Do you remember you did that awesome experiment in your lab or run that fantastic 
simulation? How long have the results been sitting on your computer? The data is analysed, the figures are made and discussed with colleagues. You’ve got a good feedback. You have even drawn interesting conclusions. But … you have not written that up. That paper never materialised.
Does it sound familiar? This situation has certainly been dominating my research career. This year has been transformational for me as I’ve been learning how to consciously kick the procrastination habit and take an imperfect action.
So what is in the way of writing a paper? We often feel like we want to just sit down and write but do not know how and where to start. We tell ourselves we get “just a little more information” before we’ll try. The answer is to stop googling around and waiting for the right feeling or inspiration to come. The key is to take an imperfect action of just starting to write.
A few weeks ago I found myself in a situation when I needed to write up an experiment into a paper as fast as possible, preferably within a few days. This happens when you learn from somebody that someone else is about to submit/publish results on a similar project that you have been working on. Our experiment was done and the data – analysed. We just needed to write it up. My PhD student took on the task of writing the first draft of the paper.
My colleague and I have then re-written it and changed it again. We finished the paper within ONE week. There was hardly anything left in it from the PhD student’s first attempt. But the key is that the paper would not have been written without his first imperfect draft. The paper is now with the referees of a high-profile journal.
It is known that books are not written – they are re-written. The same is true for the research papers. When we look at a paper published by someone else we are impressed by how perfect it looks. And because it is clear we cannot produce such a perfect creation within a day or even a week, we remain in stillness – dreaming of a perfect outcome.
The imperfect action is the key to the success of writing. Just sit down and write it imperfectly then re-write, then re-work it again. And if you are persistent (i.e. you set the timer every day for a certain amount of time to focus on this activity) you are very likely to manifest a written manuscript before the end of the year!
The need to do things perfectly prevents us from even starting the job. Our perfectionism blocks us from success. Worrying about the end result inhibits the progress. Once we stop being obsessed about the outcome and take an imperfect action, we actually allow our creativity to unfold. This allows for freedom and joy, so that we might end up doing a great job.
Are you still waiting for your potential to finally kick in? Are you still waiting for an inspiration to come and visit you? Consider that getting something done is better than sitting back and waiting to do it perfectly. And this is how exactly it is done with a step-by-step process (as suggested in one of the Christine Kane’s blog posts):
1. Pick one project from the pile of things you long wanted to get done. If you think that you cannot possibly pick just one as there are so many things you want/need to do, just pick one imperfectly!
2. Get a timer (as discussed in an earlier post) and set it to anything between 30 and 90 minutes depending on how brave you feel – right now. Focus on this one thing for the entire time until the timer goes off. And this means no checking emails, no Facebook and no googling your name or other “useful information”.
3. Repeat No. 2 tomorrow.
4. Repeat No. 2 again every working day until the project is done.
5. Congratulate yourself on accomplishment and celebrate the completion of the project with your favourite activity.
6. Go back to No. 1, pick another project and start all over again.
What project have you been putting off, waiting until you, the conditions and the project are perfect? What’s your next imperfect action step?
Related Articles
- How to Get Big Things Done in Small Windows of Time (christinekane.com)
- How to define your task and manifest progress in your work (olgadegtyareva.com)
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Anything worth doing is worth doing imperfectly.
I think that imperfection is a badge of honor. It shows you stuck your neck out and took a risk. That’s never easy to do.
the magic timer. such a simple thing to make such a difference in a sense of accomplishment.
//this means no checking emails, no Facebook and no googling your name or other
“useful information”//
Particularly in the internet era this is very essential, to stay away from all those activity.
I like your writings. Very impressive.
Hi Suresh, thank you for stopping by! Good to be in touch this way! I used to struggle a lot with these “time stealers” such as social media. It is quite amazing how much we can achieve if we stay away from them 🙂