Well, this is awkward.

I was going to write about Gluttony applied to writing next, but then I bought a couple of Indie games on Steam and, you know, played them for a couple hours straight.

Then I was going to write about Envy applied to writing.  Work got me tired and grumpy, then I needed a nap.  Of course, I had to make some food for myself, and after that I didn’t really feel like doing much of anything.  That’s when it occurred to me just how ridiculously easy it is to just put off writing (just like anything else) with other distractions under the pretense you’ll get around to it later.  And later.  And later still.

Thankfully, I’ve fed my face with enough caffeine to power a small industrial complex for a week (and maybe cause my heart to leap out through the top of my head a few times; I’m not completely sure), and so I’m ready to tackle the sin of Sloth as applied to writing.

Now, like I said, it’s pretty easy to let laziness just sort of take over.  You’ve had a long day at work, you’re just not feeling yourself, and Netflix seems so much more appealing than opening up Microsoft Word or finding your notebook under the heaps of fast food bags and leftover Sheetz Fizz City cups.  There’s got to be at least a dozen three-or-more season shows you’ve been meaning to check out, and that’s a lot easier than sitting down to write some days.

Hell, in the process of writing up to this point, I’ve managed to get distracted by Facebook about four or five times, I’ve checked Netflix’s new listings, went to get something to drink, dropped my phone down a flight of stairs (not a proud moment, exactly), and brushed my teeth.  None of those things involves working on this post at all, obviously, but it’s interesting to see just how many ways any number of things can just drag a person away from the task at hand.

What’s worse is when the lack of drive to get ideas onto paper, or typed up, turns into what I regularly refer to as a writing funk.  It’s not quite the point where I’d be willing to call it writer’s block, as ideas are still happening; it’s just the complete lack of motivation to actually transfer them to any medium.  I mean this sort of funk.  The kind where you feel like just sequestering yourself away for a couple of days and, perhaps, pretending you’re the sole survivor of an apocalyptic scenario.

Naturally, the various stress-inducing aspects of life, with a special personal nod to things like my student loan payments each month, aren’t very helpful when it comes to helping your ideas escape the confines of your brain.  Sure, I could spout platitudes about how it’s important to push past those funks, and how being lazy is the worst possible answer.  That would be a rather impressive load of crap.  While those bits of downtime aren’t exactly ideal (worthy of noting: the three month hiatus/disappearing act I did with this blog from December through March), they’re sometimes a necessary evil to recharge.  However, it’s also crucial to differentiate between just taking a little time to recharge and consistently saying “eh, I’ll get to that tomorrow” and act accordingly.

Letting laziness get the better of you is okay, here and there, and really it’s just part of human nature.  Just be sure to kick laziness in its ass and point it to the door when the time to get back to writing is at hand.