by Mike Schreiber, 2014 Challenger

I procrastinate because the thought of starting a new writing project, or getting back to one I have already started makes me sick! OK, not really but I can’t say that I love, or even like to write, unless I’m writing. Let me explain. My wife can gauge how much I am dreading a project by how clean our house is. A quick dust and vacuum is considered mildly procrastinating. Throw some laundry in and the needle starts to rise. If I clean the bathrooms and kitchen, then I’m sitting at rock bottom and will find anything to do to avoid writing. I bring myself to the edge of “If I don’t start immediately, I will miss the deadline.” Putting that last minute pressure on me is only to get me started, or re-started. Once I get going, I fall into this writing mode where I get lost and everything that I find distracting is turned off. I truly enjoy being in that moment where my thoughts and ideas are creating something on paper.

I am completing my 4th year here at DePaul and have been struggling with this pre writing dance since day one. Over the past few weeks, I have been reading suggested articles and books, listening to everyone in class about motivation and best practices for their “process”, and doing a lot of self reflection. I’ve figured a few things out, everybody is different in how they motivate themselves and budget their time for writing. What’s become obvious to me is that when I write about something I enjoy, then it doesn’t seem like such a chore. When I include my own experiences and opinions, then the piece becomes personal and I am more engaged and determined to finish well ahead before the deadline.

I have been experimenting with writing in different environments, like isolating myself from the types of distractions where I have no choice but to write, like on the train or in a remote corner at the library. What I’m realizing is that it’s not so much of where I write, but what I write. We can’t always pick our topics and genres of writing outside of this class, but we can try personalizing every paper or report by adding ourselves to actually become part of the story, instead of just telling it. Finding topics to write about is easy; things and people we love like family and friends, cars, hobbies, it’s endless. If you’re unmotivated, try changing the story around to include topics your passionate about and remember to include the person you love to talk about the most, yourself.