Sunday, May 07, 2006

Procrastination

'Procrastination is practicing to die' or 'there is no such thing as procrastination, just wrong actions'.

The above are misquoted interprations on what procrastination is.

Sometimes I get 'lots done' in a day, but other days I actively do anything but the task I should be doing.

My main worry concerning procrastination, however, is when I'm procrastinating but not realising that I'm procrastinating.

Example?

Well, I've been meaning to write a novel for nearly twenty years now, but for some reason or other I just never got round to writing it. I did finish a home-study writing course but that did not result in writing a novel (I did get some writing confidence, however. And I did write a journal when I lived in Africa for two years, which gave me some practice and more confidence!)

Even when I decided to 'get serious' and take another writing course - The Writer's Bureau - I only managed to complete one assignment. (I think that this is probably quite common, however.)

It was only in 2004 when my NLP-practicing friend confronted me with questions about why I had not written a novel (and why I had not started to learn Spanish), that I decided to face up to the fact that I had better start to write this novel soon, otherwise it just won't happen.

Time was not a problem

I didn't have the excuse of not having enough time. I work for myself as an affiliate marketer, and could easily have worked four days a week rather than five days a week for several years (that is what I have now started doing, in May 2006).

You will always find excuses not to do something.

I guess published writers belong to the same group of people that include successful business owners or successful athletes: those that take focussed action, over and over until they achieve their goal; those that have excuses but still find a way.

I have my own excuses, but they're not important.

All of the 'how to write a novel' books make much about the simple fact that 'to be a writer, you must write'.

I think you'll find that your life is much less complicated than you realise. (And I do not talk as one who has no problems to overcome, or situations to improve, or words still to write. I talk as one who knows that anyone can make excuses, that procrastination is the easiest hobby to take up, that life would be a lot easier, if... )

If you want to write, write! Let others come up with excuses.

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