PROCRASTINATION: HOW COPYWRITERS LEARNED TO GET AROUND IT
Procrastination: the worst nightmare of anyone working in a creative industry. Imagine this. It’s finally happened — a client found you, they liked your portfolio, agreed to your rates and you have agreed to work together. They give you their first task. And you — well, you just can’t get started.
They say that facing your weaknesses will help to overcome them. So, in order to fight procrastination, COPYWRITERs have decided to grab a scalpel and cut it open to see what’s inside. The inside was dark and reeked of uncertainty and fear of judgement. Indeed, every time a writer opens a blank Word document to start a new creative process, the destination can feel oppressively uncertain. And the more freedom you have at your disposal, the less clear the path to a result.
What complicates it is that creative people tend to associate the results of their work with their own personalities. Many artists, designers and writers would say they are in large part defined by their work; in terms of their social perception, but also regarding their deeper self-esteem and self-understanding. So, there is no question that the work has to be perfect. As in, Perfect. More like perfect in a way that you understand it and, hopefully, others will too. And therefore it is this very uncertain path to a result which can be nothing less than perfect, which creates the procrastination. Even if you tend to complete everything the night before a deadline, it probably doesn’t bring that joy and satisfaction that genuine creative work should. And as procrastination is related to depression, we really shouldn’t delay getting to know the tools so we can give it a proper fight.
As part of our rigorous research, there are three instruments we have tested and found to be extremely effective in dealing with procrastination:
· First, try breaking down one big scary task into tiny easy-peasy ones. So, in order to write this blog post, for example, we had to (a) go to a computer, (b) open it, © open a blank Word document, (d) type a title or something that will become a title in the near future and (e) put “XXXX” instead of the first sentence, so the page doesn’t look so empty. Wow, it already looks like it’s almost done!
· Second — just put it out there. It’s not a draft that anyone should or will see — it’s just a text you write on a given topic. It also really helps if you enjoy it in the process. Through this process your creative engine will get turned on and you start seeing the passages that you like and come back and edit the places you don’t. This kind of writing process bears some resemblance to sculpture, forming a beautiful piece from a pile of clay. But, honestly, this is how it’s usually done most of the time anyway.
· Finally, every craft loves you when you come to it, as a modest servant, every single day. If you find all these “300 words a day” or “15 minutes a day” rules laughable — develop your own specific routine and just do something every day even if you change it later. We know people who like developing ad concepts while travelling in public transport and creating slogans and outlines of copy in the shower. You know what works for you, so why not make an effective system out of it and turn it into a skill?
“And then you win!” we’d like to say. But it looks like procrastination will always be lurking around the corner. Some people compare it to addiction, and we tend to agree — you can only win by admitting that it exists and influences you, and by staying vigilant every day. Good luck to us all!
