What Might Be Happening
- Procrastination – you put off writing until the very last moment (if even then).
- Writing Block – you can’t get started. You keep throwing away those first few lines. You read the assignment and nothing happens. You wonder about the best place to start writing.
- Distraction – as in “everything is a distraction.” You sit down to write and the next moment you’re lost in social media or TT, or you’ve gotten up to make food, or you’re brushing your teeth, or you’re at the pet store.
- Illin’ – you’re physically ill every time you sit down to write. Chills, stomach ache, headache, sweat, etc. — one or more.
Causes
- Stressing about some other thing that needs to be resolved
- Needing the writing to be perfect in order to get the grade, or prove something, or show the professor, etc.
- Overcaffeination — often combined with other items on this list
- Lack of sleep
- Actual distraction
- Unfinished preliminaries — you haven’t done the research or completed that writing that was supposed to be done first (like a thinking draft).
- Assignment Not Understood
- Problems in dealing with letters and reading (e.g. undiagnosed dyslexia)
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Attention Deficit Disorder
Simple Things to Do (they may not all work for you, but you can’t win if you don’t play)
- Spread things out — don’t try to write everything all at once or even in two or three bursts. Write a little each day, every day.
- Write a little each day, every day. Make writing a habit. Reward yourself for doing 15 minutes of writing. Maybe a little choccy or a quarter in the piggy.
- Move away from distraction. The TV. The phone. The roommate. Find a quiet space.
- Read. If you’re stuck on a writing assignment, read a little more research. More digging may provide a spark or, at the very least, may get your headspace aligned with the project.
- Visit the Writing Center. Having a conversation with a writing consultant may scrape away some stress and may help you see the project in a different way.
- Go for a walk.
- Set a small goal and achieve it (e.g. laundry, organizing email, cleaning closet, etc.)
More Difficult Things to Do (psychologically difficult)
- If it is anxiety associated with writing, come talk with Dave Leaton, the Director of the Writing Center. You can try to walk in and visit, but this doesn’t often work. It’s better to make an appointment. Use “Dave’s Schedule.”
- If it is generalized anxiety, go visit an expert. Seriously. First steps and all that.
- If the issue is specific and, you suspect, not anxiety, go talk with Julie Sneddon in the Office of Student Access and Disability Services.
- If the issue is sleep, you’re going to have to make some changes. Do the same thing, get the same result. Make a change, see what happens. Finding sleep is worth it. Sleep makes the world feel better. You may not be in a situation where you can try simple changes. You may be worried about a family situation, and your mind is trying to prepare you for different outcomes. One possible way of lightening that stress is to spend some time during the day to think intentionally about the situation. You can also talk with a friend or a counselor. The important bit here is to focus on the situation during an up time, not right before bed or at 3AM. Looking at the situation head on will help your brain resist worrying about it all day long.