Overcoming Writer’s Block and Procrastination

We’ve all been there, staring for hours at a blank page on your screen, trying to get something out but unable to start writing. Or worse, you don’t even open your laptop. Instead you keep busy with seemingly important tasks that prevent your from even sitting down to write, such as grading, administration, or even laundry and other housework. Of course, all of that needs to be done too. But it shouldn’t come in front of your writing.

What many people don’t know is that procrastination actually stems from anxiety. This can be related to feeling incompetent, or the imposter syndrome. Deep down, you have the feeling that you are not good enough, that whatever you write will not be ok anyway. It’s good to strive for quality, but when it prevents us from doing anything at all perfectionism becomes a burden.

How to overcome writer’s block and procrastination? To do this you need to go to the root cause and deal with your anxiety, and let go of perfectionism. Nobody is perfect and everybody is just doing their best. You are where you are because you’ve earned to be there. And strangely enough, to become the best version of yourself you have to let go of trying to be perfect.

Let’s look at some strategies that you can use to apply this to your writing so you can actually finish that paper, thesis, proposal, or whatever you have lying around.

Let Go of Perfectionism

As mentioned before, trying to be perfect is only preventing you from doing. You need to get out of your head. Just write whatever comes to mind. Don’t try to write perfect sentences or paragraphs. Don’t worry. Nobody is reading it yet, and you can always go back and improve. The most important is to just get started and get your ideas on paper. This can be difficult, especially if English is not your first language. But getting your ideas on paper will help you to get going, and once you’re going it is easier to continue and then improve if needed.

Use a Template

If you have difficulty starting because you don’t even know where to begin it is helpful to use a template. Most journals have a standard template of Introduction – Methods – Results – Discussion, or a variation of this (some combine results and discussion, some will have a conclusion or management implications section, but the backbone of each paper is similar). Using a template is helpful because you can fill in the different sections and start with those that come easiest. Once you’ve started you can use that momentum to then keep going. By googling you’ll find a bunch of templates. Or contact me and I’ll send you one that I created to guide you through the next strategy.

Start with the General Structure of Your Paper

This is similar or can be combined with the template. Start by writing your objectives, which will become the last paragraph of your introduction. Then, move to either the methods sections or start with the results. The methods section is usually one of the easiest to write because you know what you did and why you did it, so you just write this out as detailed as possible. Or start with an outline of the methods and then fill in the rest. I personally prefer to start with the results, after writing the last paragraph of the introduction. With the objectives fresh in mind, it’s easy to determine which results you want to present and in what order. To do this, outline the main results by putting your tables and figures in order. Then, for each, just write one or two sentences to explain what your showing here. Circle back to your objectives and make sure you’re results are answering what you set out to do.

Organize Your References

When doing your literature review, organize your references in a table or a mindmap. There are a number of reference managers to help with this, and AI is getting really good at this too. For each paper, write one or two sentences with the main points that are relevant for your paper. Also add a note on whether the reference will go in the introduction or discussion section. When you are faced with writer’s block, go to your table or mindmap and just start organizing your sentences in order. See which ones go in the same paragraph or different paragraphs, and in which order. You can then start to adapt your sentences from here and combine them to get a clear and coherent text.

Use Short Writing Bouts

Don’t think you need to sit down for hours to finish your whole paper in one go. This is frequently undoable and the prospect so daunting that you just don’t start at all. Instead, use short writing bouts to just keep it going. Just tell yourself you only need to write 15 minutes. If things are going well, chances are you keep going after that. If not, no problem, at least you worked on it. You can go back to it later or tomorrow. This will keep it fresh in your mind and also keep your anxiety at bay because you will feel more accomplished if you did something. Because honestly, these unfinished papers can just consume so much energy, even when, or especially when you’re not working on them, because it just sits in your mind all the time and not actually working on it makes you feel like a failure. Writing in short bouts overcomes this problem, the energy spent on thinking turns to energy spent doing, and every little bit that gets written is a step closer to finishing the paper.

Reflect on the Root Causes of Your Procrastination

If you really struggle with procrastination or writer’s block it is worth it to take some time to reflect on your inhibitions. What are the root causes of this problem. What limiting beliefs do you hold? Or what unhelpful behavioral patterns are at play? Write them down. Then see how you can change them. For limiting beliefs, try reframing them. Consider, is this really true? For example, you might hold a belief that you’re just not a good writer. But is this true? Why do you think this? Have you written a paper before that got published? A thesis? A proposal? Maybe you compare yourself too much? Maybe at some point in your career an advisor made a harsh comment on your writing that you carry still with you? Maybe you’ve received a number of rejections? Maybe it’s reviewer two’s critical comments? Whatever it is, the belief is not helping you and it’s also not true. We’re all just learning and everyone has his own voice. Also, writing is a skill that you can develop and get better at. So, if your belief is that you are a bad writer, you can reframe this by saying that you are in a process of learning and getting better. How? Well, that’s obvious, by writing as much as possible! (and reading other scientific papers). You can use a similar process for reflecting on unhelpful behaviors.

Set an Intention

Intention setting is a powerful tool to get motivated into action. Especially if combined with a thorough reflection process as described in the previous step. Each week, or preferably each day, when you sit on your desk but before starting anything else, take a deep breath, go over your day, and set a clear intention for what you want to achieve. Make it as simple and specific as possible. Also, make it realistic because otherwise you will not be able to stick with it. Setting intentions and fulfilling them daily helps you to feel successful and this in turn is a major motivator to keep going. Using intention setting in combination with a planner or journal is especially helpful. You can use Google Calendar, Notion, or any other program you like. A paper planner also works.

If you apply any of these strategies, or all of them combined, you will be well on your way to finish your first paper. Which of these strategies seem most helpful to you? Did I miss any? Let me know, I’d love to hear what works (and doesn’t work) for you.