Unplug, End Procrastination, and Get Your Work Done – Daily Quote

/ JoHawkTheWriter

therell-come-a-writing-phase-where-you-have-to-defend-the-time-unplug-the-phone-and-put-in-the-hours-to-get-it-done.-james-taylor

We writers are great procrastinators. Few events remind us of urgent tasks and motivate us to finish trivial chores like a scheduled writing session. Suddenly we remember emails we must send, laundry that needs our attention, and the far reaches of the refrigerator cries for sorting, cleaning, and organizing. How have we missed the dust bunny under the back corner of the couch? There are text messages, file folders to comb through, and only twenty more levels until we reach the end of the Candy Crush path.

But words don’t write themselves, and the stories living in your head are difficult to share. The day dawns, and we realize it is time for a decision. The choice is to continue along the familiar rut of wishful thinking and ingenious avoidance tactics or to honor the promises we have made to ourselves. The smart course of action is to unplug, disable notifications, silence your phone, dismiss the voices trying to distract you and write. Some writers create a ritual to set the mood. They light a candle, put on their fuzzy slipper socks, pour a hot cup of coffee, lock the door, and discover the words to convey our grand tale.

What are your writing rituals?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

7 thoughts on “Unplug, End Procrastination, and Get Your Work Done – Daily Quote”

  1. I was rudely shoved off my wifi the other day, and my first thought was about how much more writing I could do. But it didn’t happen…
    Somehow, I found myself doing anything and everything, sorting, cleaning, I was like a madwoman.
    What a wasted opportunity!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I used to teach writing; maybe it’s a once-and-future thing. The thing I disliked most to do while doing that was to grade. I mean assign a grade. I enjoyed reading students’ writing and responding to it. But that grade seemed to slow down everything, if not grind everything to a halt. I guess I’m referring to my mind. By contrast, simply writing doesn’t seem so bad. But I’m also writing without expectation, mostly. Maybe that is a paradisal situation.

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    • I like your reference. The Once and Future King was a transformative book for me.

      I can see how assigning grades could be your least favorite activity. Passing judgement on a student’s work can be an indictment or praise of the teacher’s ability to instruct as much as it is the student’s ability to learn. Tangled webs my friend. Tangled webs.

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