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One of my readers asked me to expand on the Procrastination part of Lazy Writing from last Friday's post. I thought about a post I'd written seven years ago. It became one of the most popular. I'm reposting today but adding some new thoughts. You'll see the present day additions in blue.
Deadlines and Achievement
Years ago, I told my five-year-old son he could not go to kindergarten until he learned to tie his shoes. "The teacher is too busy to do it for every boy and girl." I added that for emphasis. For weeks, he struggled, gave up, and tried again and again. The day before school started, he achieved his goal. What happiness radiated from that little face when he demonstrated his new ability to me.
This little episode illustrates two universal truths. We push ourselves harder when there is a deadline and achievement is all the sweeter when we can share our success with others.
Procrastinators are often people who work better under pressure. They tend to take the attitude that there is time to do that later until 'later' suddenly becomes ''now.' They push themselves to write, but will the result be their best writing?
In our writers' world, don't we tend to work better when there is a specified deadline? Of course we do. We think and think about writing a story or article but life tends to get in our way. We make vague promises to ourselves thinking things like Tomorrow, I'll get to it. Tomorrow arrives, the phone rings and we're off to another meeting, pick up a sick child (or grandchild) at school or...
But if a story must be sent to an editor by Thursday, we'll create time and get the job done.
Yes, if pushed, we come through. That's admirable. Again, I ask a question Will it be your best work.
And Will you have time to let the piece simmer several days before you edit?
That deadline looms over us, so we move it to the top of our To-Do list. The machine can answer the phone. Pizza places deliver night and day so the family will be fed. Few of us like to dust or vacuum anyway, so that's not a problem. The library committee meeting can go on without us this time and a niece will appreciate a check for her birthday as much as a gift. We need to block out everything but the writing project. We don't want to face failure or the humiliation of telling the editor the piece is not ready.
Achievement is accomplished by setting priorities and being firm in keeping them. Get your ducks in a row might be a good illustration. If we're wishy-washy, our goals float farther and farther away.
That 'setting priorities' bit is of prime importance.
When we receive good news from an editor, we've achieved a goal. We'd love to share the good news with someone--usually someone who means something to us. Like my son, we radiate joy when sharing news of an acceptance from a publisher. Satisfaction settles over us like a warm comforter. That, however, is not the end. Success only inspires us to continue writing and submitting. If you receive eleven rejections and one acceptance, which one do you think you'll remember longest?
There is a little danger in the joy of that acceptance. You may have procrastinated but still came out a winner in the end. Your inner conscience could very well say See, putting the project off didn't matter. I came out on top. Convince yourself of that, and you'll go right on putting things off. Yes, you'll get things done, but will it be your very best writing?
That small son of mine is now a successful businessman. He learned all about achievement before he went to kindergarten Here's hoping you did, too. If not, it's never too late to learn.
It's great to be an achiever, but it would benefit you to curb your procrastination tendencies. I do think that it is possibly an inborn trait. I have always been a 'do it now' kind of person. I prefer to work on a project and get it finished and know I have time to edit and revise. That's me. I know that is not everyone. Even so, I think procrastinators can work on putting achievement higher on the list.
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