Yesterday when I sat down to my blog I looked over at the right hand column and was dismayed to see I had only written 7 posts for the month of April. I was dismayed for several reasons, one because my goal is to write 3 posts a week (a mark which I am not sure if I have ever met), two because I knew at least 3 of the 7 posts were what I consider fluff posts (I’d like you to meet my dog!), and three because I recognized I had been avoiding my blog and that made me really sad.
I love my blog. So why would I avoid it? Well mostly because my brain and my body have not been cooperating with my desire to be productive, so instead of writing more fluff posts, I decided not to write anything at all. I recently read somewhere that Perfectionism is the biggest enemy of Productivity. How true is that! So what, if I can’t write a post that I am totally and completely satisfied with, then I am not going to write at all? Can I still call myself a writer if I am not writing? Am I the first and only person to write in less than ideal circumstances? Am I the first person with a chronic illness to write? Uh, no.
Sometimes I just need a kick in the butt! Well I am giving myself a kick in the butt. No more avoidance, no more procrastination. I am giving myself a writing assignment to write a post a day for 30 days – 30 in 30. I need the structure and I need the challenge. I love writing. I want to write. I need to stop getting in my own way and just do it. I have a tendency for self-sabotage (now there is a great post topic), but I think if I approach this as an assignment I will be successful. I have notebooks, and notepads, and scratch papers full of ideas and topics to write on. Time to sit down, review them, and pick a subject for tomorrow.
Besides procrastination, (and feeling lousy because of Fibromyalgia and the concussion) the thing I have struggled most with lately is creating a routine and sticking with it. My ideal schedule would look something like this:
Monday
9am-1pm Write
2pm-4pm Read/Research
4pm-5pm Answer emails, etc.
Tuesday
9am-10am Yoga
11am-2pm Write
2pm-4pm Read/Research
4pm-5pm Answer emails, etc.
Wednesday – Repeat Monday
Thursday – Repeat Tuesday
Friday
9am-11am Write
noon-2pm Lunch with sis
2pm-4pm Errands & Appointments
4pm Answer emails, etc.
Now that is ideal, and doesn’t allow for any out of the ordinary circumstances, but like my goal of 3 posts a week, I don’t think I have ever come close to that schedule. I no longer want to be a writer who only writes occasionally because she has Fibromyalgia. I want to be a writer who just happens to have Fibromyalgia. And for my writing not related to this blog, I simply want to be a prolific writer, and that is what I am going to be!
So I am counting today as day one. One down, 29 to go. And when this assignment is over, and I have strengthened my writing muscles and given them the endurance they have been lacking, I am going to take on a new assignment. Perfectionism & Procrastination be gone! Productivity is my new thing!
1/30
That 30 in 30 is a great idea! I may have to try it myself!
This is great, I look forward to reading your posts! As a fellow sufferer of fibro, I was concerned to see you didn’t schedule any rest…I’m also a big procrastinator, and my best trick is to ‘just start’. For my blog, I just open a new post and just start. Sometimes nothing comes, but that’s okay because you’ve tried 🙂 I hope you enjoy your prolificness LOL!!
I find yoga wonderful as well. I wish I could take a class like that. There’s a yoga studio two blocks away, with Restorative Yoga classes that are perfect but – no moolah! You are right of course, rest often comes whether we want it or not. I just read this book, and it talks about energy conservation. They advocate scheduling and prioritizing 10-15 minutes (depending on your health) of rest at the beginning of each hour. They say scheduling and taking rest, even when you don’t feel tired, actually saves you energy in the long run, because it is much harder to make up when you’ve pushed yourself because you are feeling okay. I’m trying to take this book’s advice in my own life, and spread it around a bit. I don’t follow it exactly either, but before I read it, resting was something I felt really bad for doing. Now I try to remember the benefits of resting before I get so fatigued I HAVE to.
Here’s the book, I loved it: http://www.amazon.com/Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome-Fibromyalgia-Second/dp/1581826702
Take care of you ;D
SO SO So many unfinished writing projects. I do crave only to leave my words, my creative wit and wisdom on paper, published preferably before I die! Not only do I go through bouts of procrastination, but just as I was shedding that skin and really getting deep into some of my fictional plot points, my brain quit, I couldn’t find words, I couldn’t make sense of my thoughts. Fibro is so mean, just when you’re on a roll, it knocks you down. Can I answer your call to pens? I am afraid to say it, to say yes, I too will post 1 a day because that nosy Fibro monster is probably listening and plotting my demise…
Don’t sweat it. Most important is your health, not your blog. Stop by my blog is you want to read about my experience @ Mayo Clinic.