Coaching: Procrastination & Fear of Failure
What does cleaning your seriously dusty and grimy Vornado fan and starting your creative project have in common?
Procrastination.
Who really wants to clean a fan that is covered in dust and grime from over a year (ahem, or two) of fanning in NYC? no one. And first you have to figure out how to open it, and undo all the parts and then clean all those parts, especially if you're not a particularly mechanical person. That's gonna take hours.
Now, what if I told you that it took less than ten minutes to have a sparkling like-new clean fan and that you could start your creative project that simply and easily. You’d be more apt to take on that project, wouldn’t you?
The fan I cleaned this week. #soproud
So let's look at the procrastination again: Was that putting off a yuck task because it’s not pleasant, nor easy? Yes.
Was that due to a fear of failure, as in I won’t be able to deal with mess or open the grill, or figure it out to clean it properly, etc.? Probably also yes.
When we think about starting a creative project, say a novel or a play or a song, it can be very similar thinking: It's going to be so difficult, and messy, and not pleasant, and take so long, and I'm not particularly "mechanical" in the ways of structure or voice or plot.
Here are a few ways to handle this kind of procrastination:
Keep a to-done list. Have a written out list of other difficult projects with time to accomplishing said tasks that you’ve tackled, proving yourself that you can and have done it.
Have an accountability buddy. Accountability buddies can hold your metaphorical hand whilst you complete said task or talk through all of your objections to completing said task and support you as you knock out those objections.
Start small. Set a timer for 10 minutes and do as much as you can in that time and then walk away. Rinse and repeat.
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Need some accountability on a creative project you’re working on (or procrastinating about) and want some group support around getting going?
Join me this fall as I facilitate a series of improv & writing workshops:
Online, from the comfort of your home or office or home office (jammies are encouraged!)
Low cost! $35 per workshop or $100 for 4 workshops.
Join for one workshop, or join for all four workshops.
45 minutes, lunch and learn, at 1:00pm ET on Fridays.
We will play one improv game and then have time to write.
We start at the end of September, 2023.