Got stuck? Inspire yourself
It happens to everyone. You know you should write something, but just you stare at a blank page for several minutes without moving your hands. Eventually, you open your browser and surf aimlessly. You even manage to sneak in a few games and watch Youtube clips. Before you know it, it’s dark and you’re eyes are too tired to work. There’s always tomorrow, you say, but you know that tomorrow the same thing will happen again.
Procrastination has always been one of my most vicious enemies. I haven’t gotten over it completely, but here’s a few things that helped me minimize it.
Stop obsessing about perfection. Often, my thoughts are too scrambled to write anything coherently. I know the topic I want to write about, but that’s it. The particulars are hazy. This makes me feel frustrated and so I put off writing. Nowadays, I don’t aim for sensible sentences right out of the bag. I write things as they come, without fussy editing (that will come later). Your first objective is to put all your thoughts about the subject on black and white. Before you know it, you’ll have whole paragraphs of material to work with. Editing is much simpler when you can see the words in front of you, instead of wrestling with them in your mind.
Motivational quote. Find a good quote that motivates you to work, or invent one yourself. It doesn’t have to be worthy of Shakespeare – it only has to work for you. Something like, “Dude, if you don’t work, you don’t eat” or “Gotta buy that birthday present for “ will suffice, as long as it hits you where it matters. Make a simple desktop wallpaper in Paint or Photoshop containing your quote in big bold letters on plain white background. Use different colors to make certain keywords pop. If you’re feeling lazy, write it on a Post-it note and stick it on your monitor.
More visual reminders. We often lose sight of why we’re working in the first place, so reminders are essential. Take a picture of your inspiration, draw your dream house, or get your fantasy model toy car and place it near your workstation. It pays to see the positive things you get from working your butt off. The blood, sweat, and tears are leading somewhere.
Give yourself a prize. In essence, bribe yourself. If you can finish X amount of work in Y hours, you get Z prize. Z could be anything that you really want to do, but prevents you from conpleting your work. Things like Facebook time, playing your guitar, watching your favorite TV show, etc. With this system, you have to earn your “messing around time”, and since you’ve already finished your work, you won’t have to feel guilty doing them.
Share your thoughts!!!