The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one. I have based it very deliberately on a well-known psychological principle and have refined it so that it is now almost too refined. I shall have to begin coarsening it up again pretty soon.
The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.
("How to Get Things Done," in Chips off the Old Benchley,1949)
I came across the gem above from actor, critic, and comedic writer Robert Benchley today as I thought about why it is that I procrastinate so much when it comes to writing my novel. This has been a continual problem for me, and it’s one that I have never been able to understand.
The real quandary is that I like to write—I may even love to write. I’m not like many of my writing students who whine that they hate writing and therefore can’t determine where to begin. They spend countless hours avoiding the task out of a mix of fear and disdain. On the contrary, for me, there’s nothing like sitting down at my computer and letting a fictional character take me somewhere I didn’t expect to go. Once I start writing, every bit of concern and anxiety I may have had about the bills that need paying or the meeting I need to prepare for disappears as my only focus is recording what is in that character’s mind.
So why do I do everything I can to avoid sitting down at the computer and letting the magic happen?
I don’t have that problem when it comes to my other great love, reading. I’ll curl up with a good book at any opportunity—in a doctor’s office, in the car waiting for a meeting to begin, in the bathtub, anywhere—even if it’s only for a few short minutes. Like writing, reading takes me away from the world I live in with floors to be vacuumed, diapers to be changed, and email messages to respond to. I relish that escape.
Reading Benchley’s thoughts today got me thinking again about my procrastination habit. I have focused my energies thus far in pondering the “why” of my habit. I feed the procrastination monster a bit more as I wonder why it is I just don’t sit down and write. Benchley would probably tell me it’s time to strategize my way around the impasse. I can think of only one surefire way to avoid avoiding writing.
I’m going to go grade student essays.
