The Art Of Overcoming Procrastination

I have to say that I have spent the bulk of my life fighting procrastination. I'm pretty good at getting things done when I need to, but it takes me a lot of work to get there. You see, I am the only daughter of the Queen of Procrastination. As wonderful as my mother is, setting a good example for getting things done on time is something she never did. If there was an event we needed to get to; we'd be late. If cleaning or shopping needs to be done for the holidays, it all got done on Christmas Eve amidst screaming and cursing. If bills need to get paid, the late fee got paid as well.

Luckily, Dad is the typical Type A personality who needs everything done yesterday. How did my parents survive each other with such different personality types for 43 years of marriage? Simple: Dad gets up at 6 am every morning and gets his stuff done and Mom ignores him as she does her crossword puzzles. I'm not saying they don't drive each other crazy sometimes, but the basic plan works for them most of the time.

Needless to say, I picked up some of Dad's habits. Not enough to be anything close to a Type A personality, but enough to be a D-.

Today, my procrastinating, bit me in the butt. I figured I would save my writing for the end of the day since I had some scheduled items to do during the day. Then I had to do a favor for a friend. Then I had to take Mom food shopping because Dad was tied up with house repairs. All of this was not a problem, I was happy to do it. But, at the end of the day, when supper was over, I realized I have no time to write tonight. I'm just exhausted.

So, I forced myself to sit down to at least write this blog. Keep the writing muscle flexed.

And that's the key to overcoming procrastination: do. Just sit and do it. Don't put off for a minute, a day, or a year. Some people say, "I'll wait until I'm retired to write a novel." Why? Between now and retirement you can learn so much more about writing that will make that novel a bestseller if you start writing NOW. All it takes is a page a day. That's all.

Even though I did not get to work on my scheduled work, I did write. Here it is. And this is more than many writers did today. And that puts me one step ahead. What have you written today?
Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE