Four Types of Mind-Traps That Can Cripple Your Writing and How to Overcome Them

Image by Dennis M. Francis

How to overcome four mental traps that writers face and prepare your environment for a full day’s work.

If you’re like most writers, you’re probably struggling to find time to be creative and productive. In fact, most of the results we produce requires clear thinking and continuous action. However, building systems to win is something that’s often difficult for us.

This is because systems comprise habits and skills, which can be difficult to develop and stick to. However, by following the tips in this article, you can start building systems that will help you be more productive. I’m going to cover four persistent issues that I and others in the business face daily. If you can relate to the four mind-traps, here are some techniques to help you break their power.

Mind-Traps — What the Heck is Happening in My Head Today?

I define mind-traps as the cognitive hurdles we face in the creative field that stand in the way of our productivity. The outside world is constantly competing with our inner monologue for dominance. Some of us don’t get enough sleep while others don’t seem to want to get up after 10 hours in bed.

Mind-traps are distractions that are used to keep us from facing our big fears directly. Those fears may be real or imagined, but they are just as effective at stopping us in our tracks. Our coping strategy to fight the big fear may be seen in any or all of:

• Avoidance
• Imposter Syndrome
• Overwhelm
• Procrastination

Avoidance and Low-Level Anxiety

Avoidance is the primary coping strategy for people who struggle with fear. It’s basically a way of trying to escape from the problem or situation. This can take many forms, such as avoiding talking about the issue, drinking coffee instead of facing a tough conversation, or burying yourself in work.

Low-Level Anxiety is often what leads us to avoid things because we’re scared they will make our problem worse. We may be so worried about the potential consequences of facing our fear that we freeze. This means our body goes into what’s called “fight or flight” mode and we end up doing anything to avoid the situation. We might start sweating, shaking, getting lightheaded, or having a racing heart.

Self-Defeating Behavior

The self-defeating behavior seen in avoidance is often paired with guilt and shame. We convince ourselves that we’re not tough enough or smart enough to deal with the fear. In fact, it’s often easier for us to just avoid the situation rather than face our fears head on.

Imposter Syndrome and Our Self-Image

Imposter syndrome is a common fear that we’re not good enough. It’s often used to describe people who feel like they don’t belong in a certain group or have made mistakes that others haven’t. We doubt our abilities and start thinking of ourselves as someone who isn’t capable of doing things correctly or successfully. This can lead us to avoid situations where we think we might be judged negatively because it feels too risky.

Sometimes our self-image takes a hit when we’ve made a mistake in the past and that memory comes back to reinforce our doubts in a current situation. It’s as if our critical self is reminding us why a course of action may be a terrible idea.

Feelings of Overwhelm

Overwhelm can be another reason we hesitate to take on something new. We may feel like we’re not up for the challenge or that our skills aren’t strong enough. This can be compounded by our fear of failure, which pushes us into a state of paralysis. The mountain of research needed to get a project done right can cause us to not follow through.

We sit down to get started, but the dog is barking outside. Our spouse, child or significant other comes in to remind you of something or the phone keeps pinging new text messages. You really want to get through the research for the project, but now your neck is aching and you can’t find the files you saved yesterday.

Let’s just go back to one of the other coping mechanisms. We may not get the project out, but it feels a lot better than the panic we’re experiencing right now. Or maybe it’s time to move on to something else.

Procrastination and Worrying

Procrastination is a way of avoiding dealing with the fear of failure. It’s like stopping at every store along the way to work because you don’t really want to talk to your boss about yesterday’s performance review. The classic delay tactic is also known as avoidance. Avoidance is withdrawing from a feared situation or activity.

In our example, we may procrastinate by not starting the project at all because we’re too worried about what will happen if we don’t get it done on time. We keep putting it off and then suddenly it’s December and there’s only four months left.

A tactic that seems to start in high school and on to college has been the last minute study session. Wait until the last day before the exam to study. Put in an all-nighter because the fear has reached a fever pitch. Now coffee and adrenalin keeps your mind sharp and you ace the test.

Any way you processed the information, you would have aced the test. The actual issue comes back to self-perception and anxiety over performing. The last ditch effort to get over the fear is like ripping the bandage off a wound to get over the pain quickly.

When we worry about something, it usually means there is a possibility of failure. Worrying takes two forms: rumination and magnification. Rumination is worrying about something repeatedly in our head, whether it’s how we’ll handle the situation or what others will think of us.

Combatting Mind-Traps

The answer to these issues comes down to mental and physical preparation. For each person, the actual preparation will be different. There are too many scenarios and solutions to cover in this post. However, what we’re looking to do is replace coping mechanisms that defeat our goals with ones that promote our goals.

Optimize Our Physical Space

In the past, when your parents told you to clean your room in order to work more efficiently, the idea felt like a chore. For some people, having an orderly environment means being comfortable with their own chaotic system. A messy room may actually work for some people!

Optimizing your physical space may mean keeping your environment in the most productive way for your mental wellbeing. Have you ever “organized” someone else’s space only to hamper their ability to find their way around? There are different levels of organization and based on individual preferences.

Optimizing your space comes down to setting it up for your way of working. The key is to cut down on distraction and to maximize production time. If you feel most comfortable finishing a project in record time while all about you is in chaos, then go for it.

Prepare Our Minds and Bodies with True Grit

If we eat right and get enough physical exercise to stay healthy, we benefit. One of these ways is mental fortitude. Many studies have showed the link between daily and mental fitness. Just walking every day for 20 minutes can help to relieve depression.

Suggested routines for physical and mental fitness include:

• Regular exercise is essential.
• Practice daily meditation.
• Daily reading is extremely beneficial.
• Keep a regular schedule of rest and relaxation.
• Take time each day for deep breathing exercises.
• Make sure you eat plenty of healthy fats.
• Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.
• Your brain needs a daily challenge.
• Keep in touch with your social circle.

Author Angela Duckworth discusses the benefits in Grit: The Power of Passion and Persistence. In her story, she shows us that being successful does not rely on talent or gifting, but on our own resourcefulness and drive.

The people with “natural” skills give up or quit far more frequently than someone who has a deep passion for their work. Because of their natural talent, they never really needed to develop the confidence or tactics to overcome the obstacles to achievement.

When a situation finally challenges their natural abilities, talented people must face the same mental and emotional hurdles as everyone else. This is where true grit comes into play.

A person with grit need not be super disciplined. Through developing belief and acceptance of milestones and goals, success becomes a reality. Getting to the next step means clearing the mental hurdles; then moving on to the next.

Preparing for Action

When preparing for the daily grind, preparation is key. Sure, they’re a million things that you can do to get ready. Since this is my post, let me share with you a basic strategy for getting things done. I don’t get through these each day, but being able to check them off at the end of each day gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

• Morning meditation before getting out of bed.
• Checking in with my plan for the day.
• Power up my morning with a stretch as coffee is brewing.
• Getting my desk prepped for work.
• Meditation (5 minutes) is at my desk to center myself.
• Write like my life depends on it.
• Check my tutorial session for the day (learning something).
• Take time to move about every hour.
• After work, hang out with the spouse.
• Work on my art or scripting done.
• Check my favorite blogs or connect with the outside world.
• Nightly meditation before bed.

Develop Our Power Rituals

As a verified senior citizen, I’ve discovered that it’s important to keep using all the various faculties and skills in order to stay sharp. It’s scary how quickly they can go downhill when ignored. Some of the trade-offs are frustrating. Ideas still hit me a mile a minute, but words often get stuck and my fingers have to be more patient moving across the keyboard.

So, I’ve developed rituals to keep my day optimized. There are reminders on the walls; custom posters that keep me rooted in the mission. One thing that help is the daily writing. Whether I’m working on a script, an article or a Medium blog post, writing helps to keep me focused.

Mind-traps are never going away. They hunt you down and trip you up at every turn. Your confidence will slip and you will fall from time to time. Rituals are your defenses. They replace avoidance, imposter syndrome, overwhelm and procrastination as your coping mechanisms.

Whether it’s a morning run, yoga stretching, meditation, or daily prayer, routines can set you on the right path and keep you anchored to your goals. Developing habits take time. The idea that it takes 21 days to build a habit is a popular fallacy. It takes as long as it takes. The first habit to develop is patience.

Here’s an idea; give yourself a year to develop a habit and start over every time you fail to make it stick. At the end of a year, reassess your situation and pick a new habit to work on. What have you got to lose?

Conclusion:

Being a writer is challenging. With so much time required to be productive, we often struggle with these four mental traps that writers continually face. By implementing the strategies outlined, you can overcome these barriers and become a more successful writer. “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”

Check out my other posts on meditation, writing, and goal setting to get started on your journey to writing success!