I’m going to let you in on a secret…
November is a source of great guilt for me.
No it’s not because of not raising enough money for children in need (although I probably should do a little more) it is because November means NaNoWriMo. For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo means national novel writing month. A personal challenge to write 50,000 words in only 30 days. A personal challenge I have never been able to rise to.
This isn’t because I haven’t tried, my many unsuccessful “entries” on my old account from previous years will tell you that much. I have memories of scouring baby name websites for that perfect character name, filling out dozens upon dozens of character profiles, I even filled out the step by step guide NaNoWriMo produced to help children write their own novel. All to no avail.
They say procrastination is born out of an innate fear of failure, you don’t want to fail so you don’t do the thing you’re worrying about in the first place. If this was the reason I haven’t been able to write, it would at least make sense. A 50,000 word count is daunting. A 50, 000 word count in only 30 days on top of everything else? Well it’s not really something I want to think about.
I wouldn’t be the first with this mindset either. An estimated 20% of the population are affected by procrastination with students suffering the most with 85-95% saying they have problems associated with procrastination.
It’s not all bad news though, a simple google search of “best way to beat procrastination” will reveal tips like:
- Wake up early
- Get a motivation buddy
- Write down what you spend your time on
- Set yourself reminders
- Break down big tasks into little ones
My biggest tip is just to keep trying. Common reasons people give when asked why they procrastinate is that this is just how they’ve always been, they don’t know how to do it or they have no motivation.
For this reason I am going to keep trying. I haven’t been able to complete NaNoWriMo yet but that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.
