I’ve been trying to come up with a blog topic for several hours, but laziness is blocking my creative writing juices. I’ve had this problem since I took the weekend before July 4th off and can’t get back into the groove of things. I’ve been searching for causes for this malady. First, I decided to blame the extreme heat, but since I sit inside, cool AC running, that’s a nonstarter.
So, I went looking online for a cure. Healthline has the following suggestions:
- Make your goals manageable. A 600-word document isn’t that horrendous. I’ve been doing those for years. Maybe I’ll do 300 words and knock off until tomorrow.
- Don’t expect yourself to be perfect. Frankly, I’m not. This is possibly the most inane stupid blog I’ve ever written except for 1 Tremendous Lazy Day. I couldn’t even hold out for one year until National Lazy Day.
- Use positive instead of negative self-talk. I am brilliant, funny, witty, and can whip out something fun in a matter of minutes…. My brain totally does not believe this. Let me try again. My creativity will spew forth words of wisdom…. I need to speak with my therapist about my inability to stay on a positive message.
- Create a plan of action. Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard, punch my creativity button…..This is not working…. Any suggestions?
- Use your strengths. Play to my strong suit? Right now, I’m struggling. See No. 3. There must be something down there somewhere, but for the life of me, I’m having difficulty conjuring up a vision of brilliantly writing a sage piece of advice.
- Recognize your accomplishments along the way. OK, I can do this one. I’ve been writing blog after blog, so I have accomplished something.
- Ask for help. This is great! Can anyone send me a rough draft of a blog? I’m not picky about the topic. Some topics I’ve thought about is how one writer got blasted on social media with negative book reviews and her book wasn’t even out yet! I was so mad that I bought her book, Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess. But laziness stomped this idea out.
- Avoid distraction. I’m in trouble here. There’s plenty to distract me. My favorite evasion tactics are doing online jigsaw puzzles, sitting on the porch and running the Merlin app to see what birds are hovering outside, or watching the wildlife outside my office. No joke. I’ve been watching a deer wandering around and some female cardinals at my feeder.
- Make tedious tasks fun. Yahoo! I’ve just asked Alexa to play Janis Joplin. I used her music to help write the textbook I coauthored. I’m in the groove now. She’s rocking and wailing.
- Reward yourself. Maybe if I reward myself before I finish, I can get motivated. It’s after noon, so I’ll chill out with a dirty martini made with my new favorite gin, Smokestack from the MKT Distillery in Katy, Texas, and jalapeno-stuffed olives. Just think! One sip might produce a gush of savvy creative writing from me……. (NOT)
OMG! A phone call punched my button. My grandson is coming for the week, and I must finish before he shows up. He needs to work for money! I have lots of chores to do.
What gets you off your duff and swinging into action?
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