When re-reading Getting It Done by Andrew J. DuBrin, PH.D., I came to a section on dealing with procrastination. One piece of advice is something I’d like your feedback on. I have struggled to compartmentalize as he suggested. Except for occasional months here or there, I haven’t acquired that skill.
The author said you can make progress with procrastination if you “compartmentalize spheres of life.” He says that if you have multiple demands on your time that seem overwhelming, “mentally wear the same blinders placed on horses so they can concentrate better on the race and not be distracted.”
Box It Up!
I would love to be able to do that on a regular basis! Are you able to compartmentalize? I agree with the author that procrastination is more tempting when multiple demands are swirling and competing in your mind.
I think that male writers have an advantage here. They seem able to put things in boxes, tape the lids shut, and then deal with one box at a time. (I know this for a fact because I can tell when I am being put in the “wife” or “Nana” box while trying to write!) I was thinking about this topic just last week when someone showed me this article.
Women, however, mix things up instead of compartmentalizing. Our concern for our child’s health or marriage problems or a sibling’s financial crisis “bleeds over” into our writing time. And we tend to feel guilty if we’re happily typing away while a member of our family is in trouble or needs us.
‘Fess Up: How Do YOU Compartmentalize?
So…please share your wisdom with me. Men, if you can explain how to put things in boxes or make blinders work, please advise. Ladies, if you’ve figured out how to push aside your other concerns while you write, please share. Is the key just starting small? (Compartmentalize for 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10?)
I bet we could all use some tips! [Added later: you might want to read the tips people are leaving. There is a wealth of ideas there.]
I compartmentalize by using a timer. I set it for an hour and write “new words” for an hour. I set it for another hour and edit. I set it for a half hour and research markets. To me, that is a method of compartmentalizing. Knowing I only have a designated time to finish a specific task keeps me focused.
I think using a timer is one of the smartest time management techniques available. I’d be lost without my kitchen timer. But I hadn’t really thought of it as a technique to compartmentalize, but it sure is! Thanks for pointing that out. Each time you set the timer, you are making a “time compartment” that should help block out other things for the duration. 🙂
I am a master procrastinator, so I allow myself 15 minutes for solitaire before the writing begins. It’s just part of the routine. I like to start writing when I’ve won. 🙂 I do email and Facebook checks while I eat breakfast to get those distractors out of the way early. Beating myself up about procrastination gets me nowhere, so I just give it a time limit. I think that we often over estimate how much focused time we need to get the work done. I write from an outline, so the muse doesn’t have to turn up if she doesn’t want to, and I can still write. I’ve done the math and I write, on average, about 35 wpm. If I want to write 1000 words in a day, realistically, I only need about half an hour. Realizing that was a shock, but it also gave me a lot more freedom with my time and the number of boxes I can open in a day. And if nothing else works, be kind to yourself. Procrastination might just mean that you’re tired or in a rut. Take your writing to the park or a coffee shop or refill the well with a good book or a favourite TV show. You’re a writer. The words will come.
Set a timer and get the distractors out of the way early…I hadn’t thought of that as being a good thing. And yes, I am guilty of over-estimating how much focused time I need to get some of the work done. I am used to UNfocused, fragmented time, which stretches out a lot (and has little to show for it in the end.) I like how you don’t beat yourself up about it, but instead give it a time limit. That might work well for me, as I do like to check on the kids/grandkids and make sure all is well in their worlds first. And yes, be kind to oneself. Admit when you’re sick or exhausted and take a nap! Thank you for your reply!
Kristi, really enjoyed your newsletter! Congratulations on all the great writing you’re doing!!! Hah, I’m the queen of compartmentalization since I was a kid. I got my homework done on the bus or (at school even) so that I could have uninterrupted time to play after my chores.
Compartmentalization is really about putting aside other concerns and just having laser beam focus on the thing in front of you, which means not answering the phone (and sometimes even the door), checking email, etc. I think it’s good to block out times when all you’ll be doing is your writing work. For me, this means mornings are for chores and less demanding tasks like revising and critiquing, afternoons for my own creative work. Night-time is good for me too.
Hi, Vijaya! Thank you for responding. I love that you’re the queen of compartmentalization. I’ve never been good at it, even as a kid. But from your comment, I spotted a couple of problems right away: phone and email. I used to be better at ignoring them. I need to get back to it. I think I should work on my Neo2 that doesn’t have any Internet for a while again, so there are no temptations. It only does word processing. Our biorhythms are sure different though. If I don’t write my creative stuff in the mornings fairly early, it probably won’t happen. I leave chores for late in the day when I am brain dead. Ha!
I’m a fan, so I’d like to give back a little for all the times I’ve found encouragement from you here or elsewhere. I won’t say that I’ve conquered the procrastination bug or the mommy balance, but I consider writing my full-time job and have recently taken on additional part-time employment, along with a ministry, a husband, and three kids at home. Number one, you absolutely must buy a copy of Jessica Abel’s Growing Gills. I have been working on a review of it for the SCBWI Bulletin (a project which has unsuccessfully fallen to procrastination for the last couple of years) because I think every creative should read it. (warning, Jessica sometimes uses colorful expletives.) Her suggestions and exercises for valuing your time, designing processes around your creative work, and taking control of the demands on your schedule were the beginning of a life-altering process for me. Secondly, I beg you to change your viewpoint. Life is a balance of all the pieces, not a compartmentalized pie graph. Writing for many of us moms is not something we should add to our to do list. It is as vital a calling as any other duty of our motherhood. What better way to show my kids how to achieve their own goals than to model it in my own life? Not because I am superwoman and can juggle everything, but because I am not. How do we prioritize? How do we share our dreams with our family support system? How do we say no to the good so we can say yes to the excellent? These are skills I want to teach my kids because in the end, most of the reason I meet their needs first is because I want them to have the tools and opportunity to follow their own dreams. Does that shed any light on my process? For example, I feel very strongly about having a decent dinner on the table every night, but by communicating with my family about the process of doing that (sometimes by finishing a short story while the meatloaf bakes, sometimes by asking them to fend for themselves while I write) I SHOW them how to attempt a balanced life journey. One last thing, take a look at those urgent demands for attention, at your schedule. How many things eat up your writing time which are never truly crossed off the list? You clean something; it gets dirty again. You empty your email box; it’s full a few hours later. You prep, eat, do dishes; repeat…several times a day! Realizing how I spend my days is how I spend my life has helped me minimize the demands and the drudgery, and throw myself into the work time and time again. If you have to, compartmentalize the non-writing tasks! So you feel the need to solve that sibling crisis? Set a timer and stick to it. If the problem isn’t solved by that time, you can schedule another session tomorrow. They’ll come knocking again. Feel buried under laundry? Do triage and move on. You’ll still be buried tomorrow whether you spend all day or twenty minutes. Trust me on this one. Need to manage a child’s habit? Give it a half-hour today, it’ll rear its head again in a few days to remind you. These ideas won’t create extra minutes in the day, but they might help you value the minutes given to you in a way that doesn’t rob you of productivity and joy. Feel free to treat me like Marcel Proust’s housekeeper, but be warned, I may occasionally put you on a timer.
Joanne, what a wealth of information here! We can always learn from each other. I’d never heard of Jessica Abel’s Growing Gills, but I looked it up. Love its subtitle: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life. I think I will have to buy it after such a glowing review. Anything that shifts my paradigm in a good way! You could write a whole series of articles on the tips you listed. Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I’m going to slowly digest this again, piece by piece. (P.S. Bought the book…supposed to arrive Sunday!)
Oh, Kristi! I’m trying right now to learn to ‘compartmentalize’ better! And the differences between men and women sure came into focus just yesterday. My husband is in a position that from time to time, he can work from home. He doesn’t understand how that’s a ‘distraction’ for me and he’s right–for the most part, he sits in a spare bedroom and works. But I’m still aware of him, and if he wants or needs anything, of course I’m right there. Yesterday, he worked from home so that he could set up two appointments to have someone come out to our house to review our cooling and heating system and give us estimates for a new furnace and ac. Each of those appointments took about an hour and in between he ran out for a haircut. Somehow, he still managed to engage with his co-workers via e-mail as needed and get his work done. And then since he was home ‘early’ without his usual hour-long commute, he suggested we go out for a drink and dinner. Yes, there were still pockets of time where I could have and should have been able to get some writing done but about all I accomplished was jotting down a couple name ideas for a secondary character. ::sigh:: I’ve GOT to learn how to use those blinders!
I totally get it, Pam! The main reason I get up at 5 to be ready to write by 6 is because my husband works second shift and doesn’t wake up till 10 or later. I can write better while he is comatose…ha! I think waiting for workers to show up and make noise is even worse. The last time we had workers in the house and my husband was home to deal with them, I was on a strict deadline, so I let him deal with the workers, and I headed off to a nice library “quiet room” for five hours. I just had to get away from it totally. I DO shut my office door and use a white noise machine, which helps a ton, but sometimes I just need to leave the premises!