it is against what we believe to be our own best interest that we push against. The excuses we offer only further separates us from our desired goal.
What my writing is and is going to be is up to me. Hold my hand if you will, but finally and eventuality it is mine to do.
To write or not to write? I am alone with that question. I alone can produce the answer.
So, there. That’s my fifteen minutes. Now I can go play.
Thanks and regards
Vishal Meena
Dear Stefanie,
Thanks for this one! I just recently had a hard time to make this differentiation too.
Under great time pressure I tried to write an article. For two or three days I was just planning it in my head and outlined only 3 titles on my laptop.
I know that planning and developing the idea is the core of writing, and it takes time and work. Even if this work is not countable by characters or by other measures. But for the 2-3 days when I was “just” thinking I often had to hush my thoughts whispering I was just procrastinating.
Agi
Super post, Stefanie!
I’ve always struggled with knocking out content in a timely manner, and to be honest I think it’s due to a lack of planning. I sort of just go into it blind. Going to give your suggestion a go of starting with brainstorming and then outlining the topics I wish to cover in the article. Wish me luck! Ha.
Very insightful article. I’ve found that what works best for me is to separate writing and idea generation time. I use “dead time” – commuting, waiting in line, etc. – to brainstorm topic ideas and I keep them all in a scratch file.
Before sitting down to write, I pick a topic from the list and write a quick bullet outline of the main points I want to hit. This approach takes away many of my key procrastinating excuses and allows me to stay focused and efficient.
Great post. On the micro-procrastinating phenomenon, one thing I’ve found helpful is carving out smaller time slots for creative pursuits.
If I’m setting aside four hours on a weekend to work on an article, chances are I’m not going to be working that entire time. But by compartmentalizing, I’m able to retain that creative energy and actually get more done.
Also, the creative process has a lot of dissimilar steps; outlining is a different kind of creative energy than writing, or editing. Splitting these up, rather than doing them all within the same window, actually improves my writing overall.
Great advice on avoiding micro-procrastination Stefanie.
I am guilty of micro-procrastinating myself, but sometimes it helps to reset my brain so I can write unique content better.
After 10 minutes it has the opposite effect, and my brain is in slacker mode.
R.G. Ramsey
Careful though – I spend a lot of my micro-procrastination time reading copyblogger.com (and other) blogs!
Thanks for the great tips! I completely agree that waiting can be key to a successful writing process. I always make sure to write my content ahead of deadline so I have time to wait before editing it and making sure it’s as clear and error free as possible before sending it off for publication.
Brilliant post! As I read through the content my mind kept going back to those many times when at the end of the day I wondered where the time went and why I did not manage to get much done in spite of spending almost all day at the computer. Now I have a name for it – micro procrastinating. More importantly, thanks to you, I now have a strategy on how to avoid it and get things done.
Thank you for this very timely post.
Hello Stefanie,
That line about Micro-procrastination hit me, it hit me hard. For my conscience is shaken by the fact that I am doing the same mistake for the last 5 years or so, since I started writing professionally and under deadlines certainly.
Now I have started to observe when my silly mind tricks me into taking those breaks that provide no added value to my life. I bet this happens with most of us but how frequently do we notice it and ponder upon what should be done as a remedy.
As the saying goes “Every Second Counts” and we are talking in minutes here which can prove . We all waste so much of our time procrastinating, maybe even more than 30 minutes. So you probably know You are missing out on many priceless benefits in long run.
Excellent point put up by Stefanie, Had to say a quick thanks to you for enlightening me. Appreciate your work.
Thanks and Regards!
Devdutt
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