Find More Time to Write: Practice Procrastination

A warm welcome to Writer Block's first guest blogger! Alina Chase will be appearing with weekly tips and tricks from her WIP about time-management, motivation, and creativity for writers. 


FIND MORE TIME TO WRITE: Practice Procrastination
    by Alina Chase

        Must today’s to-do’s be done today?
        Before grocery shopping, check the freezer and the pantry (the back of the pantry).  Can the family survive nicely for months on what you stowed and forgot?  Add it up:  two minutes to check, thirty minutes or more to shop.
        Here’s a test.  When must the dry-cleaning be picked up?
                   A) When it’s ready
                   B) When you have another load to drop off
                   C) When you have another load to drop off and nothing left to wear, including all that stuff in the back of the closet.
          ‘B’ saves one trip to the cleaners.  ‘C’ could save many trips, depending on how much stuff is in your closet.
            Question everything you have to do, every day.  “Lawyer, 4 p.m.”  You probably want to do that.  “Public Library—DVDs.”  Can’t this wait?  “Pick up catalog from Belinda.”  Have her mail it.  With the gas money you save, reimburse her for postage.  Oh, it was really a social call?  That’s different.  But you still don’t have to do it.  You want to.  So go have some fun.
            But whatever you choose to do, leave a few unplanned minutes in the day to take a deep breath—and write a few brilliant passages.