Overcome Procrastination: Steven Pressfield’s Top 12 Tips

From Write to Done:

#1 Show up every day

“This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.”

The first thing you need to do is start showing up. If you are a writer, aim to sit in your chair first.

All things start with a first step. Your job as a writer is to sit down.

. . . .

#5 Seek order

“The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones. We can trade in the habits of the amateur and the addict for the practice of the professional and the committed artist or entrepreneur.”

Do you have a schedule that you follow? Do you have a routine in place?

The best way to defeat habits of procrastination and the inability to start anything is to streamline everything. Take the guesswork out. Know what it is that needs to be done and dive into it.

. . . .

#9 Don’t over-identify with the job

“The pro loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly but she does not forget that the work is not her – her artistic self contains many works. Already the next one is percolating inside her. The next will be better. And the one after, better still.”

You are a professional, but that’s not only who you are. You are other things, you have other roles to play.

As far as work is concerned, the nature of it will vary. Try and take a step back. Leave some wiggle room to improve, discard or alter your offering.

Don’t think.

Link to the rest at Write to Done

Writing Advice