Procrastination: Putting Things Off
I had been going to pick a word to write about some time ago, but, you know how it is… life got in the way. What’s that John Lennon saying, again? *
Well, that’s my excuse, anyway. Others might claim I’ve simply been putting it off. Wasting time. Finding other things to do as a way of avoiding my obligations. Sounds about right.
It’s for this reason that the word I’ve picked today is procrastination.
Procrastination is a relevant word for freelancers, as it’s how most of us spend a large part of our time. Try as we might to knuckle down and crack on, the lure of not-working is a powerful one. In the modern world of Facebook, Twitter and bitcoin slot games – a world in which all the information (and misinformation) you could possibly want is available at the click of a mouse – it’s easier than ever to get pulled down a rabbit hole by a passing thought.
What exactly is the history of International Women’s Day? Bish.
How did Tsar Nicholas II come to be canonised? Bash.
Could I be part of the Romanov dynasty? Er, probably not…
Work Ethic 1975–2017
The point being that procrastination is an ever-present danger to the freelancer’s lifestyle. You’re probably procrastinating right now.
So how do we stop? Well, my trick (which sometimes even works) is to block off parts of the day purely for procrastination itself. The time goes much more quickly once you know that for every two hours of proofreading or copy-editing you’ve done you’ll get fifteen blissful minutes of not doing anything very useful. Not a perfect solution, but it’s the best I can come up with.
What are your techniques? Would love to hear from fellow procrastinators!
* Goo goo g’joob