“Don’t wait for moods. Show up ready to work, whether you feel inspired or not,” Seth Godin.
Some days I just don’t want to write. Today was one of those days. It was my day to work from home and do research and writing, but I just didn’t want to do it.
A lot of people call this “writer’s block,” but I don’t think that exists. It’s really just procrastination, probably brought on by uncertainty.
The best thing to do when you feel this way is what author Seth Godin advises in the quote above—just show up ready to work.
I read this quote in the book, Manage Your Day-to-Day, and it resonated with me. Seth was speaking about how easy it is to work when you feel inspired and vice versa. He wrote:
The notion that I do my work here, now, like this, even when I do not feel like it, and especially when I do not feel like it, is very important. Because lots and lots of people are creative when they feel like it, but you are only going to become a professional if you do it when you don’t feel like it. And that emotional waiver is why this is your work and not your hobby.”
Even if you love your work, and I do, it is work. It’s not a hobby. That means sometimes you’ll have to make yourself perform, even when you don’t really feel like it.
If you put your rear in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard, you will produce. It may not be the best writing you’ve ever done, but it’s a place to start editing. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by the results.
Let’s Talk Nerdy!
How do you force yourself to work when you aren’t inspired?
I read his writings everyday…. They really are a good swift kick every so often!!
This is a good lesson not just for work but for life. If we show up to life, ready to live, even if and when we don’t want to, we end up getting more out of life (even on bad days, in bad moods)
JenMaidenberg This is a good point, Jen. It’s kind of a “fake it until you make it” approach to happiness. Thank you for reading and taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.
I have to have a deadline or it likely won’t get finished.
Minnie, I always assumed that was the reporter in me that thrived on deadlines.
Nope! It just means we’re awesome.
I’ll buy that!