Tuesday Tea: Write On Time

Unless your name is Beyoncé, none of us are ***Flawless. We all have our faults and part of adulting is recognizing what yours are and making an effort to do better. Unfortunately, being aware of your issues doesn't always translate into knowing how to address them.

Case in point: I am a master procrastinator. Why do today what I can do sometime next week? I never met a deadline I didn't take down to the wire. I always put everything, and I do mean everything, off until the last possible second. It would be easy to claim I get distracted doing stuff and things, or the task slips my mind, or other responsibilities take priority but the truth is I choose not to handle my business in a timely manner. There's no excuse for it and as many times as it's bitten me in the behind, I know and should do better.

So why don't I? I could come up with a million and three reasons why but the bottom line is...I don't wanna. If it's something I'm excited about or will get an immediate payoff from or enjoy, I do it with the quickness. If it's something that makes me anxious (like making phone calls, going out, or returning messages) or I'm worried about getting "right" or I just don't enjoy, I put it off until it can't be put off anymore.

I don't have to tell y'all this is a problem. At the end of the day putting things off only creates more pressure and anxiety. The longer I go without taking care of The Thing, the bigger it becomes. The bigger The Thing becomes, the more anxious about it I get and the more anxious I get, the less I want to do it. The less I want to do it, the longer I put it off and the longer I put it off, the more pressure I feel to get it "right" when I finally do it.

At that point one of two things happen: I buckle down and do The Thing like I'm the greatest to ever do it or I half-ass The Thing just to get it over with.

And again...this is a problem. I'm working on it. How?

• Breaking tasks down into pieces that can be completed over time rather than all at once. 
• Telling other people what I have going on so they can help hold me accountable
• Keeping things simple and not trying to always go "above and beyond"  (this is hard for me)
• Limiting distractions (Again, difficult but necessary)
• Being honest and asking when I need help (the hardest thing)
• Giving myself incentives to get it done (yes, I reward myself for good behavior lol)

Since I've actively started trying to break my procrastination habit, I've made significant improvements. I still have a long way to go but I'm getting there.  The biggest help has come in being honest about what works for me and what doesn't.

What doesn't work for me is having a task with no set deadline. If I can do it "whenever" it'll never get done or I will take all damn day to do it.

This is especially true when it comes to my writing. Those select few of you who are familiar w/my fanfiction alter ego know that I am the Queen of the WIP. Seriously, I have unfinished fics that go back years. Years, y'all. Whenever I stopped writing a fic I always said "I'll go back and finish it someday" Guys, it's 2016 and someday still hasn't come. One of the reasons I'm still waiting on "someday" is because there's no deadline. I can always jump back into my fandoms and pick up my fics where they left off.

I've been treating my novel writing the same way. I have several WIP's going right now with zero firm deadlines for any of them. This is...not working for me. I know me well enough to admit that I'll never get anything done like this. So, in keeping with my whole Year of Yes  this is me breaking bad habits, holding myself accountable, and handling my business like a boss.

How? Well, that's where you guys come in.

I'm giving myself until June 1st to complete An Inconvenient Arrangement.  Yep, you heard me. I am on a deadline. I will have this book written by June 1st.

And now that I've spoken this book into existence, I need to get to make it happen. And I have a plan for that. Because a dream without a plan is just a wish and I've been wishing for way to long. It's time to get to work. So what's the plan? So glad you asked!

• Picking ONE project to work on and focusing on it exclusively
• Writing schedule - From 10-2, Monday through Friday is dedicated writing time. 
• Accountability Assistants-Telling people what I'm doing so they know and help motivate me
• Check Ins- Every week posting a snippet of what I've written
• Asking for help - I need to reach out for feedback and concrit on my work.