Do you ever get a mental block when you’re writing? I’ve been trying to write a blog about procrastination for weeks and I can’t seem to get the thing done!! It might seem ironic, but frankly, it’s just pissing me off.
The point of the blog was supposed to be that people sometimes procrastinate the things they’re not good at.
It’s human nature and it’s generally because we don’t know how to do it and are afraid to ask, or, we know a bit but are scared we’ll get it wrong, or we have a mental block because the project seems too big and we don’t know how to break it up into bite sized pieces.
I’ve had this many times as I develop shows. Some projects I write have an element that for one reason or another I just don’t want to work on. And even though I’ve worked through this problem over and over, I still sometimes fail to recognize this trait in myself, and I just keep putting it off until there’s nothing else to do but “that thing”. And even then I hate tackling it.
So, what are you postponing? What part of your show development needs your attention that you just keep putting off? And why are you procrastinating this one element of your show?
Is it because you don’t know where to start? I find sometimes it’s not the answer I don’t know, it’s that I don’t even know what question to ask. I also find that once I’ve forced myself to do “the thing” that it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be AND I generally learn something new and cool about the business.
So how do you overcome this? I don’t know…maybe you just write the damned thing using swear words to make yourself feel better about the whole thing. Maybe you say to hell with the spelling. Maybe you just blast it out so fast the people who hear you typing look over, wondering who you’re mad at.
I say just get the sucker done. Damn the results. Just kick that little “to-do” on your list in the teeth so you can get on with your damned day.
Now…should I proofread this before I post it?
Probably…