The Curiously Effective Way to Beat Procrastination
"I know I need to be writing this novel, but …”
How many times have you found yourself thinking that? You know you should be writing, but you find yourself surfing the internet, watching cat videos, or worse—staring at the wall, thinking about your story.
Procrastination strikes even the most disciplined writers. Every colleague I know has at least one battle story about their war against procrastination. But is slacking off every now and again a bad thing?
In most cases, procrastination is not productive, but you can turn it into a force for good by adopting a curiosity mindset and practicing a hidden superpower I call “drifting.”
HOW WRITER’S BLOCK LED TO A BREAKTHROUGH IN MY NOVEL
I discovered the curiously effective and surprising power of procrastination by accident. I was deep into a novel, and the words wouldn’t come. No matter how long I sat in the chair or how hard I stared at the blinking cursor, I couldn’t figure out what to write next.
I did the opposite of common wisdom: I stopped writing. I abandoned my manuscript for three days and promised myself that I would start writing again after the three days expired. I let myself “drift” until I found a way forward in the story.
What happened next was a lifelong lesson: Procrastination can be useful if you let it.
On the second night of no writing, my wife and I visited an upscale bakery that we had never been to before. The place captivated me the moment I walked in the door. I