In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a comment on Twitter about handling procrastination. This is a topic I never tire of talking about with writers because it’s so relevant and important to understand and navigate. Plus, I’ve recently reviewed some newer (and empowering) research about procrastination, which I’ve shared in the article. 

In the article, I review five high-level reasons writers procrastinate to help us unpack this common struggle. I describe each reason more fully in the article, but here’s the core overview: 

1. We procrastinate because we’re afraid.
    
2. We procrastinate because writing matters to us.
    
3. We procrastinate to manage challenging emotions. 👈 the newer part!
    
4. We procrastinate to get dopamine hits.
    
5. We procrastinate to process intuition and information.

With this understanding of why we procrastinate, I also offer ways we can manage procrastination, including rewriting negative thoughts, creating community and support around writing with other writers, using deadlines and other external motivations, and more.