I shouldn’t be surprised this virus is still here. Cases in the United States are higher than ever yet it feels like people have completely forgotten about the pandemic. I mean, my school starts in person (alternate half days but still) in two weeks.
The future is unpredictable and it’s stressful. So how can anyone write when we’re so worried about everything else that’s going on? I’m sure some writers will say the answer is simple: just write. I think it’s more complicated than that. It’s hard to stick to a writing routine when your schedule can change at any moment.
It’s not been easy for me to write. It’s taken me forever to write this blog. Part of the problem is motivation- the other seems to be time. There’s so much time now, I’m not entirely sure what to do with it all so I do what makes the most sense: nothing. Doing nothing is great when I need to recharge, but not helpful when I want to get something done.
I’ve come up with some solutions to combat my procrastination. First, get it done early. I know I have a lot more energy in the morning than I do in the afternoon. After lunch, all I want to do is catch up on one of my Netflix shows or listen to an audiobook. By getting it done early, I not only have the rest of the day to do nothing, but I won’t feel guilty or think about it for too long either.
I also have to think of the task in smaller parts. I’ve heard this tip from a lot of author tubes and blogs and it’s helpful. When I think of writing sentence by sentence instead of page by page, writing feels a lot more manageable and I’m more motivated to start.
Speaking of motivation, once you have it- don’t lose it! If you stop in the middle of what you’re doing to get food or scroll through social media, you won’t want to finish what you started when you come back to it. Trust me on this one.
Obviously no one is perfect (I’m definitely not) so if you don’t get around to writing that page or working out don’t beat yourself up over it. This is easier said than done. Try to think about what you did accomplish that day. You’ll find you did more than you thought.