I’ve been writing for a living for more than 16 years. One thing I’ve learned is that poor concentration and procrastination can destroy your bottom line. To make more money, you have to improve focus skills.
There are days when the words flow from my fingers. There are other days when my mind wanders or when my phone ends up in my hands a bit too often. These days are frustrating, and they also cost freelance writers like me and you money.
The Effects of Poor Focus
Procrastination and distractions can be formidable foes that also leads to negative self-talk. It can result in future stress by taking you off-track to meet freelance writer job deadlines and goals. These two issues are undoubtedly connected. They both boil down to one thing – you can’t concentrate on writing.
- You could get fidgety and anxious.
- You may not produce quality work.
- It make take you hours longer than necessary to complete a writing job.
- You may miss deadlines.
- You may lose clients.
What Is Procrastination?
Procrastination is when you put off work. You may do it at the last possible minute, or you may do it late. This is a more complex phenomenon than you might assume.
Experts have defined four unique types of procrastinators:
- Novelty-seeking: Your ability to constantly come up with great ideas prevents you from following through on any one thing.
- Over-doing: You create chaos to intentionally or unintentionally avoid something.
- Self-deprecating: You say you’re lazy as an excuse for – essentially – being lazy.
- Performing: You wait to get started because you work better under pressure.
However, there are other reasons we lose focus:
- A poor work environment
- Technology and social media
- Stress
- Fatigue
Each writer has his or her own specific triggers and habits in order to improve focus, you need to know your triggers and bad habits.
How to Improve Focus Skills
Refine Your Mindset
Because procrastination is strongly rooted in the fear of failure and imperfection, refining your mindset in this area is essential. Rather than focusing on putting perfect work on your computer screen, embrace imperfection. Accept the writing process for what it is — a series of steps rather than a one-and-done approach.
When you are overwhelmed with work or starting a major freelance writer project, the magnitude of what stands in front of you can detract from creativity and productivity. Set realistic goals for tackling your workload. Personally, I create a plan for the next week or two. The plan needs to be realistic, breaking down your workload to smaller and more manageable chunks.
Of course, life often gets in the way of the best intentions. Give yourself grace and flexibility to make adjustments as needed. At the same time, though, know when to hold yourself accountable. A flexible schedule is not an excuse for procrastinating on your freelance writing jobs.
Set the Stage for Success
Your home work environment directly impacts productivity. I work in the living room usually, where my dogs run and play. I can also hear my work-at-home husband on business calls. When he’s not on calls, he’s listening to podcasts or music. I work better in a silent space with no distractions. This was definitely an area that I need to improve on.
My solution to improve focus? A GOOD set of noise-cancelling earbuds.
Manage Your Workday
Creative energy can easily get zapped when you’re at it too long. Rejuvenate your juices with periodic, planned breaks. Use this time to relax and practice mindfulness. Pay attention to work-life balance. Most freelance writers work at home, so knowing when to put the computer away and simply be is essential.
Conquer Blank Page Anxiety
If you are intimidated by a blank page, there are a few techniques that could do wonders for opening the floodgates of productivity. For example, write freely without concern for perfection. Allow the ideas to come out. Eventually, you will discover the right route for your words to take through this streaming technique.
Recognize Avoidance Behaviors
It’s easy to get lost in avoidance behaviors, such as my bad habit of looking at my phone. Identifying the differences in your productive versus non-productive activities is a critical step. Then, identify real strategies for breaking your avoidance cycle.
Of course, it’s not possible for even the most mentally strong writers to completely avoid such behaviors. Establish a method to identify your setbacks quickly and to get back on track.
Overcoming procrastination as a freelance writer allows you to optimize your creative flow and be more productive. Put these ideas to work to improve focus skills.