Oh, your messy desk. Three stacks of papers in front of your three monitors. The small terra cotta pot that holds your pencils is tipped over and the pencils are strewn about. And legos. The kids have been in here again. Or did you bring them in here? You don’t even know. Ugh. You see that coffee mug stain. Will it ever come out of the wood? You know it’s a second-hand desk, but it’s so beautiful. Oak. Heavy. You’ll never get it out of here if you ever move.

But the desk is not the problem is it? No. You’ve got bigger problems than the mess in front of you. Yes. The computer works just fine. The piles can be moved. The legos can be transported to the playroom where they belong. The pencils can be picked up and put into the pot where they belong. All will be right with the world, and you can work at the big oak desk that will never be moved. No. None of those things are the problem.

The problem is that you’ve got a deadline. And what do you do when you’ve got a deadline? You talk to yourself and mope about. You focus on the things that do not matter one bit. You make yourself into a huge wreck. Each and every time. Deadline looming. Time to go into a tailspin. But knowing is half the battle, isn’t it. So just start.

Okay. Take a deep breath.

Now, we’re talkin’. One more. Deep breath.

Okay.

Computer on. Check. Idea in mind. Check. Seat in chair. Check. Now just write. Write like your life depends on it. Oh, you know it doesn’t. Not one little bit. But you pretend like it does. You pretend like your self-imposed deadline means something. But your readers don’t care. Those two or three readers could probably care less if you ever made any deadline. After all, they are related to you. And they always thought you were crazy to write a silly blog. Yet here you are. Panicking again because you think you’re not going to meet your deadline.

And now it’s done.

Eight-hundred words of drivel. Posted on the internet. You should be proud. Proud that you overcame the messy desk and all its minutiae. Proud that you overcame the panic. Proud that you posted your silly old blog.

You silly old writer. Next time, you just need to remember. Breathe and write. Messy desk or not.