Stop Procrastinating!

A couple of weeks ago I 'met' (virtually, that is) Jack Milgram and decided that his blog had some great advice. I offered to put one of his posts up here, at my blog, and then the time and family commitments got away from me. 

Okay, I procrastinated. Hence this cool and appropriate post on that very subject. Since he really goes deep into this, I have decided to break up this terrific post into several very informative blog posts over the coming days. So, please, visit back daily!

Barbara

 

 

10 Mind-Blowing Tips on How to Stop Procrastinating

By Jack Milgram Last updated on:  September 5, 2017

Ever asked yourself if there’s a way to learn how to stop procrastinating? Tired of anxiety and panic because of looming deadlines? Have you already tried many time management techniques and found only one effective way to stay productive—to tie yourself to the chair?
We can relate to these questions, as many of us have asked ourselves the same things. Procrastination seems an enemy to all of us—something that makes us feel lazy, guilty, and stressed out.
But want to know the best part?
Perhaps, procrastination can be to your advantage; instead of a flaw.

How does it work? Firstly, what does procrastination mean?
Here’s a typical procrastination definition: an act of postponing or delaying some tasks often connected with work or studies.
It doesn’t mean you forget to complete some assignments or get fired because of your laziness. More often, the real problem is due to the anxiety and stress you feel before a deadline.
In other words, procrastinators usually do as much work as non-procrastinators—the difference between them is how many hours they spend on actually completing the tasks.

Why do people procrastinate?

Dr. Piers Steel surveyed more than 24,000 people around the globe to find out how many workers regularly drag their feet while completing routine tasks.
Ready to know the surprising answer?
95% of people confess they play the waiting game at least from time to time. Also, one-quarter of the participants classify themselves as chronic procrastinators.
Just imagine! Every fourth person is postponing doing something. Perhaps, their idling has negative effects you don’t even know about.
But that doesn’t matter. Why?
Because today you’ll learn the benefits of procrastination!
Let’s remember one popular procrastination quote. Bill Gates once said: “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”
One of the main features of lazy workers is that they can handle enormous tasks when deadlines are near.
This idea leads us to an interesting result—you shouldn’t try to stop procrastination. Instead, you should learn the art of procrastination and use it to your advantage.
Interested?
Then, it’s time to reveal the secret of structured procrastination.

Drop by tomorrow for the continuation!

Jack Milgram

Author's biography

I have been interested in writing since I made the acquaintance of pen and paper. My first letters were really funny, and my mom still keeps them as mementoes. However, as soon as I learned how to write words, I started forming them into sentences. And do you know what my first sentence said? “I love my words”. It was written so ineptly that it looked more like “I love my weird”. When I was younger and played in a band I also started writing poems, but to be honest, prose is much easier for me and I’m doing much better focusing on exactly that. I started writing, but often left unfinished, many of my essays at school, as well as my researches at college, where I studied psychology and education. I started freelance writing when I was a student. I have never found sitting in an office appealing, and a world traveler is actually my true alter-ego. That is why freelancing was my career solution. And now, here you are, reading my tips and guidance for my favorite occupation while I am actually doing what I love all over the world.

Barbara's note: You can find more of his posts at  https://custom-writing.org/blog/

Integrating Research into Fiction

As a writer of historical fiction, or, hey, a writer of any sort, I am especially interested in research. Here is an interesting article by Nikolas Baron from Grammarly, about research. He offers some tips on making your research come alive for your fiction story.
Barbara

Integrating Research into Fiction

Charlie never inherited a chocolate factory. Mr. Darcy never fell for the charms of Elizabeth Bennett. Darth Vader is not really Luke’s father. Fiction is, by definition, an untrue story. The characters are imaginary. The plot is contrived. Nothing about it is real… or is it? Some fiction writers like to introduce a little reality into their novels. They include real people, places, events, and facts. However, this practice is risky. Most fiction readers are not history buffs and do not have scientific minds. An in-depth explanation of the properties of water or the storming of the Bastille may turn the average reader off- even if you feel the research is essential to the plot. How can you tell the truth without angering fantasy-hungry readers? 

In my work at Grammarly, I have read articles that successfully incorporate real-world information and the boring kind that I abandoned in the first few paragraphs. I made it my mission to see how to do this right. Here are three pieces of advice based on my discoveries:

(1) Don’t wear smarty-pants that do not fit! John Grisham writes incredible courtroom dramas because he worked in the law profession. He knows his stuff! Readers crave his insider’s view to legal processes that are normally out of range for them. So ask yourself, if you could be a fly on the wall at your job or in a university class, what would you be interested in seeing or discovering? If you had truth serum, what questions would you ask historical figures? Share this intriguing information with your readers. If it is not your area of expertise, find a content area expert who can share something that readers want to know!

(2) "Dumb it down" a little. Do you read medical journals for fun? Even if you do, most of your readers do not. If Robin Cook’s medical thrillers include minute details of diseases written in medical jargon, they would probably not be bestsellers. Assume that your reader is not currently an expert in any field. Provide the information that you want to share in a simple way. One popular strategy is to weave it into the conversations that your characters have.

(3) Real means real! If you are going to talk about Watergate, make sure you get the facts straight. Double-check your facts using well-established sources. If you mistakenly assert that President Hoover was impeached, you lose credibility with the readers who know the truth. With the readers who are not history savvy, you teach them lies that might later cause them to lose thousands on a game show. Do not take this chance! Additionally, make sure your grammar and spelling are impeccable. That impeached president’s name may sound like “Nickson” but that is not how you spell it. If you run your work through an on line spellchecker, you will see a red squiggly line under that particular proper noun. 

Do the readers need to know? Upon further consideration, have you noticed that the fly on the wall is asleep during your university lecture on mega-hog farming? Leave the boring and non-essential facts out of your fiction. If the information you want to share really is spell-binding and essential to your plot, use the three tips above to make sure it is worthy of your storytelling. 

If you do the job well, your readers will not be able to tell fact from fiction.

By NikolasBaron

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Bio:

Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly's marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.