The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writer's Block

The barriers are properly referred to as causes or reasons for not wanting to write—not excuses, complaints or whines. “Excuses,” etc., are moralistic labels that do little but foment guilt and shame, thereby further impeding our productivity

Once in a while—rarely, really—a student does mention one of these as a cause of not wanting to write, and when they do, I say, “Tell us why one would feel lazy around this project.” Then they promptly come up with one or more of the reasons listed above. This tells us that laziness, lack of willpower, etc., are symptoms, and not causes, of underproductivity—and, moreover, yet another set of moralistic labels that undermine us. One of the most important productivity techniques you can use—so important that I will be repeating it throughout this book—is to never apply labels such as “lazy” to yourself or anyone else.