On procrastination
From a recent The Washington Post article: “The reason, she said, has to do with emotional self-regulation — and, in particular, an inability to manage negative moods around a certain task. We don’t typically procrastinate on fun things, she said. We procrastinate on tasks we find ‘difficult, unpleasant, aversive or just plain boring or stressful.’ If a task feels especially overwhelming, or provokes significant anxiety, it’s often easiest to avoid it.”
This article was interesting to me. A doctor in it says avoiding procrastination is about setting individual goals and holding yourself accountable for reaching them, even if it as simple as doing the dishes before watching TV. In the play Waiting for Godot that makes up a large part of my first book, the main characters keep saying they should leave but then do not. It is either funny or depressing.
I have two ideas for fictional novels but have trouble getting started on either one. There are reasons for that other than simple laziness. I think I work just as hard now as when I was getting a paycheck for my writing or teaching.