Permission to Write a Shitty First Draft (And Other Tangents)

Anne Lamott and probably a whole load of other people, once said something along the lines of, You need to give yourself permission to write a shitty first draft. That was an awkwardly-phrased opening sentence but this is my first draft. Therefore it can be as horrendous as I make. Admittedly I don't plan on making a second draft, and I think that is sort of the point but tough. My blog, my rules.

When you take a break from something that has previously been a routine it can be really difficult to get back into the swing of things. I no longer have school distracting me from spilling my secrets onto the internet and my intensely wild social life has inexplicably gone silent. ...Yes my intensely wild social life... Stop giving my blog post that look....I have friends...

Amazingly I can still find excuses not to blog despite it being one of my favourite everyday things to do. I just don't understand my brain. I need genuine advice on this: How does one overcome a procrastination addiction?

I considering following the 9 step plan designed for addicts. I'm going to Google that right now actually. (This is like fucking live blogging, man.)

Okay lesson #1 learned from Google today: It's a 12 step program not 9. According to Wikipedia the aims of the program are as follows:

• Admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion; (✓)
• Recognizing a higher power that can give strength; (Um...?)
• Examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member); (Volunteers please!)
• Making amends for these errors; (I don't think I've harmed anyone other than my future self)
• Learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior; (This is what I need to get to)
• Helping others who suffer from the same addictions or compulsions. (Yeah! I can start a business called Muldowney Motivation)

Step 1: Admittance
Hi, I'm Kate and I'm a Procrastinator! (Monotonous chorus: Hi, Kate.) I first realised that my procrastination was a major problem when I was spending three hours doodling and staring off into space every Saturday with a text book open in front of me.

Step2: Belief in Recovery
Okay so this is the higher power mumbo-jumbo. According to Recovery.org, the goal of this step is to allow participants to come"to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." It focuses on creating hope and faith in returning to a healthy state.

Hmm I'm just realising that an awful lot of these steps are very religion-centred. I'm going to do some more research and get back to you tomorrow. Or the next day. Probably.