IT STARTS WITH A MUFFIN

Today is the day. I’m writing ten pages, we tell ourselves as we load Final Draft, and after just a few minutes, we're staring at the white-sea that is the dreaded blank page. Our upbeat attitude and motivation slowly morph into fear and intimidation. The reality of writing sinks in, and with it comes, what I call, the banana-nut muffin effect.¹ Our mind has switched gears, focused on saving us from the discomfort that comes with writing, and there is no better rescue than a dopamine-filled banana-nut muffin.

Adaptation (2002), the film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonez, provides an entertaining case study of the adverse effects of procrastination. It follows Charlie Kaufman, played by Nicholas Cage, a troubled Hollywood screenwriter plagued with the problems that make for an absurd comedy. Fortunately, we are not beholden to the dramatic storytelling tools used to create tension and excitement in a film about a screenwriter. After all, professional screenwriters continue to produce work. In the real world, procrastination takes a different shape. One that we are not always conscious of. You may be reading this as a way to avoid writing, and have subconsciously convinced yourself that as long as it's about the craft, it's as if you were writing. 

This negligence can sink aspiring writers into the depths of despair. By reframing procrastination as pleasure-seeking, we can lift ourselves out from the depths and onto the realm of productivity. The banana-nut muffin scene from Adaptation is a psychological example of how we rationalize avoiding the pain associated with work in exchange for pleasure. While various types of procrastination exist, we will focus on the distress type.² Suppose we are ready to begin writing, but we put it off. Instead, we mindlessly hop from one social media app to another. Or we decide to waste time arguing on Reddit, because there's nothing more important than telling the stranger online that his argument trades on an ambiguity—am I right? We also want to avoid the prison of false productivity. Essentially, it is when we deceive ourselves by saying at least I’m watching YouTube videos on how to write a script, but this is still not writing. Instead, we are in avoidance mode, fueled by our need to exchange discomfort for short-term pleasure. Fortunately, we can solve these issues by adopting a production mindset, having future self-empathy, and acknowledging procrastination. 

FOCUS ON OUTPUT NOT OUTCOME

There is a certain kind of anxiety that comes with writing. When we tap away on our keyboard, we are often overcome with a sense that we’re no good. We might even say: Why can’t I get this right? Who am I kidding? Whoever reads this will laugh. After our negative self-talk, we may then wish something like: Why can’t I just let it all out effortlessly. Even if it’s crap, at least I’d have something to edit. Two things occur in this internal dialogue. The first is that writing is scary, and the second is that we understand that output is crucial. However, the anxiety that comes with writing stops us from writing. It is natural to have some insecurity about our work. If we want to improve as writers, this insecurity should remain with us throughout our professional career. But sometimes, insecurity is predicated on things out of our control. We have to be okay with the idea that our readers might skim parts and that they might not even make it past the first sentence.  

Once we acknowledge our lack of control, we’re free to write as we please and can focus on output. Producing as many screenplays as we can should be our goal as writers. Robert Bilder, director of UCLA’s Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity, states, “The best predictor of how many creative works we produce in our lifetime is… the number of works we produce.” Essentially, boiling it down to output.³ The emphasis is not solely on the quality of our work but the quantity. Without quantity there is no quality. Without completed screenplays, there is no feedback. Remember this formula Quality = Quantity of Work x Feedback. Regular feedback is essential for improving our writing skills. Without producing screenplays or any written work, the absence of quantity hampers the opportunity to receive valuable input and hinder the development of quality writing through omission. Overcoming the procrastination related to task avoidance lies in coming to terms with our lack of control.  

FUTURE SELF-CARE

Robert Hanks in, “On Putting Things Off,” provides a beautifully written snapshot into the psyche of procrastination while eloquently explaining, through his own experience, his afflictions with the curse. He writes, “One explanation, or characterization, of procrastination, is that you fail to identify sufficiently with your future self,” it is the lack of empathy for our future self that places us at odds with our self-interest.⁴ If we fail to identify with the idea that maybe getting to it right now is probably the best thing for us, then it’s easy to fall into the trap of I’ll get to it—eventually. While holding off on completing something is tempting, it’s also important to recognize that we might be setting ourselves up for more stress. 

Procrastination is a mood-regulating behavior. It is a behavior that prioritizes our emotions in the present. When we are in a state of distress caused by having to complete difficult tasks, we are more likely to regulate our mood through procrastination.⁵ We’ve all encountered situations where we know we need to complete a term paper or reach some page count and should probably start immediately, but the task causes us feelings of distress, and so we cope through avoidance and distraction. Instead of writing that paper or scene, we turn to doom-scrolling that gives us short-term pleasure only to lay the burden on our future selves. These distracting tools have made it easy for us to procrastinate at any moment of distress. Waiting in line, riding the bus, walking to class, we can always turn away from something we don’t want to do, and while the common answer to this problem has been shouted at length—discipline, it is clear that it is not working. The reality is we ought to be more mindful of our future selves. 

Acknowledging that we must eventually deal with the task decreases our chances of falling for the short-lived, feel-good distractions. As strange as it may sound, it’s important to think of ourselves in different times as this practice can lead us to better decision making in the present. Overcoming procrastination involves taking a step back and asking: Should I push through this bit of distress now, so that my future self doesn’t experience a deeper sense of distress? Remember, our present actions shape our future mental state. Therefore, practicing future self-empathy is not only a means to overcome procrastination, but also a way to alleviate the stress and anxiety linked to deadlines.

DECEITFUL REASONING 

There is no such thing as healthy binge eating just as there is no such thing as a healthy dose of doom scrolling. Before we can talk about any worthwhile solution it’s important to acknowledge the role we play in procrastination. I’ve already talked about lying to ourselves by rationalizing our actions through false productivity. The pretense—that we watch a video or read to “help” our writing—is just a way for us to buy time for our present self in the hopes that our future self will be more motivated to do the task. 

The most important aspect of overcoming the banana-nut muffin effect is looking at it as an actual adversary. Much too often, we’re plagued with the unnecessary need to check whatever resource or platform by reasoning: it’s okay I’m learning. I need this if I want to write, and this will help me develop a better outline. Let's be honest, our excuses are not doing us any favors, but before we can correct this behavior, we first have to understand that that damn muffin is going to lodge itself into our brain like a dirty thought during mass, and so just as recovering alcoholics at AA meetings introduce themselves as alcoholics every time, no matter if they’ve been sober five days or ten years, we ought to always tell ourselves, “I’m Fred and I’m a procrastinator.” Defeating a bad habit is not just about building a new one. The first step is identifying and acknowledging that there is a problem. Rationalizing that we need to watch another screenwriting video before we are ready to start writing, is a sure way of getting tapped in procrastination. Before we know it, our Google search bar will look like this: How do I stop procrastinating?

CONCLUSION

Doing hard things brings us distress and this leads us to spiral down into the realm of procrastination. If we intend to overcome the banana-nut muffin effect then we ought to take a couple of considerations into place. The first is to accept and be okay with our lack of control as writers because this can help us lower the volume of our nagging inner critic that while useful, in some cases, can hinder our production and as writers, our currency is our production. Future self-empathy involves nurturing a caring attitude toward our future selves and remaining mindful of potential misconceptions, such as the belief that we will be inherently better in a couple of days than we are now or that we will possess greater motivation in the future than we currently do. Finally, acknowledge that we have a problem that can’t be corrected until we stop deceiving ourselves with false productivity. Next time the muffin takes hold of your mind, let go of what you can't control, self care is future self care, and remind yourself that we all can succumb to the delicious muffin.