#crunchpost

hello students of tumblr. i see you procrastinating that paper that's due, freaking yourself out into not starting until the very last minute. i get it. here's some of what i do to get my gears moving/escape freeze mode.

put your devices in do not disturb. if you can, create physical distance between them and you. even if it's just at the far corner of whatever surface you're working at: if you have to move beyond just reaching, that counts. turn off the ringer, put it down and shove it away.

open a fresh doc or sheet of paper, whatever blank space you can get your words down on.

set a timer for five (5) minutes. i like this one. use whatever.

rewrite the prompt. if there's a rubric/specific guidelines, write all those down too; break all the requirements down into the necessary pieces you need to hit. BULLET POINTS ARE YOUR FRIEND. no complete sentences required, but can be used if u want them.

start by writing about the prompt. it can be complaining that you have to write it at all. it can be noting down something that confuses you about the prompt/guidelines. it can be preliminary thoughts about what you want to write. anything at all, as long as it loosely pertains to the prompt; a page of keysmashes/scribbling is allowed IF you explain to yourself why you're keysmashing/scribbling about it. "i don't know what to write" is a good start. just ask yourself why, and write a little about that.

if your timer has ended and you haven't managed to do any of this, go do something else-- use the bathroom, get a drink or snack or both, go for a walk. do not sit at your computer/paper, get up and move around and do something totally different. brain still not working is okay, but that means you need to go do something to shake it up a little. if you've gone through step 5 and still feel okay, restart the timer for another 5 minutes.

if your complaining hasn't turned constructive in any way yet, no matter how little, try to get it there. get curious and therefore specific about all your thoughts on the prompt; get curious about your complaints. there is probably something there that can end up in the paper proper. if you have gotten constructive: great! keep it moving as much as you can. bullet points and incomplete sentences are still good, so long as you know what you mean by them. if you're getting stuck by just being indecisive about specific word choice, throw the first option in your head down in brackets or just leave a few ___ or circles so there is Something there and keep writing. like this: "Writing papers can be a ___ experience, but in the end they can [showcase your writing skills]."

would you look at that. you've started writing your paper. congratulations!

optional more generic focus add-ons:

turn on rain sounds (always helps me focus better than music or silence) or your Focus Sounds of Choice to turn your existing environment into a Focusing Environment

be somewhere Other than where you usually do fun/relaxing things, even if that is just moving to the wrong side of your desk/a couple feet away from your bed/etc. i often work on the floor or standing with my laptop on a shelf. or, y'know, you could go to a library or something.

use a brightly colored pen/choose a fun color of font; take it less serious so you can take it at all

collect all the materials you think may be useful in writing and have them nearby so if you get in the zone, you don't have to break your flow to reference something