#204: Putting an End to Procrastination (Breakthrough Series)

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters foreign.

Hey, Kingdom Writers. This is Shelley Hitz. Welcome to the Breakthrough series. So this is going to be a series of 12 episodes that we're going to dive in deep to the obstacles that you face as a Christian writer. We covered all of these topics in our online prayer meeting episode, and now we're going to dive deep into some practical things and some scriptures that that can really help you. So I hope you enjoy this series. We did record it live on Facebook, and so you may hear us say, you know, comment here or we're gonna have some Q and A at the end. But just know that you can always join us live over on our Facebook page, Christian Book Academy. And we also wanted to provide this on our podcast so that you can listen to these as many times as you want to help you receive Breakthrough as a Kingdom writer. Hey, everyone. Today we're going to talk about putting an end to procrastination. So this is a big one. My name is Shelly Hitz. I'm here with my husband cj.

Hey, gang.

And I just want to ask you some questions. Have you ever dealt with procrastination when it comes to your writing, or have you ever put off writing because you feel like you need to learn more, you need to have more resources, or you're not ready yet or whatever it might be? Well, we're going to talk about this in today's episode of the Breakthrough series. We're so excited that you're joining us, and we are tackling 12 of the most common obstacles we see Christian writers face. And what makes this training different is we come about it with the power of scripture and prayer. So it's not just practical tips. Although we're going to give you tons of practical tips, we're also going to really give you that spiritual encouragement and power to do what God has created you to do and called you to do. And so if you're here with us and you're watching or listening, please interact with us, let us know you're here. Nothing motivates and encourages us more. We read every comment and reply, and so please let us know you're here and interact as we go. We Love that. And CJ's just gonna start us off on this topic.

Yeah. So I thought we'd start off just a little more lighthearted on this one and then eventually get a little more serious. But some of you may be familiar with a few of these procrastination jokes. And I'm just gonna say right off the bat that I am a perpetrator of being a procrastinator. And. And so that's something that everything that we say today, man, I'm preaching to myself here, because this has been one that I've dealt with really, all my life, ever since my dad would tell me to go sweep the driveway, and an hour later, that driveway still wasn't swept. Eventually getting to it. But, you know, here's a few jokes. You know, I just joined a procrastinator support group. I start tomorrow.

Right.

Another one is, one of these days I'm going to get help for my procrastination problem. One of these days.

One of these days. Yeah.

If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done.

I love this one by Mark Twain. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

Anyone else?

And then this one may be my favorite. This is Joan Connor, and it's procrastination always gives you something to look forward to.

There you go.

Anybody relate to any of those? Give me a hand raised in the comments there. Yeah, hallelujah. Whatever you want to put in there.

So, you know, on a more serious note, how many of you have ever said to yourselves, you know, I know that I need to do this thing, but I'll do it tomorrow, or, you know, I'm gonna start this whole project tomorrow, or I'm gonna start it next week, whatever it might be. And that got me thinking about a verse that I had come across that, you know, just a little different way of looking at that verse, but it's Proverbs 27:1. And it says, don't brag about tomorrow since you don't know what the day will bring. And, you know, it got me thinking, man. You know, I think a lot of times we just assume we're going to have tomorrow.

That's a good point.

You know, we just say, oh, well, you know, it's just a given. You know, I'm going to. I'm going to have tomorrow, and I'll start my writing project tomorrow. Or, know this thing that God's put on my heart. So, hey, I'll start it next week. It's not a big deal. And yet here we see that in Proverbs, it says, don't brag about tomorrow as if it's just a given. And there's another verse, really, even a passage in James. And I won't read all the verses, but it's James, chapter four. And the specific verse that I want to actually apply is verse 17, James 4, 17. I'm going to actually read the Passion translation, which kind of adds some freshness to this. But it says, so if you know of an opportunity to do the right thing today.

Yet you refrain from doing it, you're guilty sin. And so that kind of ratchets things up a little more seriously, doesn't it? But I say all that to say, you know, we are here as fellow travelers. We're not here pointing a finger or trying to put a guilt trip on any of us. I hope that essentially what we can look at is man. A verse like that can motivate me to action. It can motivate me to say, man, you know, I want to be excited about this project God's put on my heart, but I don't want to just keep putting it off, putting it off, assuming that I've got tomorrow. Because how many know that sometimes tomorrow just doesn't come? And for various reasons. And, you know, what are we doing today in order to accomplish, you know, that goal that God's put on our hearts?

Yeah. And, you know, that's such a good point, because we're not guaranteed tomorrow. And Rebecca said, I procrastinate, particularly when I feel overwhelmed or I don't feel confident in my ability to do something. And that's exactly what I'm gonna start I'm gonna be talking about. It's almost as if you saw my notes, Rebecca.

Because there's often a deeper root to procrastination. There's often something deeper going on beneath the surface. There's a verse in Proverbs or in Psalms 11960, it says, I will hurry without delay to obey your commands. And so, again, it's about being, you know, willing to do what God has done, has called us to do. And before we got on here, we were praying for you, and we were praying that you would be activated in the things God has called you to do, that it would be an activation not out of striving, not out of forcing, not out of pushing, not out of trying harder, but an activation out of God's spirit for what he has for you to do. And so I just want to encourage you that we all struggle with these things at times.

And, yeah, I just want to interject real quickly that verse, Psalm 119:60, I looked up the Hebrew, you know, for that word hurry. And that word hurry, it doesn't denote like this, oh, I gotta hurry and get something done, you know, sort of, you know, without quality or just screen around, you know, pulling my hair out. Gotta hurry. It denotes more of an excitement, you know, I'm excited. This opportunity that I have before me to obey the commands of God, it's an exciting thing. It brings life.

It's fun when we accomplish a goal, you know, or you wake up in the morning and you're really excited, you know, to go on a certain trip or go on a hike or, you know, visit a favorite restaurant for breakfast, whatever it might be. It's a. It's an excitement of being in a hurry because you just don't want anything to delay that anymore. You just want to get to it. It's fun.

Yeah.

And I think that's what we wanted to note here. It's not a hurriedness that is going to lead to just putting something out there that's less than quality, but it's more of this. Lord, help me to be excited about those things you've already put on my heart. Help me to come up to your level, so to speak, to see from your perspective, you know, regarding what you've laid there.

Yeah. And a joy. Like I've heard people say, you know, a get to versus a have to.

Yeah.

And so one of the things I wanted to mention, though, is that there's often a deeper root to procrastination. It's more of like a symptom. And so kind of like when you go to a doctor and you have a symptom of something, and then they give you a diagnosis. Right now I just want to ask you to just quiet your heart and ask the Lord for a diagnosis for your procrastination. And at any given day, it could be a little bit different. But whatever you're dealing with today, maybe just think about what is something that you've been putting off, what is something that, you know, that you want to start or you want to finish or you want to continue, and just ask the Lord, Lord, what is the root? What is the diagnosis for this symptom of procrastination that I'm experiencing? I'm going to give you a couple ideas. The first one is put perfectionism. And CJ has definitely dealt with this one. We will talk about this in more depth in our next episode, because our next episode is all about perfectionism. I know a lot of you have told me that that's something that stops you, is wanting things to be perfect. And so you just never even get started or you don't continue because it just feels so overwhelming to try to have that first draft perfect, which the first draft is never to be perfect. So, again, we'll talk about this more tomorrow. So that could be one. It could be that sometimes you need more information or skills. Like Rebecca said earlier, she sometimes doesn't feel confident, and so she procrastinates. I'm the same way. You know, sometimes we just don't have the knowledge or the skills. And so that's where we ask the Lord, okay, what do I need to do? You know, Google Search is a great place to start. YouTube, your library. You know, there's a lot of resources on Amazon books, you know, that you can just get on Amazon. Like my book, Procrastination to Publication. It gives you seven steps to publish a Kindle book. It gives you the knowledge, it gives you the skills of what you need to know to accomplish that task. Similar in our academy, we give you some of that knowledge and the skills. But plus, we have, you know, all of these people, members and mentors that are in our academy Facebook group that can answer questions for you. We were just answering questions this morning about websites. And so, you know, sometimes just going that extra step and saying, okay, if I'm not feeling confident, if that's the root of why I'm procrastinating, we what is it I need to do to learn more, to be able to feel confident or to get the help that I need? What is it I need to do in order to move forward in that way? And then sometimes it can actually be a spiritual battle. So, like with my book Broken Crayons Still Color, I started it and had a very rough first draft, and then I didn't continue for like almost a year. I on that book. And to be honest, the resistance and the procrastination for me for that particular book was definitely a spiritual battle. And now looking back, you know, they say hindsight's 20 20. I can see all the more because of all the testimonies that have come in and all the ways that God's using that book. So sometimes it can be that, and then it could also be that you feel overwhelmed at what to do. And so, you know, we're going to give you some tips as well later on. But one of the tips that I want to share with you if you do feel overwhelmed, and that's what's causing the procrastination is to do what I call a brain dump. So what's a brain dump? It's just getting out a piece of paper and a pen. I like to do it with writing it out, not typing it out. Because there's something that happens when you're writing something kinesthetically. I sometimes go to my whiteboard. But do whatever works for you. You can use whatever tool works for you, but write it out. Get all of that stuff out of your head. If you have questions and you're thinking, well, I don't know what to do, I don't know how to do this. I know I need to do this, but I don't know what to. Just write it all out, get it out of your head, and then start to put together a step by step plan. So once you get it out of your head on paper, then you can see it all. And what I find is sometimes I have those racing thoughts. If I don't write it out, if I don't get it out on paper, I almost feel like I'm going to forget it. And so if you write it out, then it's all there and then you can start organizing it and what needs to be done first. What's the first step? And so you start to put together a plan.

Yeah, and this goes even back to, you know, the verse that we read, Proverbs 27:1, don't brag about tomorrow since you don't know what the day will bring. Well, you know, even just regarding having a whole bunch of ideas, isn't it so easy in our culture or world that we live in today to see great ideas dissolve into thin air because of distractions? Or we didn't write that down, or we didn't actually take action when we needed to. Then a week later that idea is gone. It's just, we forget it. There's a whole lot of other stuff right in front of us, you know, that has our attention. And I remember hearing a story that Billy Joel, you know, used to keep a notepad right by his bed and he would wake up in the middle of night sometimes and he would remember a dream of some lyrics, some song lyrics that came to him. He said sometimes his best ideas would come when he was sleeping. And so he would have that notepad right there. He'd write down the words. And how many of those could have become.

Biggest hits that Billy Joel wrote?

Well, we've been mentoring writers for over eight years, and I hear over and over and over again that writers get book ideas or whole Entire books through dreams. So that's a really great tip is just to leave something beside your bed. Just to scribble a note if you need to. But I always have either a notebook or you know, in my notes app on my phone when I'm walking.

The notes app is big.

I'm always like writing down my ideas or writing things down as God gives them to me. So that's a great tip.

Yeah. Just a quick little story. I mentioned this story a couple weeks ago on our online prayer meeting. But again, back to myself in terms of being a perpetrator procrastinator. You know, in college I used to wait until the day before, like a 15 or 20 page paper was due. I was a sociology major and with sociology or psychology or a number of those disciplines, you got these big papers that you have to write. And there were many that I waited until the day before because I was dreading it so much. I think that's another reason we procrastinate. We dread something.

Yes.

That ought to identify something going on inside of us by the way that God can, can twist or perhaps give us a different perspective on. But I would do this thing, I'd finish it at three, four in the morning. And then guess what? There was a girl that I could call upon to say, hey, Monica. And I'd pay her a little bit, but I'd say, hey, I finally finished the paper. And you know, I'm calling her room at four in the morning, three in the morning saying I'm finished. Can you start typing the paper now? She was somebody I paid to type the paper.

Because you wrote it out by hand.

I wrote it out by hand, yeah. And I feel so bad looking back, you know, I used to, I mean, how many hours of sleep did I cost that gal? But bless her heart, she came to my rescue many times. And yet it was something that I don't know why. I can kind of relate to that humor. Humor that says if it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done.

Yeah, amazingly I did get some last minute. Yeah, I do not.

Amazingly, I was able to actually get good work done. But I don't recommend that. And I don't even recommend it to myself because it causes unnecessary stress at times, especially if you actually do have a due date. But good planning is smart, it's wise. Yet I think it's something in us, each of us has to deal with that prevents us from taking action. We put it off because we either feel overwhelmed or we feel dread. I don't want to do this. Things that maybe aren't as fun. And so again, I'm preaching to myself there. It was a quality that I don't know how I survived through college, but somehow I got that degree.

Well, and speaking of dread, you know, that's something that I specifically will deal with with certain tasks in my business. You know, as I grow my team, I'm having other team members that can do things that I don't particularly. Either I'm not gifted to do even though I can do it, or I don't enjoy doing it. But when I really dread a task, one thing that helps me is using the Pomodoro technique. So, so those of you that have been following me for a while know I say pomodoro equals productivity. And also pomodoro breaks through procrastination. So what it is is basically you use a timer. It can be an online timer, it can be, I purchased even one from Amazon that like is visual and it shows you like the red of how many minutes are left. You can use whatever timer you have on your phone, your kitchen timer, and you set it for 25 minutes and then you don't do anything else but that task. And you give your brain a deadline. And so then you focus only on that task. You turn off social media, you turn off your email, and then you give yourself a five minute break. You can also do the same thing with 50 minutes of work and 10 minute breaks. So either way, whichever works better for you. And we use this a lot in our academy and with group writing sessions or virtual writing retreats. And it works, it just for 90% of writers, it really, really works. It helps to give you a very specific deadline and it's not too long, 25 minutes or 50 minutes. And then it really just gives you that visual and that focus to get the work done. So when I'm working on something, just being really honest, like taxes or you know, financial stuff that I don't really love to do, although it's getting better and it's getting easier the more I do it. But I will use the pomodoro technique or if I've been putting off a project for writing a book or doing something like that, I will use the pomodoro technique. And so that's something that if you do have that, that feeling of dread, that is something that can really help. And I had my graphic designer actually create a worksheet for you to implement this pomodoro technique. And you can download it free, free@trainingauthors.com breakthrough. You'll get our breakthrough PDF. And in that PDF is a link to download that worksheet. And I highly, highly, highly recommend that you get that worksheet. You try this technique and just see how it works. Like I said, about 90% of writers really find it helpful.

Yeah, so you got the Pomodoro technique, which is a great tip. Another tip is to really set simple achievable goals. So you know, part of the reason we procrastinate is because the task at hand seems overwhelming. And I know Rebecca mentioned that earlier and it's so true. When something just seems so overwhelming, we are so tempted not to even start it in the first place. So if we make a plan, and like Shelley said, we have a brain dump where we have these ideas in our heads, we don't have to formulate everything right there that day. But if you write those ideas down and you just tackle one at a time, 15, 20 minute chunks, it seems so much so less overwhelming. And I think about, you know, when we hike a 14 or here in Colorado, really every single person, no matter if you're fast or slow, has to reach the peak once again. Step at a time, one step at a time, and one little bite sized chunk, you know, and you stop and take breaks and, and eventually you conquer that goal but have little chunks that can help you. And then another tip is use incentives. How many others love to reward yourselves when you actually get something finished that you weren't planning on or, or it just feels really good to finally jump through that hoop. So using incentives means, you know, we reward ourselves for that hard work. On my latest book which is titled A Heart for prayer, it's basically 21 devotions and where I'm really just delving into prayer, different aspect of prayer and really just drawing close to the Father. Specifically.

They were five to 600 word devotions and a little thought at the end that for reflection. And when I would get five or six hundred words done, when I would finish one, I would take a break. Sometimes I'd reward myself with some kind of a treat, a cookie, whatever it might be. For some of you, you might say, hey, every, you know, if I get a thousand words done today, which is a big goal for some of us.

I'm going to reward myself by going out to my favorite restaurant, you know, and you have to decide how you're going to reward yourself. But incentives are nice because you're almost thinking like, okay, I've got something to look forward to. If I'M in a section of writing that maybe is a little harder, a little more laborious. It's not necessarily that you dread it, it's just that you've got to start. And once you start, you get momentum. And by the time you finish that, it's like, okay, now I give my brain a little bit of a break and I allow my belly to take over.

Yeah. And it could even just be as simple as I'm gonna wait and get my cup of coffee or a cup of tea until I finish this section, or I'm going to take a walk with my dog, or I'm going to just do a little bit of something creatively or whatever it is for you. But when you're using the Pomodoro technique, you can use those breaks for even little incentives, you know, that you start to look forward to. And another thing just to consider is if you're really battling procrastination right now and you know that there's something that you're to do a project or writing, whatever it is, take a break and go for a walk. So clear your mind, go for a walk, and even maybe consider not putting on any music or podcast and, and just have that time in solitude and just see what starts to come. Like, start thinking through whatever project you're working on or whatever writing project, and start like, you know, have something, I usually have my phone and my notes app. And I will tell you, as I start walking, ideas start coming. And so, you know, start to capture those. And, you know, as you're walking, it could just be that you're clearing your mind, giving yourself space and not the pressure, you know, not feeling pressure, but really just to give yourself some time to. To really think through it, but also just to take a break.

Yeah. And one of the worst things that we as writers could do if we're struggling with, about writer's block or just sort of in a. In a moment of dullness, is to just continue to stare at that blinking cursor on, or the blank page computer screen or that blank page. If you. You're writing in a notebook again, you know, it's just another reason to get out, get some fresh air. Oxygen to the brain fuels ideas. If you can even get your heart rate up a little bit on that walk by walking briskly or jogging, that even fuels and allows the neurons to activate and fire in new ways. And so that's why exercise, we could do a whole podcast on the benefits of exercise for runners or for writers. So it's a good tip for getting out of a dull spot.

Yeah. There's a lot of research now on the mind body connection. I think that's actually going to be part of our fall curriculum in Christian Book Academy. I've been starting to work on that. So I haven't told you that. So we'll probably do some more on that in the academy in the fall when we're in the first draft challenge, which is gonna be so fun. But I digress. So another tip, our last tip for you is to tell someone your goal or your idea. So making it public can sometimes give you some accountability. And what I did for my Broken Crayons still color book is I actually formed a private Facebook group and I invited people to be part of a beta group. So what that meant is they were. Were agreeing to read my book and give me feedback as I was writing it. But it was also, for me, it was external accountability. They were waiting each week for me to send them another chapter. And I actually got my book done ahead of schedule. And it really was the motivation that I needed to finish. But you can be accountable to someone by simply texting them when you're starting something. So I heard of a writer that said she'll just text her accountability partner and say. Or message them and say, hey, I'm starting right now. Could you be praying for me? And I'll check in with you in two hours or whatever your time limit is. And so you tell them and then you check back in. I remember I did that recently. There was a project I was working on. I think it was like some of the technical backend stuff for a webinar, which is not my favorite. I love teaching on webinars, but. But I was working on all that setup stuff, and I texted my mom and my sister and I said, okay, I'm doing this. I've been putting this off. And keep me accountable. I'll check back in with you. And then my mom was like, oh, yeah, I need to do this task too, so I'm going to do that too. And so we were kind of feeding off of each other and we both got all the things done that we wanted to get done. So sometimes it can really, really help to have that. Writing in a group can be super helpful at times, too, as long as the person that you're writing with is not distracting you and trying to talk to you the whole time, as long as you're writing. And we have group writing sessions every month in Christian Book Academy where we have productivity parties. And so we write together. And Then to kick off this fall session, we're going to have a two day virtual writing retreat, which is amazing. It's really a member favorite and you get it for free as part of your membership. And so it's going to be a really fun time. And you know, those are also opportunities to have that built in accountability. But there's also an excitement or there's, there's just an energy that happens. For those of you that have been in our virtual writing retreats or, you know, productivity parties, there's something that's special that happens. Right. And so, you know, those are things that can also help you when you're feeling that sense of procrastination is to get the support of a group.

Yeah. So great tips, just things to consider. If you have other tips that have worked for you, please share those in the comments. We'd love to hear your own ideas of how you bust those through this procrastination obstacle. And.

We'Re at that point where, you know, we get to the truth, which, you know, we have a true scripture. And in this particular episode, you know, we had a couple, but we're going to simply mention one of them. And of course, John 8:32 is where we get this. You know the. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And today's truth is Psalm 119:60. I will hurry without delay to obey your commands. And you know, you can look at that and say, man, the Lord's given me an idea. He's given me a God idea. It's not just a good idea, it's a God idea. What am I doing now in terms of my part to put, put that thing in action to get the momentum going and not delaying any further. And so that's, that's the truth. And we can rest in that knowing that our Father is going to give us every ounce of energy and resource that we need to accomplish that, if he's indeed called us to do that. So it's, it's good stuff. And you wanted to share one more resource.

Yeah. So just a reminder, the resource I mentioned was the Pomodoro worksheet. And you can get that when you download our PDF@trainingauthors.com breakthrough and you'll basically be downloading our PDF 5 practical tips for Christian Writers to Break Through Writer's Block. It's the best five tips that I've really seen over my years of mentoring writers. And so we would love for you to have that. Make sure to go download that and in that PDF you'll get a link to to download the Pomodoro worksheet. My graphic designer created this for you. I know you're gonna love it, use it, try it. And also just let us know in the comments. What was the tip that you feel like is most helpful for you? What is something that you feel like you could put to use? You know, Jennifer says thank you so much for all these tips. You're welcome. You know, we just want to help you to move forward in, into what God has called you to do and to help you publish books that fulfill your calling and your purpose for your Life. And so C.J. is going to close us today with prayer.

Yeah. So Lord, we just thank you so much that you have given us the tools, you have given us power and the ability to break through procrastination. And Lord, I pray that any of us that are struggling in this area, maybe we've had several ideas or projects we know that we were supposed to start. Lord, I pray that you lift any unnecessary guilt that we wouldn't just wallow in that. But Lord, would you give us an excitement and a new freshness and a motivation to actually tackle these things one at a time and to do it in bite sized chunks, one step at a time to conquer that peak, so to speak. And just like someone that's fast, slow, it doesn't matter. We're all on this journey one step at a time. And I just pray that you would just give each and every one of these listeners.

Just a supernatural power to overcome this, this obstacle. And I know it's certainly something that I've dealt with and it's, you know, it comes and goes. And I just pray that whatever it is that we know, we're to set our hand to the plow in and not look back. Lord, I pray that we would just be able to look ahead, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and really be about the things that we've been called to do, the things that we've been called to write. And as a result, we know you're going to encourage and bless people because of those things and help us to be obedient, Lord, to what you're calling us to do. And thank you for each and every one of these writers and the gifts and the abilities that you've given them. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. And just a reminder, I posted today on Facebook and Instagram about like going at the pace of God's grace. Not striving, not pushing, but patiently Waiting, you know, in prayer in times with him for that inspiration and, you know, really just allowing him and the Holy Spirit to provide that flow through. Through you. So I think it's just another good reminder when we talk about procrastination, we can just get in this mindset of I just gotta push through, I just gotta try harder, I just gotta strive. And I just want you to say, I can take a deep breath. God is with me. I can patiently wait for him and yet I will take action when he leads me, when he prompts me, and go at the pace of his grace. And. And that's going to be different for every single one of you. I also want to remind you that if you've missed any of these episodes, they've been so good, every single one. We've been tackling different obstacles. You can get caught up@trainingauthors.com breakthrough series and in that post is our prayer for you. We did 15 prayers for Christian writers. And so if you need more, more encouragement, more prayer, just go and re listen to that prayer over and over and over again. It's on our podcast, it's on YouTube, it's here on Facebook. Wherever you prefer to listen, just listen to it over and over again until God just really just gives you a breakthrough. We're providing these resources to help you and we are so excited to hear the testimonies that come from this series. So thanks for joining us. We'll be back again next Wednesday with another episode all about perfectionism. So excited to be back with you guys next week.

All right, guys, take care.

Bye bye.

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Sam.