How to procrastinate less and write more

Photo by Zuzana Ľudviková, 2025

We all know this scenario. It’s Saturday after a long work week and you finally have some free time to catch up on your writing. You get up, drink a coffee, scroll some Instagram and X for 40 minutes to mentally prepare yourself for the grind. You think: I have the whole day ahead of me.

Then you find out the dishwasher needs to be emptied. The bins are full, too. The house needs to be vacuumed. Sooner than you realize, it’s lunchtime. Then you find yourself doing something else, until it’s late evening and suddenly, you feel too tired to turn on your laptop and produce some original ideas. I deserve some rest, you say to yourself. I’ll start tomorrow. You fall asleep content, thinking of the next morning when you’ll start with a fresh coffee and a clean slate and magically finish everything you planned. 

Except you won’t. The next day will be exactly the same. You won’t write anything tomorrow, or the day after. 

Does this sound familiar? 

You are not alone - many writers, including myself, are struggling with procrastination and endless distraction in the digital age. And I don’t just mean writer’s block or “blank page anxiety”. Something as simple as constantly putting off writing can severely inhibit your progress and prevent you from completing anything, crippling your creative abilities in the process. 

We tend to postpone mainly unpleasant things, like a dentist appointment or submitting a tax return. Why is writing on the list too, then? Don’t us writers feel the most alive when we’re expressing ourselves by putting words on the page? Isn’t that what makes us tick?

The thing is - the hardest part about writing isn’t the writing itself. It’s getting yourself to actually do the writing. 

After some thought, I’ve identified the 5 key blockers that prevent me from actively incorporating writing in my daily life. Based on these, I’ve formulated 5 recommendations to help you and me write more. These go beyond the generic advice “establish a routine” and “eliminate distractions”. Yes, we all know that social media is distracting - if only it wasn’t designed to be heavily addictive on purpose, John.

You might notice that these recommendations are somewhat interconnected, and they work best when combined. Each one offers a concrete method to increase discipline and creativity in your everyday routine, focused on one end goal - to help you write more and achieve tangible results. 

So, are you ready to dive in?

There is no right time for writing

Think back to the opening situation. Something I’m guilty of far too often is thinking I need the right time and place to be able to write. The circumstances must be perfect - ideally, early morning with a crisp mind after a restful night’s sleep, a freshly brewed coffee and no other responsibilities ahead. In reality, this is nearly impossible to achieve. 

There will always be other responsibilities - moreover, only writing when you have 24 hours of free time ahead will severely narrow your window of opportunity to get things done. Sometimes, you only have an hour before picking kids up from school, and sometimes only half an hour during your lunch break, and that’s okay. Don’t wait for the right time to start writing, instead, make the time. 

The “right time” won’t magically come on its own - something else will always take precedence if you’re busy. Learn to quickly jot down some lines -  at work, in waiting rooms, on the train. This method will incorporate writing into your day, setting the stage for deeper work later. 

Don’t wait for perfect conditions to write; instead, seize small moments throughout your day to capture ideas and make progress. 

Don’t strive for perfection

If you’re like me, one of the reasons you’re putting off writing might be that you’re afraid of the result. You’ve read so many amazing novels and there are far greater works than yours already out there; why should you even try? Your previous story was so good, what if this one will turn out disappointing? 

I know it’s difficult, but you need to radically shift your mindset. Approach the blank page like a new, casual date - with no expectations. Thinking of publication can help immensely with motivation, but in this case, you need to remember why you started in the first place. What is there for you in writing? How do you feel when you discover an original sentence construction or metaphor? Have some fun and don’t overthink it. If working on your main project feels like too much pressure right now, start something else completely from scratch. In fact, most of my best drafts emerged like this - solely by starting a new passion project. 

Perfection is unattainable - don’t beat yourself up if your first draft isn’t complete or flawless. You can always adjust it later, and some writing is better than no writing, right? 

Let go of perfectionism and write out of passion, with no expectations. 

Every idea counts

It’s late at night and you’re stirring in bed, struggling to fall asleep. For some reason, your mind is still active: perhaps that last coffee you had quite late? Suddenly, the perfect sentence to end your chapter strikes you. 

You think about getting up and writing it down, but in the end, you decide not to. It is too late anyway, you need to be sleeping - it will surface again in the morning. The next day, you rack your brains for the sentence, but it seems irretrievably lost.

I can’t even count how many interesting ideas and potential poems I lost this way. I cannot stress this enough - do get up and write that idea down, no matter how insignificant it seems. Carry a notebook for unexpected bursts of inspiration, or use the Notes app on your phone - future you will thank you. Even if you might not use all the concepts later, ideation is a significant part of the writing process and you will be happy you completed some of the work in advance.

Don’t rely on your own memory and jot down every idea, no matter how small or insignificant. 

The two-minute rule

Jotting down ideas immediately is connected to a broader philosophy - the two-minute rule. According to David Allen (Getting Things Done), if a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. This approach aims to preserve momentum and leverage the initial spark of creativity you might know as “when the Muse strikes”.

The next time you get an idea for a scene in your story or a conversation between characters, set a timer on your phone and note it down. You might find that it took you less than two minutes - and you were so reluctant to do it at first. Holding too many concepts in your head can be overwhelming and taxing; releasing some of them on paper will make the mental space you need for new projects. 

Every moment counts - do you want to spend the next 2 minutes on social media or writing down the concept that could become your next novel? 

Execute your ideas immediately: if it takes less than 2 minutes to write, do it as soon as you think of it. 

Keep your creative muscle strong

Finally, perhaps the most crucial recommendation that relates to all of the above: train your creative muscle. My mentor, who doesn’t believe in writer’s block, says writing is like a muscle - don’t use it regularly and you’ll lose it. Treat writing like you treat time at the gym. The more you do it, the stronger your muscles become - the more you practice, the more easy it is for your mind to churn out ideas, metaphors and sentences you’re happy with.

Reading is also work for your creative muscle. If you really don’t feel like writing, try reading: maybe you’ll get inspired enough to start something of your own. Another way to keep the momentum is giving your work to someone for feedback, or rereading your older texts - anything and everything that keeps you immersed in literature is working to help you develop your signature style. 

The more you write, the easier and more automatic it becomes actually putting something on paper.

When you’re writing, it’s like spending time at the gym: your mind is a creative muscle and if you don’t use it, it will go limp.

Writing more - even if it feels incredibly hard - doesn’t have to be unattainable. Some writers who are world-famous today didn't have the perfect conditions to write, often juggling jobs, children and other responsibilities. It's not about waiting for the perfect time to create, it's about seizing the time you have. No matter how busy you are, by using these interconnected strategies, you can make the most of every day and make consistent progress.

Stop thinking about what keeps you from writing and instead, show up, experiment and allow your ideas to take shape. Looking back, you will be grateful you did so.

So, take the first step today - that big novel is waiting!