Procrastination - A Writer’s Enemy
I have a painting project happening at my house. This is deficiency correction work that is long overdue, but it is coming along nicely. I’ve had a lovely team of painters in my house, fixing a botched wood trim installation and doing a transformative job, for more than two weeks. I like to be here while they are working, so I’ve moved around the house to avoid being in their way and being in the mess. I have moved things (small furniture, art, decorative objects, books, lamps) from one room to another multiple times as they progress through the house - my plants are very confused. Today, my kitchen is draped in plastic so I have a lunch ready to go upstairs for later - I appreciate their efforts to keep the dust at a minimum.
This work creates opportunity for me. I am here, with little else to do. There is only so much cleaning I can do as more dust is inevitable. It’s a perfect time to write.
My impractical imagination dreams of renting a little beach house or mountain cabin, sequestering myself away for days to allow creativity and productivity. It would be magical! Like Diane Keaton writing in her exquisite beach bedroom in Something’s Gotta Give - that is what I envision. No distractions, just hammering out words with a beautiful view for inspiration. While I feel that’s what “real” writers must have, that’s not my reality.
Over the past two weeks, I have washed floors, washed windows and screens, peeled and scraped sticky plastic off replacement French doors once they were clear-coated by the painters, and moved things around to accommodate their work. I’ve also caught up on laundry, kept up with ironing, cleaned bathrooms, baked muffins, polished an outdoor table and chairs with car wax (first time in the 20 years we’ve had them), pruned plants, scoured the Internet for a perfect end table, done yoga, had Zoom visits with friends, decluttered areas of the garage. This list is not exhaustive. It has been a productive time.
I have also sat at the computer and tweaked my website, composed a newsletter, written and re-learned how to post blogs. I consider those tasks warm-up exercises for book writing. I have done a fair bit of writing and self-editing on my current manuscript. But there have been many times when I thought, “I’ll write after I (fill in the blank).” Or, “I’m tired today, most of what I write will inevitably have to be re-written or discarded today as I’m not feeling clear-minded. I’ll write tomorrow.”
What I’ve learned and have to continuously remind myself is that I just need to write. That is what writers do. Once I start, I have a hard time stopping. I’ve often avoided opening my draft because I only have 30 minutes, an hour, two hours. I need to keep working on my mindset - a little writing is better than none. A bit of time can produce something worth keeping. A tired day might be less productive but it will still put me further ahead than I was. I know all of these things, yet I still struggle with procrastination.
Procrastination is my enemy - and I have no real deadline to keep me focused. There will always be other things to pull me away. But the gift of having painters in my house, and they will be here for at least another week, is not to be squandered. And when they leave, I have promised myself to continue, to make writing my priority. I know it will be more peaceful without the sound of an electric sander! I don’t need the beach house or the mountain cabin or absolute right set of conditions. I just need to write.