Things I Do Instead of Writing

INSTEAD OF WRITING

I’ve often heard people describe writers as “the ultimate procrastinators,” and I believe it’s true. We are incredibly good at finding things to do instead of writing. In fact, I can get more done when I’m supposed to be writing than I can when I’m supposed to be getting things done. Don’t believe me? 

Today I got up at 7:30 am, and other than one 30-minute virtual meeting, all I had on my list to do was “write.”

And yet, somehow, I found a way to do everything but write. In fact, I even made a list of all the things I did instead of writing. Here it is: 

THE LIST

• Took photos of a new leaf emerging on one of my indoor plants
• Read an extra chapter in my bible (not the worst choice)
• Searched for “local pots” and then had to revise that search to “local stores selling pots for plants” 
• Ate breakfast
• Entered the entire Chicago Red Stars season schedule into my calendar and color-coded it
• Searched for tickets to 3 different Chicago Red Stars matches (purchased zero tickets)
• Texted 3 different friend groups about dates for hanging out
• Explained to a friend why I need to go back to Ikea tomorrow
• Searched for the best and cheapest jersey cotton sheets because both my sets of sheets have holes in them (purchased zero sheets) 
• Texted a friend about a dream I had the night before
• Drank three cups of coffee (very small cups)
• Ate lunch
• Moisturized on my scalp
• Talked to my doctor about my toenail fungus
• Sent photos to my mother of the flowering bush in my front yard
• Identified the flowering bush on a plant app (Van Houtte’s Spirea, whatever that is)
• Crawled back into bed 3 times (didn’t stay long) 
• Scrolled Instagram 4 times
• Shared an Instagram account with my sister and explained why I follow it
• Shared a reel on my Instagram story about prioritizing what’s important to you (lol)
• Contemplated painting a mural on my wall (for maybe the 87th time this week)
• Made another pot of coffee
• Stared at my face skin in the mirror 2 times
• Cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership (I was 3 days too late and now I have it for another month – sigh)
• Tried to make a list of what I need at Ikea tomorrow but couldn’t find my Post-it notes
• Searched for my Post-it notes and found them downstairs on top of the piano where I left them yesterday when I was supposed to be writing but actually ended up counting how many paper books I own (247)
• Googled how many books the average person owns (it’s unclear but less than 100 seems to be the consensus) 
• Tried a new hydration supplement to counteract all the coffee (Intek – a little weak for my taste but overall fine)
• Read an article about book covers
• Read the first 3 sentences of an article on writing stories in the present tense (I dislike reading books written in the present tense so I abandoned the article because they made some good points right off the bat and I just wanted them to confirm my opinion) 
• Ate a snack
• Accidentally tapped my Post-it notes with my finger to “wake them up” (I’ve been doing this a lot lately with paper things – clearly I need some time away from my phone) 
• Googled “best camping spots in Illinois” so I can get some time away from my phone
• Contemplated calling the oral surgeon to make an appointment about my wisdom teeth but decided to “deal with it later”

And then, finally, at 12:06 pm Eastern Standard Time, I actually started writing. 

Honestly, it’s remarkable that I ever get any writing done at all, don’t you think?

BUT I DO ALSO WRITE

But here’s the thing: I do, eventually, write. I know that I could theoretically get more done if I just started writing when I intended to. But what if I needed the procrastination? 

I’ve learned a lot of lessons from CrossFit over the years (I think this is one of the reasons why people who do CrossFit insist on talking about CrossFit – we learn a lot about life and it’s an easy way to illustrate your points.) One of the things I’ve learned is that you may change your strategy on a workout to improve your efficiency, but that efficiency actually slows you down. Let’s say you’re practicing a workout for a competition, and you do it one way and finish in 10 minutes. 

“I can do better,” you think. “I’ll go harder on the first part so I can finish faster on the second part.” 

So you try it, working way harder than you did the first time, expecting to make up time. 

And then you still finish in 10 minutes. Or, even worse, 11 minutes. 

“What the heck?” you say. 

Well, hypothetically, maybe your body could only go so fast. So pushing harder on the first part exhausted you so much that you no longer had the energy or strength to finish the second part any faster. Your speed on the first portion actually slowed you down later. You needed to take your time at first so you could finish strong. 

DO I NEED TO DO THINGS INSTEAD OF WRITING?

And maybe that’s why writers procrastinate. We need that time to gather our thoughts, to focus on little, meaningless tasks. We need time to breathe, time when we’re not writing, in order to actually get the words out when we finally get to the page. 

What do you think? Am I full of it, and I actually just need to sit down and write? 

Regardless of whether I need it or not, it’s now time for you to make me feel better. So what about you? What do you do instead of writing? Or if you’re not a writer, what do you do instead of accomplishing your to-do list?