Trick yourself out of procrastination!

Okay, perhaps I should be more clear in the headline... this is how I trick myself out of procrastinating, but hopefully it will work for you too! 

So I'm a full-time writer; I obviously have this blog which sadly I've been neglecting lately (sorry), I have my professional work of writing articles and feature pieces, and then there's the novel that I'm supposed to be writing. I should be doing all of these things every day, as well as my photography work, but I'll admit I've been lacking motivation lately.

This is what happens....​

1. I decide that yes I will write today. I might even have some idea about what I'm going to write about, it might be a fully formed idea or it might be nothing more than a one-word topic.
2. I sit down at my desk, or outside in the garden if it's not raining and turn on my laptop.
3. And then I'll probably decide I need to do some research, so I'll end up on google. Which invariably leads to twitter or facebook, or me emailing a friend or colleague that can help with a certain angle, or chasing up a press release... you can see the problem right?

So what basically happens, is that I never get round to doing the actual writing... But I have a way of tricking myself out of this circle of unproductiveness.

Anyone who works from home will tell you that it can sometimes be quite hard to motivate yourself. You don't have rigid work hours, sometimes you don't have a permanent work space and there's all sorts of distractions that you wouldn't get in a traditional office. 

My way of getting around all of these, is that I pretend. It's as simple as that. I pretend. 

• So I dress up in something that makes me feel confident; it could be as simple as jeans, a white shirt and heels. But if I feel good and a little bit "dressed up" then I know it helps. 
• I get any drinks and snacks before I start. This is very important. If you're always getting up to get another cup of tea you'll never get any work done. I have a flask next to me, so once I'm settled I don't need to move.
• I surround myself with all the materials I might need. For me this means I have my laptop already plugged in, with my USB stick next to me and any notebooks, pens etc within easy reach. Again it's all about reducing interruptions.
• And then for the important & difficult part.... I turn my phone on to silent. I can't turn it off altogether incase I need something off it quickly, but it goes on silent and is placed face down, just out of reach. 

I know those points all sound quite simple, and probably quite silly, but they really do work for me. It takes me into a different headspace and I get a lot of work done. 

Now I just need to find a way to stop procrastinating about how to stop procrastinating... 😉

Stay safe lovelies, x