Lately I’ve been dealing with procrastination when it comes to writing my novel. I’ve found the perfect excuse to delay—working online jigsaw puzzles!
I allow myself one puzzle of 150 mosaic pieces in the morning along with one online sudoku. Then, I turn to the day’s task. But, after about an hour, I’m thinking maybe it’s time for another puzzle and I work one with square pieces. On bad days I work three puzzles.
Reasons for procrastination include perfectionism. I’ll mark that off the list; I got over it a long time ago. The next is abdication, waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen. Intellectually I know if I don’t write no one is going to do it for me so I can’t use that excuse. The next is being overwhelmed with too big a task. Since I’ve written other novels that are unpublished, I’m not going with that excuse either.
The last one is uncertainty; being unsure how to do the task. I believe that’s what’s driving my jigsaw mania. I’m waiting for inspiration! But inspiration might never come. What I really need to do is keep writing even if I’m not enthused. As Peter De Vries said, “I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”
So, I plan to follow my own advice as soon as I finish my jigsaw puzzle.
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