Multitasking: Trying to do multiple things at once, like checking emails or watching TV while writing, can divide your attention and slow down your progress. A great analogy is if you are juggling, and decide to take on more balls than you can comfortably handle. You start throwing them up in the air, but as more balls are added, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep them all aloft. You’re so focused on not dropping any balls that you forget to pay attention to the quality of your juggling. Eventually, the balls start dropping one by one, and you end up with a chaotic mess. Similarly, when you try to tackle too many tasks at once, you may lose sight of their quality and effectiveness, and important things can start to “drop” or get neglected, leading to procrastination and a lack of meaningful progress. Solutions:  Set a timer and do sprints.  Google the Pomodoro Technique for a good timing schedule.  Make sure to take a 5–10-minute break after each sprint to reduce stress and mentally set up your next sprint, just like running.  Walk it out people, walk it out.  Sometimes stopping the sprint doesn’t work for me and I just keep writing because I get into a flow state.  This is OK too but remember to break every 40 minutes to stretch the body and stand up.  Stay organized so you reduce the need to switch tasks or look for information during your writing time.  Focus on progress.  Have a specific word count to achieve and track wc as you write.  Sometimes the epic writing sessions are because I really got into the scene, and I was living in it as I wrote it.  You know what I mean.

Perfectionism: The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write the first draft quickly. Perfectionism is the act of wanting what you write to be perfect. It’s an epic time suck.  A want, not a need.  Solutions:  Recognize that perfection is an unrealistic goal and that imperfections are part of what makes things unique and interesting. When you recognize you are becoming a perfectionist by editing or revisions, engage in activities that make you laugh, such as watching stand-up comedy, sitcoms, or funny videos.  In fact, set up a lineup of videos that you find so funny, bookmark them, and watch them for 10 minutes when you find yourself “fixing” a sentence.  I love Jimmy Kimmel’s lip sync battle with Emma Stone (8 minutes).  OMG, hilarious.  I also find watching reruns of MASH is the perfect remedy as it makes me laugh at a serious thing and can get me out of the somber perfectionist mood.  An alternate method is to keep a journal where you document your blunders, funny moments, and imperfect experiences. Write them down with a humorous twist to remind yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes.