I have an answer for you.... I will tell you later..

If I had a surefire solution, I would be working on finishing my third novel. But if you come up with a solution, please do let me know.

I like to clean because then I can feel like I’m accomplishing something. I discovered during law school that I would always stop working/writing etc. when I got to a particularly challenging point. That’s when I’d open Facebook. I’d force myself to identify what my conundrum was before I stopped and then I’d go clean or go for a walk and focus on the problem.

@FrayedBear -- @silvereyes -- and anyone else to whom this applies (there are many) The universal solution for any writer wishing to write any piece of any length is to begin writing the piece and not stop writing until finished. The trick to being able to do this in something reasonably close to a normal lifetime is to avoid writing a single sentence, then massaging that sentence until it has lost all originality and is 'perfect' to even the point at which the butt of the Baby Jebus would dull in comparison.

That requires something called -- steady yourself -- discipline. The greatest demand on discipline for most would-be writers is not the need to write every day, though even that is a problem for some, but the biggest problem is the lack of professionalism to leave something alone and keep moving until the proper time has arrived to go back and do what work is needed to make it shine. There ... is ... a ... fucking ... reason ... that ... first ... pass ... is ... known ... as ... a ... DRAFT.

This comes from someone who has written and published about 1.8 million words of his own work and right close to 3.4 million words in the employ of others -- and editing, revising, rewriting, and resurrecting the works of others.

One of the best things about writing is that it can be done anywhere and from my experience under almost any conditions. The worst part about writing is that because of the aforementioned, it is precious difficult to come up with any excuse that even slightly works.

@FrayedBear You might determine how you feel about procrastinating: relief might = not ready to write; fear might = not ready to write. Where do you feel trepidation? Starting the spreadsheet? Then use individual sheets for each major and minor subplot. (Add subplots you might have forgotten or thought were unimportant. Its easier to cut than to add.) That way you are not etching it in stone, so to speak, on the spreadsheet. Each subplot might change position on the spreadsheet, but not in the larger scheme of things. I don't work well with deadlines (I fight against them). So what is a surefire solution? Pick your writing utensil (pencil, pen, computer, hammer/chisel) RIGHT NOW and write. You can fix it later. You can rearrange it later. You can proof it later. You can restart later. But Bear, start now Sometimes we can't begin because we don't know the ending. However, you can't write an ending until you know what you wrote.
INTRO . BODY . CONCLUSION. Your intro and/or conclusion can be created based on what the story has become. Just saying