How to stop procrastinating and start writing

I used to hate writing.

Twenty years ago, if you’d told me that I could tell myself a simple lie and—suddenly, magically—it would make writing easier and more pleasant, I would have leapt at the chance.

I no longer feel that way about writing, but I have lots of other things I loathe doing. Hated job No. 1 has always been my bookkeeping, even though I have a professional bookkeeper. (The part I hate is the tedious, boring job of rounding up all the receipts—especially, tracking down the missing ones.)

This year I finished the job in a flash, easy peasy, and submitted all my stuff to him by Jan. 22. Yes, my income taxes are already done! I’m amazed, and my bookkeeper is thoroughly gobsmacked. How did I do it?

It was the lie.

As I tracked down those hated receipts I kept telling myself, “I love doing this.” I didn’t, of course, but I quickly found out that the task wasn’t nearly as horrible as I’d feared.

I found the suggestion of saying “I love doing this” to myself on another blog (apologies that I didn’t make a note of the URL), and it intrigued me.