Jedi Mind Tricks to Do Your Thing

A laundry list of suggestions to help you get your writing done

Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash

Last week I shared one thing I think you’re doing wrong when it comes to your writing. I have the gall luxury to say this because I know I do it all the time, and every single one of my clients does too. But I also promised more thoughts on the matter. of how to get your writing done, so here we go.

What is Your Resistance About?

If you are a navel-gazing type (And I say that with extreme fondness, because I am a navel-gazer, too) you may love a good journaling session to get to the heart of your resistance. Ask yourself, why do I not want to show up?

This will, with luck, unleash all manner of deep-seated bits from your unconscious, such as fear, mistaken beliefs, bad ideas. And by bringing these into the light of day, aka, your conscious mind, you can banish them. At least long enough to get a good writing session in.

I also like to remind myself at such times that there are worse ways to spend my time. Waaaay worse ways. Like breaking rocks in the hot sun (sorry if that gave you an ear worm), or digging ditches, or choose your own worst nightmare job here. And then I remember that no matter how scary facing the page might be, it is still a huge privilege to get to do it.

Don’t Dither, Decide

I am a ditherer. When I have too many things to do, I spend way too much time deciding which thing I should do first. But on the rare days I just launch into a project, I find it incredibly much easier to get done.

Yesterday morning, for instance. I told myself I had a lot to do and I wasn’t going to dither. When I’d finished my morning writing, I told myself I was going to leap like a gazelle into the shower, quickly eat breakfast, and get back to work. But then I spied an email with an enticing headline and against my better judgement I opened it. And there was something in that email that I had to click on and….and….and…..before I knew it, half an hour had passed and my leaping gazelle was stuck in a mud puddle. (Do gazelles get stuck in the mud?)

I did somehow get everything done, but it took a lot longer than it should have and left me stressed and anxious. Getting it right to it is harder at the outset, but easier overall.