Whenever spring quarter comes around, I start to get the “All or Nothing” mentality with writing. I tend to use multiple excuses to procrastinate writing including:
1. My allergy medicine is making me drowsy; anything I write now would not turn out well anyway.
2. It has been a long day, I just want to take some “me” time.
3. It is so nice out, tomorrow when it rains, I will regret staying inside and writing all day.
As you can imagine, the list goes on like this. It is a list filled with loop-holed excuses. Solutions for these problems are one I am well aware of:
1. When I go back to revise, I may find that I have written topics I never would have thought of if I were not in a delirious state.
2. You could always write a fun prompt to help you relax and expand your creativity.
3. Take my laptop and note book outside! I have sunglasses!
However, a recent epiphany has made me put this list of excuses at the bottom of my dusty desk drawer.
While I continuously write for school related topics, I must remember to imagine the end results.
This is not just the grade that I might receive for putting in effort to write a stellar paper, but the result I will have in relation to the paper’s purpose. Here are some end results of writing that have recently motivated me to write when I would rather not:
- Learning something new
- Expanding the “writer knowledge bank”
- Exercising and enhancing creativity for later projects
- For the future me: creating an exhibit at the field museum that is about this particular topic.
These four points are what I would describe as my “muse” to write. Yours are most likely very different. So I propose that next time you take a break from that analytic essay that you are writing, use that break to write your list. You may find that your break will be shorter that you thought it would be. If you find that you are still at a loss for motivation, just sit down and force yourself to write. In about seven minutes, all the energy you took to doubt whether it was the time to write will be redirected to what project you are working on.
Remember that writing should be to find balance, even writing for a class. When you find yourself overwhelmed with the ‘work’ you must do, just write until you find the balance of writing for the class, and writing for what motivates you.