Potatoes and Procrastination (and How to Deal With Both)
Have you ever tried sweet potato fries? Like, homemade sweet potato fries? No? Yes? Either way, you should go make them right now. Drop everything you’re doing, and go make sweet potato fries.
Photo by Franco Antonio Giovanella from Unsplash.
“‘You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.’
‘What mood is that?’
‘Last-minute panic.’”
Needless to say, my brain works like that. On my first day, my first day, of trying to write poems every day for a year, I got up, and was like, “You know what I want? Sweet potato fries.”
Random. Because I’d never made sweet potato fries before. I’m not a prolific chef, not that sweet potato fries are especially difficult, but I don’t like cooking. I’m not good at cooking. But suddenly, I’m inspired to start trying new recipes, to randomly make soba noodles for lunch instead of my usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Why? It takes longer. It’s more labor-intensive. And I can spend more time avoiding what I really should be doing.
Writing poetry. Or editing my book. Or taking classes. Or updating my website. Or brainstorming other writing things. Really a lot of stuff I should be doing, but I’m just here, eating potatoes. Yep.
Potatoes haven’t always been my vice. Sometimes it’s phone games. Or TikTok. Or Korean dramas. Let’s just say, I’m easily distracted, and willingly distracted at that. Procrastination is a big problem for me in writing, including on this blog. And it’s something I’m still struggling to overcome! I’m not some rehabilitated former procrastinator. I’m still a procrastinator. Writing this blog post meant to tell you how not to be a procrastinator, I’m probably thinking about abandoning this to make some more sweet potato fries, because I know I have an extra sweet potato hanging around in my kitchen, just waiting to be snacked on…
I’m back, I’m back!
So what do we do, fellow procrastinators, in order to get our creative brains in order? There’s no shortage of memes about how writers as a group are notoriously bad at focusing. Instead of actually writing, we’re usually daydreaming, cleaning our houses, huddled under blankets in a panic, or otherwise engaged with anything but actually writing.
Everyone’s different, obviously, but I’ve tried many tactics to keep myself on track, few of which have worked. I’ve tried Google Calendar, I’ve tried so many apps on my phone, but most of these things have been aimless empty goals. They haven’t worked. Until now (*knocks on wood until my knuckles bleed*).
As I hinted at a few blog posts ago, I recently went through a rather tricky depressive spell. Usually, my episodes last a few hours, maybe a day at most, and they’re characterized by crying, a general feeling of malaise, but also some semblance of productiveness (i.e. being able to get through my day job). But, in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I found myself almost unable to get out of bed. Not out of sadness or anything, but just plain exhaustion. I could barely work. I had to take naps every few hours just to function. And this was one of the scariest depressive episodes I ever had because it lasted for a literal week.
So what did I do to break it? Well, I was so scared it would go on forever that, when I woke up on New Year’s Eve, I made a to-do list of everything I needed to do. Which included figuring out exactly what I want from my writing. It also included basic things I was struggling to do, like showering or eating, or reading. And now, over two weeks later, I’ve managed to write a to-do list every day. And finish almost everything on them.
It’s been rewarding. It’s pushed me. And it’s making me think more clearly about my long- and short-term goals. It also allows me to pencil in some potato-making time.
Maybe it seems obvious. Or maybe it’s something you’ve tried that hasn’t worked. I’m not an expert lol, and I’m not pretending to be, but it’s something that’s actually working for me and is allowing me to create poetry and edit my book. Even if what I’m writing isn’t good or is stupid, or doesn’t have an impact on people, it’s keeping me out of a slump. And that’s kinda all I can ask for at the moment.
If you’ve tried this, and it keeps you on track, let me know! Or let me know what works for you.
Anyway. I’ve been keeping to my goals. As of now, I’ve written: 17 poems!
And here’s a new poem! Enjoy - and let me know what you think in the comments!
Things I Feel But Forget to Write
The way I love roses from my boyfriend, and the
days we spend nestled in the corners of our bodies, elbows
locked and knocking to the rhythm of our lungs, the subtle
inhalation of wintergreen and soap, or the silence that sits
in the comfort of knowing each other too much, for so
little or so long, and the needed comfortability, the multiplicity
of my existence, because it is more complex than the one-
sided poetry that bleeds from my ink onto a page, because
my life is more than the past that edges its way into my
language, that tints my words all shades of black and
gray. Because I love roses from my boyfriend, and I
love the lazy days we spend on our couch, in our
apartment, in a city far away from where we were
and where we will be.
