Are you a blogger who procrastinates more than you write? Procrastination is one of the most challenging habits to overcome unless you understand why you do it and correct the problem. We have a few simple tips that can help you stop procrastinating and start writing compelling content for your blog. Instead of feeling frustrated and walking away from projects that you want to complete, it’s time to put procrastination aside.
You can kick the habit and become a productive blogger by understanding the reasons why you procrastinate and how to move beyond the obstacles. It’s time to gain your freedom from the habit, roll up your sleeves, and become a productive writer. Here is how it’s done.
Understand What Causes Procrastination
Sometimes we procrastinate because there are other things we’d rather do. Usually, there are other reasons for avoidance. Current wisdom on the psychology behind the act of procrastination suggests that it’s because of more intense emotional associations with writing/blogging or any other thing we avoid. It’s usually based on some kind of fear. Fear of failure, feelings of inadequacy, lack of writing skills, depression, or other disorders can affect motivation. Ideally, it’s best to figure out why you procrastinate so you’ll best know how to change your behavior to be more proactive.
Determine Your Reasons For Procrastination
How to Blog a Book gets to the heart of the reasons we procrastinate. Most of us have genuine reasons for putting off projects. Understanding them is the starting place for correcting the problem. We look at these common reasons and offer solutions you can apply to move past them. This requires you to take an honest look inward, then commit to change.
Lack of self-confidence
A common reason for procrastinating is doubting your skills and abilities. This is more true for beginning bloggers, but it happens to seasoned writers who have a bad experience or negative comments on a blog. It’s something all writers face at some point. If your confidence is low there are a few things you can do to build it up. Research your topic, write out your outline, flesh it out, edit, and submit. The only way to build confidence is to start posting and get yourself out there. Push past your fears and doubts no matter what. The more posts you make, the more your confidence will grow.
Awareness of growth areas
If there are areas in your writing that you know are weak, wade in, address them and grow professionally. For example, if your punctuation or grammar is weak, use free online resources to build them up. Take the time to learn new skills that will boost confidence, but keep writing while you’re doing it. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s best to keep writing while you learn. Don’t put it off and refuse to let fear get in your way. If you know that you have shortcomings, then fix them and keep moving forward.
Stress and burnout
When you’re burned out or stressed, it makes you feel overwhelmed. This is one of the leading causes of walking away from a task, aside from laziness. The solution for dealing with procrastination caused by burnout or stress is to start taking better care of yourself. Get plenty of rest, start meditating, find ways to relax, eat right, avoid nicotine and caffeine, and do whatever you need to do. Keep working through it.
Organizing your personal life and writing time can help with this problem but don’t let it become an excuse for procrastination. This is a personal choice you make. While it’s a reason, it’s also an excuse. Don’t allow yourself to avoid work because of it. Instead, keep blogging and start changing things in your personal life to lessen stress and burnout.
Stop making excuses
Everyone has their own struggles. It’s life. We can choose to use them as excuses or just get to work. It’s really that simple. You can work on the things that you consider problems or obstacles to overcome while you continue to work. Even if they’re legitimate excuses, be creative and find ways around them until you’re able to solve them, but do work on them.
Prepare your attitude and your blogging environment
One of the most effective ways to break the procrastination habit is to change your attitude toward writing, then change the environment. Remove the elements that help enable procrastination. This involves self-talk and committing to change. Here are the steps to take to bust the procrastination habit.
Ignite your passion
Why are you blogging? This is an essential question only you can answer. The best blogging comes from your passion for the topic because it shines through in your writing. Find aspects of the topic you care about, share your passion with others and give them a reason to want to read it. Get excited about the blog. Write down the reasons for writing and reinforce the positives in your mind. It tends to spill over and create more enthusiasm.
Break the pattern of procrastination
The only way to break your habit of procrastination is to dive in and get it done. Refuse to allow any excuses. Tell yourself you’re going to work and don’t allow self-argument. Take a few moments to move around and get your blood flowing with a simple exercise. Take a few deep breaths then sit down and start typing. The increased oxygen to your brain can be invigorating.
Set deadlines for yourself
Start breaking old habits by setting deadlines. We are the most productive in 90-minute work cycles. Establish a few realistic goals for what you want to achieve in this time frame. Set a timer and do not allow any distractions to enter your designated work time. Develop an outline for your blog and keep writing. Get the basics typed out before you do any research.
If possible, stay off the internet so you won’t be tempted to investigate unrelated websites. You can conduct a focused search for facts for the blog after you’ve done all the brainstorming and outlining of the subject first. This helps your brain learn to stay focused for set periods. It helps to move from old behaviors to more disciplined behaviors.
Clear your environment of distractions
We all have our own procrastination tools. For some, it’s a television in the background. For others, it’s the excuse of getting up to prepare a beverage or a snack. Eliminate these from your writing environment for 90-minutes. You’re committing to working for 1.5 hours, and you can let everything else slide for this amount of time.
If you worked in a professional office, you wouldn’t get a break for 2 to 4 hours, so insist on the same level of dedication in your home office. Turn off the phone and email notifications so you won’t be tempted to answer them. You might want to start by making a list of all the things you use to avoid writing. Be honest and list them. These are things that you’re going to avoid during your set writing time.
Slay Your Procrastination Dragons
We all have dragons that feed our habits of procrastination. Getting up for a pen, paper, snack or beverage, or petting the cat are all things that qualify as excuses. They’re things that do not need to be done while you’re supposed to be working. There are a few other reasons for procrastination that I call Procrastination Dragons. They’re habits that are hard to kill, and they’re killing your blogging productivity. They fit the description of dragons we need to slay to get on the right track. Here are a few more old habits to break. Start viewing them for what they are and slay these dragons.
Save perfection for the editing phase
Suppose you procrastinate because you demand perfection and get frustrated when it doesn’t happen. In that case, it is likely one of the reasons you procrastinate. Mentally note that it’s an expectation that isn’t realistic. If this prevents you from getting started writing a blog, you must simply move past it and start writing.
Some people do better under stress and do some of their best writing when it’s down to the deadline, but it’s one of the fastest ways to achieve burnout and further delays. Suppose you’re having trouble getting started, or you demand perfect sentences from the beginning. In that case, it’s time to get rid of the expectation.
Adopt realistic expectations
Just start writing your blog without expecting perfection. The first draft is mostly intended to get your thoughts in order and come up with an outline. Set the structure of your blog with the main idea and supporting ideas. It’s not supposed to be perfect at this stage. Don’t sweat the small stuff until you come back through to make edits. Allow some free-thinking and tend to the refining after getting your outline and some exciting facts written under the heading.
Write what you’re thinking and talk about what you want to say. Follow behind and put it in order through the outline. Walk away, then come back to it after your 30-minute rest period to see it with new eyes. This is when you can work on perfection. Don’t let unrealistic expectations prevent you from getting started. If you wait for perfection, you’ll never finish anything.
Plan ahead
Prepare in advance for your blogging sessions. Get everything that you need to sit down and focus on your blogging in your writing space. Stock the area with any supplies that you need. If you plan to use photos or screenshots, download them into a file and keep them on your computer’s desktop for handy access. Set aside time for research and assemble your facts in a convenient location so you can access them as needed.
By doing some prep work in advance, you can better focus on assembling the elements you plan to include in your blog without distraction. Try to have everything you need within easy access so you won’t be tempted to get sidetracked researching or getting up from your writing spot for supplies. If you snack while you write, bring them into the room and keep them close by. Don’t give yourself a reason to get up until your 90-minute writing session times out.
Get rid of the blank white page
There’s a psychological value in getting something written on a blank white page. If you find yourself staring at a blank page because you don’t know where to start, then start writing the reason you’re writing the blog and what it’s about in your own words. Don’t worry about how it sounds, just get rid of the blank white page. It will give you a starting place, and you’ll feel better about breaking the ice. Even if you think you don’t know what to say, write what you want others to know about the topic.
Don’t Stop writing
Keep writing and get your thoughts recorded on that blank page. Suddenly, it’s no longer blank, and you have some ideas to work with. You’ve officially moved past an obstacle instead of walking away. Keep writing for the 90-minute cycle of the writing process. You’re making progress. The more that you get written, the better. When you feel you’ve written enough content, you can spend the remainder of the time block going through and organizing it.
You will start to find your direction, and the blog will begin to take shape because you’re focused on the topic instead of getting up to get away from the work. You’ll see the paragraphs start to take shape, and it will encourage you to keep going. This is an excellent way to self-motivate and builds confidence.
Know when to take a break
It’s great to spend 90-minutes writing and gaining a sense of direction. It’s also important to know when to give your eyes and your brain a break from the action. We talked earlier about burnout. To prevent fatigue and burnout, allow a rest period between 20 and 30 minutes from your writing/blogging activities. It’s important to do something totally unrelated to your writing to give your brain and your body a refresh.
Go for a walk, read, complete a different task but get the writing off your mind during your rest period. You gain a fresh perspective upon your return. This enhances your productivity. It’s vital to know when to take a break.
Know when not to quit
We’re all individuals, and each of us has our limitations. It’s also important to know when not to quit. If you’re on a roll and you’re making great progress, it may be in your best interest to finish your thoughts before you take a break. We offer general tips for breaking out of the procrastination habit. They can be modified to a small degree to suit your personal writing style.
Sometimes we must experiment to find out what works best for our situations. If you’re productive and on a roll with your writing, keep going. Just be sure to allow yourself some time to move around and rejuvenate. Writing for three to four hours at a time can also take a toll on your energy levels and lead to more procrastination because you feel tired.
Organize your time
Sometimes bloggers juggle multiple responsibilities on top of their writing. Suppose you’re a parent and have young kids, a job, responsibilities for elderly parents, or pets. In that case, you have a few more considerations to make. You will benefit by setting up a schedule/routine that includes all your responsibilities with your blogging time included in the schedule.
Choose a time that is the most distraction-free but while you’re still fresh enough to think clearly. If possible, rise early to start your day and dedicate time to writing. If this doesn’t work, find a time to be alone with your thoughts, clear your mind, and start writing. Try to make it a habit.
Conclusion
Procrastination is a leading cause of unproductivity for bloggers and writers. There are many different reasons why we procrastinate. Finding the cause of our procrastination is just part of the problem. If it’s been going on for extended periods, it has become a habit. Habits are hard to break but not impossible. We offer proven ways to break out of the habit of procrastination to move forward and achieve your blogging goals.
After you determine your reason for procrastinating, you can start working on the solutions. It’s important to start writing and keep the flow going while you’re working out personal rationales for putting off blogging work. Follow the tips that best suit your situation and break free from procrastination to do your best blogging ever.
