Monday, February 10, 2014

Monday Motivation - Write Prioritizing


Write Prioritizing

Shortly after Jack and I were married, we moved into our first house. It wasn’t all that big—less than 1,000 square feet, but it was ours. That little brick abode might as well have been twice the size. I wasn’t sure where to begin when it came to cleaning and keeping it organized. I remember asking my sister-in-law, who was an exemplary homemaker, for advice. She recommended starting with a list and taking care of the few items that were most important that day. 

Despite years of homemaking efforts on my part and books galore read on the subject, there are many times I simply return to making a list when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Every day we tell ourselves what is most important by doing—or not doing--that activity. Last week I let the tyranny of the urgent take over my schedule.

I thought I was making my writing important by setting a word count goal, but it’s time to step that up and make and appointment with myself each day, blocking out writing time. So after devotions, this week I will put writing at the top of that list. What I mean is that I will put “writing time” near the top and see if I can better accomplish my goals, make the best use of my time rather than a mediocre effort.

What about you? How do you complete the tasks, which are truly important to you? Please feel free to share your expertise in the comment section below. 

This week’s writing prompt: She had looked forward to her vacation in Aruba, but when she awoke from her nap on the plane, she found they had landed in . . .

Oh boy, you can just imagine! Right? Have fun with this one. 

8 comments:

  1. I'm wander through each day in a whirl of activity that sometimes accomplishes a lot and sometimes accomplishes very little - or even worse - leaves a trail that will need to be cleaned up the next day. Not good at prioritizing or sticking to a schedule. But my road is continually paved with all those good intentions!

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    1. I have days like that too! I'm trying to get back on a more even keel, though
      sometimes I rebel against routine! It seems if I have a plan, I get further
      with my good intentions anyway. :)

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  2. Kathy, it's so interesting that you posted this today. I was just thinking earlier about all the things I want to do versus what I actually do. I think so often, we're way too hard on ourselves. If there are things on our lists that don't get done, it's probably more often because:

    1) we just signed up for too much today
    2) things came up that we didn't expect yet couldn't be ignored
    3) things took longer than we thought they would

    Very rarely is it because we were lazy or just didn't care. I was thinking, maybe I should keep a list of to-dos in one column (prioritizing as appropriate) and then another column beside it of my done's along with a rough time taken for each item. It helps us "take credit" for our hard work while helping us to budget our time better in the future. This is something we could use for our day at large OR something we could use specifically for our writing time. Haven't tried it yet, but I think I will...I'll let you know how it goes. Take care.

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    1. I agree, Anna. Those three reasons seem to come into play often!
      Recording the time it takes to accomplish tasks, so you can budget
      better sounds like a great idea. I'd be interested in finding out how
      it goes. Thanks so much for sharing today!

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  3. Yes, the tyranny of the urgent runs my life! I still am FAR from mastering the balance between writing and the everyday appointments and tasks that seem to suck up all my time. Thanks for this helpful post, Kathleen. I think I really need to make an appointment to write, like you do. Maybe then I would actually do it! Otherwise, it's so easy to believe that all those other things are more important and more urgent, and then the time to write just slips away! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has trouble with this, as I can tell from the insightful comments you're getting from others. Thanks for another challenging and encouraging post!

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    1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Jerusha.
      I knew there had to be other writers out there
      struggling with the same issues, so I am glad to both
      challenge and encourage you. If we writers continue to
      encourage one another we'll be able to make great strides!

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  4. Hi Kathy, I'm an excellent procrastinator when it comes to writing, unless I have some kind of a deadline. Right now, my excuse is that our daughter's wedding will be here in just under 5 weeks and that's pretty much all I can think about. But after that, I need to get down to business! Thanks for the reminder to designate a specific time for writing.

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    1. You have a great reason right now to put writing on the back
      burner. If you find it therapeutic during times of stress,
      you may want to take 15-20 minutes here and there to write
      and give yourself a break. But you do have an exciting event
      to look forward to and I hope it's a time of great joy for
      you!

      I think I need to write a post about procrastination too!
      Sometimes the goal is to finish other things, so I can
      get to my writing, like a reward, but then I don't always
      get to it! But I know how you feel, Peggy.

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