Procrastination is a deadly assassin, infiltrating your creative habits when you’re not looking, creeping up and claiming huge chunks of time you could be using to create.
One of the reasons procrastination is so powerful and such an enemy to creativity, is because it’s so stealthy and subtle. Before you’ve realised what’s happening, another day has disappeared with most of it spent on small, fairly meaningless tasks and very little creating.
So once we admit that procrastination is an issue that all of us face as creative people, what’s the best way to overcome it?
IS there a way to overcome it, or should we resign ourselves to a life of fleeting moments of creativity in between oceans of unproductive time?
The seemingly obvious answer is to find out WHY you procrastinate. Surely once you know why you procrastinate, you’ll be able to stop procrastinating. Right?
Well, unfortunately that just doesn’t work. Here’s the kind of logical reasoning that usually follows:
“OK, so I finally admit it, procrastination is an issue, I spent a lot of time on trivial stuff like checking my email every 10 minutes, and doing unnecessary “research” on how to create, rather than just getting down to creating.
To beat these procrastination habits, I’ve got to find out why I procrastinate. So… Maybe it’s because I’m working on a creative project I’m not really passionate about, something I feel I SHOULD be doing rather than something I really enjoy?
Maybe I’m scared of getting too far with the project then getting stuck and having to abandon it, adding to my growing collection of unfinished projects?
Maybe I’m procrastinating because deep down I feel guilty about creating, and don’t feel I deserve to have time to create just for me. So I end up doing other things to avoid making this creative time feel so self indulgent?”
And I’m sure you could go on and come up with a few pages of possible reasons WHY you procrastinate to avoid creating…
All you then end up with is a list of perfectly feasible reasons why you procrastinate. Every one of them probably has some truth, and has some influence on why you don’t create more.
But all you’ve done is give yourself more ammunition for procrastinating!
“No wonder I’ve been procrastinating so much recently, look at all these reasons stacked up against me! It’s amazing I even pick up a pen or a paintbrush at all!”
Result? You create EVEN LESS than before.
Endless analysis leads only to creative paralysis.
So what’s the alternative?
Focus on the reality of your procrastinating habits, and look at the HOW and the WHEN. Once you begin – objectively and without judgement – to find the times and situations when you’re most likely to procrastinate, and the ways you’re most likely to procrastinate, you’re in an informed and empowered position.
Forget about the WHY and endless analysis. Start observing the WHEN and the HOW of your procrastinating.
Only then can you take the next steps to finally beating procrastination and freeing your creativity from its stranglehold.