WriteHive Online Conference 2024: Tackling Procrastination and Creating a Routine
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Now that the 2024 WriteHive Online Conference panels are available on their YouTube channel, I’m catching up on the ones I missed during the conference itself and sharing some of the things I gleaned from them here!
Amusingly enough, I procrastinated quite a bit on watching “Tackling Procrastination and Creating a Routine.” But once I finally watched it, I was glad I did, as it reminded me of some things and taught me a few new tricks!
When the panelists were asked for suggestions on ways they’ve broken the cycle of procrastination in the past, they mentioned setting really small goals, finding a way to have accountability (which might include hosting writing sprints, both for yourself and other people), rewards for getting things done, and having a good physical space to get you into the write headspace. Related to that last point, the panelists recommended that if you don’t have room for your own space in your home, you might be able to go to a library or coffee shop and have that be “your” writing space.
Some of the panelists also talked about using writing sprints to avoid procrastination, which tied back to the idea of accountability, but it also lets you focus on your writing for a short span of time and then get up and do something else. The act of getting up can also get your brain to think about your story in other ways, so they emphasized that taking breaks between the sprints is important. They also suggested having a visible timer to keep you on track, and one of the panelists recommended a free tool called Flocus for that purpose.
Another section of the panel talked about tracking progress and holding yourself accountable, and one of the recommendations there was to record your accomplishments in a specific way–writing down your word count for the day, etc. I’m definitely adding this recommendation to my pile. Although I’ve been noting things like story sales in my day planner, it’s also useful to record things like the number of pages I read in a craft book, the numbers of stories I sent out on submission, or the number of chapters I proofread, to use a few examples from my recent accomplishments. They also talked about the fact that sometimes, the systems we have in place need to be recalibrated, when we find they’re not really working out for us. And that, too, resonated with me, as I have made changes to my systems in the past and found that a useful way to shake things up a bit. It made me think that my systems might be in a bit of a rut and need to be recalibrated!
If you’d also like advice along these lines and so much more, check out the panel recording on WriteHive’s YouTube channel! It runs about an hour and twenty minutes, which is on the longer side, but maybe it’s the perfect amount of time for you to procrastinate on something else!
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