The guilt of not doing enough (Managing guilt, part 2 of 3)

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Do you ever feel as though you’re not doing enough? Your researching, writing or editing is just too slow? Learn how to combat these negative feelings…

Do you pour countless hours into your writing, yet feel you have too little to show for it? Does this nagging sense of insufficient progress transform into guilt?

This common struggle shows how guilt often undermines the lives of writers. In this second installment of my series on writer’s guilt, let’s examine how the time-intensive nature of writing can leave us feeling both guilty and inadequate.

The Many Faces of Writer’s Guilt

Writers often wrestle with multiple layers of guilt:

  • Guilt over seemingly slow progress despite dedicated effort
  • Guilt about neglecting family and household responsibilities
  • Guilt from declining social commitments and losing touch with friends
  • Guilt about sacrificing sleep, exercise and reading
  • Guilt about giving less than full attention to paying work

Each unfinished project adds another emotional burden. Those half-written stories and abandoned essays can feel like silent accusations, mocking our inability to complete them.

But as we discussed last week, guilt rarely serves us well. If you feel you’re investing too much time in your writing for too little return, here are five powerful strategies to help:

1-Understand the creative process takes time

Creative work is both non-linear and invisible. Be sure to give yourself time — and credit — for jobs like researching, brainstorming and thinking. They don’t always produce immediate results, but they are essential for creating meaningful work.

2-Separate the different jobs associated with writing

Many writers struggle because they try to do multiple tasks simultaneously.

Writing should not feel unbearably difficult, not if you’ve done the creative work first. And not if you’ve reserved the editing work for later.

But if the act of writing makes you feel as though you’re trying to squeeze water from a rock, make sure you’re doing only one job at a time.

When you write, write.

When you research, research.

When you edit, edit.

3-Reframe how you measure progress

Many people regularly fall victim to the “I’ll-finish-this-by-the-end-of-the-month” trap. What’s that? It’s the tendency we all have to want to finish jobs without bothering to calculate how long it’s really going to take us to do them.

We say, “the end of the month” because it sounds nice and far away. But it may not be nearly enough time if the job we have to do is really big, or if for perfectly valid reasons we need to work slowly or if we’re really over-committed in other areas of our lives during the rest of the month.

Also, human beings tend to seriously underestimate how long it takes them to accomplish anything. That’s why most smart managers recommend adding a buffer of at least 50% to the amount of time you think it’s going to take you to finish anything.

Give yourself some grace.

4-Make enough time to do other things, especially with your immediate family

Writing is creative work, even if we’re writing non-fiction. And most of us can’t create if we don’t have enough “breaks” in our lives. Make sure to make time for:

  • Family connections
  • Physical exercise
  • Social relationships
  • Reading and cultural experiences
  • Adequate sleep
  • Regular holidays

Shortchanging these areas reduces productivity rather than enhancing it.

5-Learn to forgive yourself

Let’s face it. We all screw up, all the time. Instead of beating yourself up for it, take it as a given.

You are going to make mistakes. Just don’t keep making the same ones over and over again.

By viewing mistakes as opportunities rather than failures, we can learn to be comfortable with experimenting and with taking risks, which will almost always lead to more compelling writing.

Remember: the goal isn’t to eliminate guilt. That’s impossible because we all feel what we feel. Instead, the goal is to recognize when it’s hindering rather than helping your progress.

Next week, we’ll explore guilt relating to the quality of your writing.

If you liked this post, you’ll also like How to deal with guilt.

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Need some help developing a better, more sustainable writing or editing routine? Learn about my three-month accountability program called Get It Done. There is turn-over each month, and priority will go to those who have applied first. You can go directly to the application form and you’ll hear back from me within 24 hours.

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My video podcast last week addressed how to write with a short deadline. You can watch the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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How do you prevent the feeling of not doing enough? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the comments section, below. If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by Jan. 31/25, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the “comments,” directly underneath the “related posts” links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)

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