WriteLife

I should have been more productive this month. I really should have.

I’m finally entirely over the bout of Covid I had a few weeks ago. I took a mini holiday to the South Island to see a couple of my long-time friends get married in a gorgeous ceremony, and to visit some other friends who moved away during one of the many Covid lockdowns. It was restful, and one of those holidays where I managed to forget about the chaos of my life and relax.

I came back home with renewed energy. A clear mind. A drive to write. No lack of material to work on. And, for the first in time in ages, I found myself with plenty of time to write.

But with all the time, and all the projects I want to work on, I haven’t been able to make any decision on where to start. I’ve opened documents only to close them fifteen minutes later and choose to try something different. I’ll start working on one chapter but then not feel in the right mood, switch to a different book, and then give up entirely.

So, for someone who has all the desire to write, I can’t seem to make a concrete decision where to start. Do I work on our Ancient Greece book? Or edit our teen fiction series. Maybe I should have a go at writing for one of those short story competitions I’ve been meaning to enter. I promise, I’ll enter someday. I really should just pick something!

In any case, all I’ve managed to produce in the last month is three-hundred more words on my chapter I’ve spent the last 2.5 months writing. I’m less than two-hundred words from the end, and usually this would be my motivation to finish. Get it done. But not this month.

What are your tips for dealing with procrastination? How do you decide what project to work on when you feel like you’re swimming in an ocean of jobs to be done? Let me know in the comments below.

-A