How do I stop myself from procrastinating?

So I just started this new job. It's a standard desk job. I haven't done this type of job in a while and I've been pretty busy with other things going on in my life. And it's a public job so my computer is being monitored and so I don't want to work on my creative writing stuff while I'm on the clock. I don't necessarily get lost in writing but just my overall mindset and how much I'm able to buckle down and focus is not what it used to be. <br><br>I hit a wall with my writing awhile back and writing fanfiction has helped me get back in the mindset to write more regularly but I still find myself procrastinating quite a bit. I struggle to sit down and just write. I'll find myself saying things like "I need to clean the house" or any other reason why I can't dedicate my time to writing but not actually doing any of those things. And more of less just wasting my time. I've been doing less of that lately but I'm still not doing as much writing as I used to. I would like to get back to that. I would like to work on my stories more. I'm trying to write this long story but it's not coming out like I want it to and I need to find different ways to work on it.<br><br>Things that have helped so far: <br><br>Limiting my social media usage (I've been doing that for a while though). I recently changed my social media habits a little bit. I used to be on my phone the moment I woke up in the morning and I started to get my morning routine, and my daily routine more organized and making sure I get to bed at a decent time. <br><br>I have been doing writing sprints and those have been helping me visualize the story I'm trying to write. But I'm still struggled with writing more than short paragraphs. <br><br>I've been doing a lot of research and I have been writing notes on what I've learned. I've been having trouble organizing my notes and kind of stuff on any other subject. I've started getting better at organizing my notes on other things and I think I might apply what I've learned to my writing notes. <br><br>I've tried writing everyday, even if it's just a little bit. And that has helped because I was able to make progress. I still have not been writing as much as I want or need to though. I have not been doing that for the past couple of weeks though. I've been taking breaks. I don't feel that guilty about it because I've been busy with other things and I felt like I was running myself into the ground. I was trying not to but I still feel successful in some ways though.<br><br>I'm thinking about writing in "sets of days". I work 4 days a week so maybe I should take those 3 days off and try to do as much writing as possible. I've been having a hard time getting to bed on time and I don't want to sacrifice my sleep to write. But maybe if I go to bed on time I will be able to wake up and get my day started and maybe I can fit in more writing during the day before I have to start my other chores and such. I'm thinking about waking up earlier so I can get a head start on the day and lighten up my load. I've been doing a lot of reading and that helps. I've also been doing a bunch of my self care routines.<br><br>So even though I've been struggling and I have not been writing as much as I want, I have been getting some things done. It's not as much as I want but I'm not feeling super useless and worthless. I'm feeling pretty good about myself. <br><br>I'm writing a story and it's already having trouble and I think I might need to start over and try a different approach. It's been a while since I've worked on the story. I've been working on my other stories. I've been trying to find ways to bring it back up and I still think about it pretty regularly and I have a lot of ideas but I'm struggling to process them. I don't feel like I can get into the story right now because I have to fix a lot before I'm able to get into it more. And I don't necessarily want to fix it by myself. And I don't know what to do or how to do it so I'm not being very productive. So that's the main reason I haven't been writing much. <br><br>I'm wanting to play DnD with some of my friends and I think that will help me more with this story in some ways. And I'm thinking about getting online beta readers and I think that will help me more with the story but I need to make sure I make a good first impression and that my story is almost polished. I don't want to come off as a beginner writer because I don't want people to think I'm not taking this seriously. I already feel like they're going to think that because I'm going to them so I don't want to make things worse.<br><br>So yeah, I would appreciate any advice on this.