Prioritizing!

If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one. ~Cavett Robert
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Yesterday’s procrastination post went over real well. I think I hit the nail on the head with what writer’s fear more than writer’s block, more than rejection, MORE than their mother saying, “I told you so!” and that is the Procrastination Bug.

It creeps up on you too, in an unsuspecting manner, like the tick I found on my leg this morning. It clung to my leg like I was a Thanksgiving feast. That’s what the procrastination bug does, finds unsuspecting victims and climbs aboard but once it bites you and has you under its control, you need the next step there is in fighting it and possibly finding a cure for the disease or at least a solution to help you muster through.

Okay, I’ll tell you since you twisted my arm. It is called PRIORITIZING! This is the bug that you WANT to bite you. I’ll call it a ‘friendly leech’ that’ll suck the procrastination venom right out of you and leak the prioritizing bug right into your veins directly!

Let’s see if I can nail this one in five steps:

1. The number one thing that you are going to put into action to deter Procrastination Bug, is SILENCE!
You are going to silence the outside world and stir your inner world into action. I live on a farm in the middle of basically nowhere so silence comes pretty easy. But I’m not just referring to noises that the OUTSIDE world brings in, I’m referring to the inside noises that have gripped you. Inside noises you say? Yes, the internet is inside noise!!! Silence it, just for an hour a day while you PRIORITIZE!

2.  SACRIFICE - Yes, you’re going to need to sacrifice a little time on facebook with your friends. Maybe sacrifice mowing the lawn or weeding the garden or running errands, but somewhere along the day towards PRIORITIZING you need to give up something in order to sit down and write!

3. IGNORE - Yup, that too. It may feel like you are ignoring your friends and they might wonder what happened to you while you’re not ‘active’ in their online events, but you show them this post and let them know, “I’m not ignoring you, I’m just prioritizing my time.” They’ll toss the old guilt trip at you and say, “What? I’m not a priority?” And you’ll answer, “Not when it comes to becoming a published writer and playing Farmville on facebook, no, sorry, you’re NOT.” 

4. FOCUS -  This is the hard part. This is where you are going to write until your fingers bleed, even if you have nothing to write. Sit and make something appear. The more you put into practice the art of prioritizing, words will flow and you’ll be banishing procrastination.

5. ACT -   This one is the hardest of the five! This is where you’re going to need to connect to the internet, and find a market for your work! No, LIKING everything on facebook is not searching markets, it’s not a priority to even glance at facebook. We need MARKETS!!! Now get to it!