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Do you think that you would be more productive and less likely to procrastinate if you had better time management skills? If you say yes, you're not alone. Most of us feel that way, myself included. And as a book coach, one of the main struggles my clients face is how often they procrastinate when they want to be writing. But what if I told you that procrastination and time management issues aren't the real cause of low writing productivity? What if I told you that procrastination wasn't the issue at all? Hey writer, welcome to the Write It Scared Podcast. I'm Stacy, your host. The podcast is on a break for the summer while I recharge and get ready for season four. But I didn't want to leave you hanging. Over the next couple months, I will be pulling some favorite solo episodes from the vault, episodes on craft, mindset, and just the messy reality of writing our books. Also, as a reminder, the Courage Files will remain open for submissions all summer long. The Courage Files is a new segment launching on the podcast in season four where listeners share moments of writing courage, big or small. Maybe you finally figured out how to make a tricky scene work, or you finished your draft, or you shared your work. Maybe you returned to writing after a long time away, or you simply kept going when it would have been easier to quit. Whatever your moment looks like, I want to hear about it.

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And with your permission, share it on the podcast next season to help inspire other writers. Because remember, we're in this together.

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Every submission received this summer will be entered for a chance to win a free editorial assessment and book coaching session with me. And I'll announce the winner when season four kicks off this fall. To submit, go to writeitscared.co forward slash courage hyphen files, or you can find the link in the show notes. And if you're diving into planning or drafting a new novel this summer, grab my free novel quick start guide. It's called First Draft Confidence, and it's designed to help you build a strong foundation for your story so that you can move into your first draft with more clarity, more confidence, and a whole lot less flailing. You can find the novel quick start guide at writitscared.co forward slash novel planning guide, or you can also find the link for that in the show notes.

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Alright, so let's get into today's episode and I'll see you back for real in season four.

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Well, hello, writer. Today we're going to talk about procrastination and other forms of writing resistance and how to move past them so that you can get on with writing your novel. So do you think that you would be more productive and less likely to procrastinate if you had better time management skills? If you say yes, you're not alone. Most of us feel that way, myself included. And as a book coach, one of the main struggles my clients face is how often they procrastinate when they want to be writing. But what if I told you that procrastination and time management issues aren't the real cause of low writing productivity? What if I told you that procrastination wasn't the issue at all? Did your eyebrows just go up? My clients often do, especially when I tell them the truth. Procrastination is actually trying to help you. Procrastination is your body's attempt to solve the problem it's facing, the blank page, the scene you need to write, the outline you need to draft, the heap of words that you still need to revise, the query letter or the synopsis that you know you need to write, or the story idea that you've romanced writing forever, but you've never actually typed a word of. Even though these tasks can feel daunting, they aren't really what's triggering your procrastination or your poor time management either. So what is stress or perceived stress. To the mind body, it's one and the same. And to writers, writing is often stressful, especially when we focus on outcomes we can't control. Like, what are people going to think? What if no one likes it? What if is it even worth it? What if I never get published? Who am I to write about this topic? It's probably a dumb idea anyway. And then there's the scarcity side of things, which looks like I don't have the time or the authority or the ability or the status or the know-how or the talent or the skills or the creativity or the authenticity. We could go on and on here, right? So procrastination is one mechanism that your body can use effectively and efficiently to temporarily reduce your stress levels. But it comes with a big cost. I recently read a book by a doctor of psychology named Tim Seichel. The book is called Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, a Concise Guide to the Strategies for Change, and I highly recommend it. I read it on, listened to it on audio, and it's short but concise. And I'll paraphrase here, but Dr. Seichel says that procrastination is actually an emotion-focused coping habit. And it's a problem of self-regulation in the same way that eating the second or third row of cookies is a self-regulation problem when we only wanted one cookie to begin with. The point is, it's not going to make us feel better. Putting things off isn't going to make us feel better either. But we hold on to this naive belief that this is the thing we need to do right now. Our present self believes that we're going to benefit, but our future self is who pays the price. And I just found this incredibly eye-opening. The idea that procrastination is an emotion-focused coping habit. So, what's the takeaway? Well, if you're caught up in procrastination and not writing your book or doing the work to reach your publishing dreams, and you're beating yourself up about it, please hear me. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not lazy, you are not weak, it is not because you are ill-equipped to do this work. You are a human being. And procrastination, which is just one of the many forms of resistance that we gravitate to, is a natural response to difficult and uncertain situations. So don't beat yourself up over your biology, but do investigate because feelings are not facts. I know if you know me, you know I say that a lot. Because it's true, and because I have to remind myself of that fact all the time because my feelings are very powerful and they can easily derail me. So I invite you to pop the hood and investigate what's really going on underneath your lack of progress. And first and foremost, remember that not all delay is procrastination. Sometimes there are very legitimate reasons for putting off our writing. The kids get sick, we get sick, something unforeseen or terrible happens, or something wonderful and positive happens, like we go on vacation. You know, we live this messy life. My point is don't beat yourself up when you have to rejigger your priorities, and that means that writing falls to the bottom rung. But when lack of progress isn't related to life outcomes you can't control, then you need to do some digging and examine what the tape is saying that's playing inside of your head. So what are some ways to do that? Write about it. Get it outside of you. Talk to somebody you trust. Be honest about it. Because only when we are willing to face our resistance and our fears can we move beyond them. One of my clients recently experienced what I like to call the cozy stuck. They were frustrated by their lack of progress in drafting. But instead of working on a scene that they were supposed to turn into me, they were focused on continuing their character development and their world building and their organization. And these were things they felt comfortable with. Yeah, they were frustrated by their lack of traction, but they weren't changing anything. And after a little discussion, it turns out that they felt really overwhelmed by all the decisions they needed to make and were afraid of making the wrong choices. That's very real. So cue the mind-body stress, cue the procrastination. So I asked them, what if you stopped worrying about getting it right? What if you dropped your expectations to the dirt and then buried them? What would it actually hurt you to try to write this scene? And they just kind of looked at me. And you know, the fear of getting it getting things wrong is very, very real. But the truth is, so what? So what if you get it wrong, you'll fix it. That's the primary thing we do as writers. The only thing we can do is improve the work so long as we continue to work at it. And we can never be perfect. And even if we could be, it would not protect us from pain. It would not protect us from uncertainty, though our egos beg to differ. So I invite you to really look at what's going on inside yourself and figure out what's holding you back because no one can write this book but you. As writers, we often face resistance to doing our creative work. It is a normal part of the process to have doubt, to feel unsteady, and procrastination is just one of those forms of resistance. And if resistance keeps us stuck for too long, we have to do something about it. So I have a simple process that I use with my clients, and it begins with cultivating awareness of what our brain wants us to believe in order to stay safe. We look at those beliefs and then we determine what's true and if it serves us. And if those beliefs don't serve us the way we want them to, we've got to find a way to rewrite them and take ownership of our decisions and the consequences of our action. Because writing a novel is an inside job. Yes, I say that a lot too. So if you're dealing with resistance, you're avoiding the blank page, avoiding the edit, or you've been in an endless research and prewriting cycle, try this process by answering these questions and see what comes up. Number one, ask yourself, what do I ultimately want in regards to my writing? Number two, why do I believe I can't have it? Notice what the but statements are that come up when you think about what you want. Slow down and consider if fear is hiding inside of any of those but statements. And recognize, again, that fear is a natural response to uncertainty and ask how that but statement is keeping you safe. Now look for the truth. I often say that fear is a false expectation appearing real that is directing your action. So look at those but statements, those expectations, those fears that you have that are holding you back. Are you absolutely certain that they're going to happen? Are you absolutely certain that you can't write a novel in the 20 spare minutes that you have at night? Are you 100% sure that if you start revising your book, your changes won't really matter and it'll still be a mess? Are you absolutely sure you'll never be able to fix this first draft? Do you have a crystal ball? No. Me either. So there's a very good chance that what you're afraid of happening is not going to happen. And by leaning into resistance tactics like procrastination or perfectionism, you're never going to have to find out. You won't have to risk it. You'll be able to stay safe, which your mind body thinks is good. So high five self dodged another bullet there. But your higher self, the conscious self-aware, you knows that you're still going to be here, still stuck with a desire that you haven't moved on. And I know that's not what you want. You wouldn't be listening to this if it were. So you need to find a way to convince your body-mind that you're already safe to do this work. So if those but statements were not facts, ask yourself, what do you need to learn to believe instead to be able to take action that you need to move towards your goals? So you put this belief into practice by doing, because action is how we cultivate confidence. So whatever these beliefs may be, let's say it's the only thing I can do is make this book better by continuing to work. Every word I write matters and counts, and it serves towards creating a body of work that I'll be proud of. Maybe those are the beliefs that you need to lean into. And they're probably things that you don't believe at all right now, but that's okay. You don't have to believe it in order to take action. But let those beliefs become your daily affirmations. Say it to yourself a million times as you continue to take action to achieve your goals. Act your way forward. We can't think our way forward. We have to act our way forward. That is the key. It is action. Action taken in small, consistent steps in service to our goals. So, writer friend, remind yourself that feeling resistance or fear is a natural response to uncertainty. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not weak, you are not lazy, you are not ill-equipped. Feelings are not facts, and you are safe to begin and continue, even if the outcome is unknown. Resistance is always going to come before growth. And the bigger the resistance you feel, the greater the growth you are going to experience. And you can do this. If you would like more help working through these types of resistance, I have a free guide that you can download. It's a mindset tool called Facing Writing Fears and Moving Past Creative Blocks. And the purpose is to help you learn to manage your expectations as you come to the page, identify and reframe any unhelpful narratives so that you can get back to writing. You can find it at www.writitscared.co forward slash the right mindset. Again, that's www.writeitscared.co forward slash the right mindset. And that is right spelled W-R-I-T-E. And I will also drop a link to that site in the show notes. So thank you for tuning in today. And I hope this was helpful. And I will see you next week. Thank you for listening to the Write It Scared podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please make sure to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode. And please leave a review. Reviews help other writers like you find the voices and messages they need to hear to continue to write their stories. Let's lift each other up. Remember, you can be scared and still be unstoppable. I'll see you next week.