Parkinson’s Law is a ruthless bitch. “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”
Sounds elegant, right? It’s a fancy way of saying we’re all professional procrastinators
For years, I fed myself the same excuses
I need more time to polish this, I need to research more, I’m not ready
Lies. All lies I told myself while binge-watching an entire series on Netflix
You know what happened when I started giving myself ridiculously short deadlines?
Black magic, that’s what.
Suddenly, that novel I’d been “planning” for 5 years materialised in 30 days
That writing course that was going to be my masterpiece? BAM!
The outline was knocked out in a week of creative frenzy
It’s not that quality suffers, it’s that your brain stops masturbating to the idea of perfection and starts producing
It’s like when you have a deadline with a well-paying client
…somehow, mysteriously, you always find a way to deliver
So here’s my advice, unvarnished
Set absurd deadlines. Be unreasonable. If you think something will take a month, give yourself a week
If you think you need a year, do it in three months
Stop planning. Stop preparing. Stop polishing that first line until it shines like a cherub’s ass.
Just write, damn it.
And if you need more motivation, picture this…
While you’re perfecting that first chapter for the millionth time, some idiot out there is publishing their tenth mediocre book and making real money
Hurts, doesn’t it? Good. Use that pain
Stephen Walker
If you’re not diggin’ these tasty little emails anymore you can hit the unsubscribe button right here >>> unsubscribe
Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom