Pillar One: Work Your Way
Have you ever had a burst of motivation and declared that this will be the year you write your book? You clear a spot on your desk, buy notepads, and sharpen an entire box of pencils to absolute perfection. Insert inspirational coffee mug here and you are Instagram ready. But then weeks turn into months, and you still haven’t figured out how to actually sit your butt in the chair and write. The best of intentions turn into feelings of inadequacy and the stuff of everyday life turns into brick walls keeping you from your dream. I totally get it. Sports practice, work, birthday parties, and every other possible priority make it hard to get in the writing groove and we find ourselves using all these reasons as why there is no book.
May I suggest a change of perspective? Instead of seeing our life’s obligations as barriers to progress, what if we see them as a framework? These commitments and obligations are not walls but a framework for our productivity. So, stop reading just long enough to grab a notepad and one of those perfectly sharpened pencils. It’s time to figure out what this means for you.
First we need to start by being honest with ourselves. In this case, be honest about how we are filling our day. Certain things are unchangeable, like what time the kids get dropped off at school. Other things may be a bit more flexible, like when we go to the grocery store, fold the laundry, or binge watch Dead to Me. Start making your list. If it helps, you may want to identify your higher level categories (i.e. work, house, family, etc) first and place related tasks under each. Don’t worry about making it pretty. Just get it out of your head and onto the paper.
The next moment of honesty comes in identifying when you are most creative and most productive. Some people do their best work before the rest of the house wakes up. Others find that inspiration most often visits late at night. Acknowledge when this is and work with that. Don’t try to cram creativity and productivity in where they don’t fit. If getting up “an hour earlier” to workout, email, etc. is good advice for you, use it!, otherwise it’s just exhausting! Your circumstances are real. Your work style is valid. Find where you have the time in your day, and schedule it in. This leads us to …
Map it out. Don’t just say you’ll get around to it when you can, or you’ll squeeze in a few minutes here and there. Get a calendar and make a schedule. Grab the list you created above and write in those set events. Then look for openings and fill it with tasks related to your goal. Decide that you will find time to write and see what you can move around so your time to write coincides with when you feel most creative. Last, fill in any remaining availability with those time-flexible items.
One more thing: At the risk of offending you, I need to mention your super cute, perfect for social media, “I’m an author,” vignette of a work space you created. When creating this space did you take into consideration the way you work with regard to your environment? Personally, I need my desk for emails and administrative tasks, but I need solitude (which often means a change of environment) for my creative endeavors. I have learned that this is how I get stuff done. I love to take my computer outside and turn on piano music. Why piano? Because if I can sing along then I won’t get anything done (other than karaoke). Yes, these are the things I have come to acknowledge about myself through many honest conversations and hours of lost productivity. I no longer fight against my work style by trying to get creative tasks done while at my desk. Instead, I pick up and move knowing that the time it takes me to relocate will be more than made up for through increased productivity in the new location. Take a look around. Are you where you need to be to get the job done?
Get the job done. It may not be a book, but good news, these same rules apply to whatever your goals. Work your schedule your way, and you will see progress. Also, those feelings of inadequacy being replaced with feelings of accomplishment because you’re getting shit done - It’s amazing!