How to use free writing to overcome procrastination.

I may have mentioned it before, but I have a tendency to procrastinate when I am unsure where to begin. I find that starting is the most difficult task. I find myself doing anything except the task at hand. And with Google, social media, and YouTube being readily available, time can fly by without you noticing. 

A piece of work that should have been done in days has taken weeks, and my manager is getting frustrated with the lack of progress. Now the deadline is here, and I pull an all-nighter to finish the job. Then pat myself on the back, as it's a cracking job. In reality it's not. But I don’t see that. 

To make it a good piece of work, I should now spend the time I wasted going over and improving it. Instead, my rough draft gets submitted. My work is good enough to be called mediocre, but it doesn't show off my true talent. I get passed over for promotion, get frustrated with the idiots who can't spot talent when they see it and resign. Another novel way to resign!

I finally found the answer: "free writing". I use it to start every piece of writing, even this one.

Free writing is an easy and low-pressure way to get your thoughts and words out of your head and onto the page. The main rule is to set a timer for 5 to 15 minutes and write nonstop until it goes off. Don't stop to fix mistakes, don't worry about spelling or grammar, and don't think about whether what you're writing is "good". If you get stuck, you just write "I don't know what to write" over and over until you think of something else. The goal isn’t quality. It’s momentum.

That momentum is exactly why free writing helps with procrastination. Procrastination often isn’t laziness. It’s avoidance. We avoid tasks because they feel too big, too uncertain, or too easy to get wrong. Free writing removes the “perfect first draft” trap by giving your brain permission to produce something messy. When there’s nothing to get right, it’s much easier to start.

It also makes work seem less overwhelming by breaking it down into small, manageable tasks, like "I only have to write for 10 minutes." When you start moving, your brain usually finds a thread, an angle, an outline, a first paragraph, or a list of points, and the task becomes clearer and less scary.

To get things going, choose one question, like "What do I want to say?" or "What should I do first?" Set a timer for ten minutes and write without stopping. When the timer goes off, underline any sentence or idea that is helpful. That's what you should do next.

Mark Levy’s book Accidental Genius is a good place to start if you want to learn more about free writing.