Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday Motivation - Would You Write More if You Had a Longer Day?


Time is a fleeting commodity. If we could extend by six hours, we’d manage to need another meal and probably a nap to get through a longer day. So if we had more hours, we would probably wind up making ourselves busier and not necessarily accomplishing much more.

A little over a week ago I pulled something out of place in my lower back. Once the back was feeling a bit better, I strained the muscles around my hip as I tried to catch up on things too soon. That slowed me down again. As I looked around at what I couldn’t do, I focused on what I could do.

I had more time for editing and rewriting, catching up on emails and correspondence and some creative endeavors. Translation: More sitting than usual. After a little r & r with hubby on the weekend, I am overly positive about Monday, in fact most Mondays I am ready to attack the house and writing. Somehow I think I will be Super Writer and Homemaker. Usually by Thursday I realize there’s no way I will accomplish everything I’ve set out to do for the week.

So there I am: I have the same seven twenty-four blocks of time I did last week. For me, this is where a list comes in handy. As all the chores I need to catch up on flood my mind, writing time isn’t swept over with the tidal wave of to-dos. Whether it’s on the list or written in the appointment book, I have made sure writing time gets noticed. Barring sickness or emergencies, if I don’t make the time for writing it’s nobody else’s fault. That block of time didn’t get sucked into a vacuum, but once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Right now I’m able to take chunks of time, as in two or more hours, and go at it. But writing time in your life it may look a bit different. It may be twenty minutes outlining what you want to write before the kids get up or you leave for work. It may be thirty minutes researching your topic at lunch time and taking a few notes. Or it may be an hour at the end of the day to write what you outlined that morning after your family goes to bed.

Whatever works for you, don’t be a victim of the tyranny of the urgent, use time wisely to make the most of your writing—starting today.

Writing Prompt: They strolled through the woods to find . . .

(Incorporate as many senses as you can into this pleasant spring stroll!)


4 comments:

  1. I just wish I could swing my days around so I write FIRST before chores! :-)

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  2. I have stopped putting everything off until Monday morning. That helps me a lot.

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    Replies
    1. I do some writing and chores on the weekend, too, but I think I get more
      done when hubby is at work.

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