Late August in Tennessee. We’re in the pinnacle of summer. The humidity percentage is in the nineties. The temperature is in the nineties. The real feel is in the hundreds. Not only does it make outdoor activities and tasks absolutely hellish, but it kind of sucks all of your motivation for indoor tasks, too. But I have races to train for, riding goals to train for, and books to write. In “For the Cold Days,” we talked about how motivation is a habit, not a feeling. But what about the days when not even discipline can make you push through discomfort? Here are two options to outsmart your laziness, find purpose, and get work done.
Use the 3-2-1 method.
Imagine you’re lying in your cozy bed, maybe with the fan on. Or you’re sitting on the couch with a popsicle, loving lazy life. The thought of going to your desk is so daunting that you can’t move. Count down from three, and at one, move. Whether you immediately move to your desk, move to throw away your popsicle stick, or take three brisk laps around the room to wake your body up, just move. The body in motion tends to stay in motion. Use physics to your advantage.
Make it to your writing spot. Get settled. No words are coming? Countdown from three and start writing. The sentence can be ‘I don’t know how to write.’ That’s fine. But the brain in motion tends to stay in motion. Let the words keep rolling, even if they’re nonsensical or unrelated, until sensical and related sentences start to come. Then take that motion and keep on moving.
Still stuck? Change what you’re doing.
“Change your ways when fear seizes, for it usually means you are doing something wrong.” That’s a quote from Jean Craighead George’s novel Julie of the Wolves. I loved that book growing up since the protagonist and I shared a name. It’s probably been twenty years since I last read it, and that quote has stayed with me.
If everything about what you’re writing and how you’re writing it just doesn’t feel right, change it. Drastically. Immediately. With complete and utter abandon. Writing is not a joyful task all of the time. In fact, a lot of the time, it’s just middle miles and suckage. But if the thought of writing is striking you still with true dread, then something is probably going wrong. Take some time to remind yourself of your goals and dreams, and then make sure what you’re doing right now aligns to those goals. Are you on the right trajectory or did you go astray somewhere?
No matter what method you use to get yourself writing, no matter how tricky or confusing or disheartening it might feel, remember to choose joy. The time will pass either way, and the main person who suffers from your bad attitude is you! Commit to keeping a positive mindset and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find yourself capable of.
