Procrastination

Artists, it’s normal to procrastinate.

We all do it in some capacity - I thought I wasn’t much of a procrastinator because I can start projects like nobody’s business… then I realized that it’s tying up the loose threads and finishing a project that I run away from. 

It’s an age old struggle - Steven Pressfield writes brilliantly about it in his book “The War of Art”;

“ Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. 

We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.”

Instead we say, “I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.

The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit.

We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.”

Gahhhhh so true and terrifying!!!

Procrastination takes over when there are unaddressed fears that send you into autopilot. Amie McNee suggests a journal prompt of “What am I running from?”. In the moment where you want to turn away from your creative work, ask yourself this question and see what arises. 

For me, it can be discomfort from uncertainty - sometimes I just don’t know how to overcome obstacles so I just drop the entire project. At times I want to avoid the tedium of executing my vision - it was so sparkly and glamorous in my mind that the reality of bringing it out into the world feels unappealing. This goes hand in hand with the desire to start a new project, maybe I’ve been scrolling and seen countless OTHER ideas that I want to try… Other times it’s due to perfectionism, I’m not liking how something is turning out, so I want to pretend it never existed and leave it at the bottom of a drawer to rot. 

How do we move through our procrastination?

1. Smaller goals

SARK talks about this, Amie McNee is all about it, James Clear wrote a whole book about it (Atomic Habits)…

So. My goal recently was to do 1.5 hrs of visual art a day…. I haven’t been doing that. I’m going to set my goal at 20 minutes a day instead so that I build up trust with myself that I can and will prioritize my art (even the boring work that I want to run away from!)

My bare minimum is going to be 10 minutes a day, and my cap will be 1.5 hours. Why a cap you might say? The idea is a practice that will last, not to burn ourselves out!

2. Recognize what is stopping you

What are you running away from? What feels difficult, scary, uncomfortable or boring? What part of the creative process stops you in your tracks?

3. Celebrate your accomplishments!

Give yourself a small treat - think scents, sounds, sights, textures, tastes… it doesn’t have to be big. In fact small is what this is all about. 

I’ll write again in a month and see how these smaller goals have affected my creative working routine.