Change can be a good thing. According to Sheryl Crow, it would do me good. And even though I'm a creature of habit, and as much as I would like to cling to what once was, it seems as though the best thing I can do is let go and try something new.
Working from home takes a certain kind of person. One with the drive to get out of bed every morning; one who can both set and meet goals with no Boss Man or Woman looking over their shoulder; and one who, when starting out on that path to the desk, can muster up the gumption to sidestep the landmines of daytime television, irresponsible snacking and the draw of the daily nap.
I am not necessarily that person. I try. Even if I do sneak in a siesta now and then.
Last year, I made myself a schedule. Sure, the planning out of my day was, in part, an exercise in procrastination. As I color-coded each chunk of my day in Google Calendar, I quickly fell into routine and damn, if I didn't feel like I was accomplishing something when I was able to, for the most part, stick to it.
But now, I find myself faltering. I ignore those handy-dandy daily reminders in my inbox. I sneakily hit snooze on the ReminderFox pop-ups under the illusion that if I can't see 'em, they aren't there. And slowly but surely, my productivity has taken a nosedive.
Today, I said enough. New year, time for a new plan of attack. It's obvious I can't do everything I want to do in a day. Time to go with the flow and do what I can.
I've got my freelancing to attend to. My copywriting website to update. My shopping site to revamp, and its corresponding blog to update. Not to mention the 7 or 8 short stories I started as part of my NaNo collection (plus another 8 to 10 half-finished pieces whispering at me from the bottom of my WIP pile).
Seriously, I had pretty much plotted out a space for every one of those tasks on a daily basis. I'm talking "from 10 to 12 will be my Morning Writing Session, after which I'll take an hour for lunch while I conceptualize, write, edit and post a fashion blog, followed by an hour of seeking out new copywriting projects, then depending on the day I either source new markets or promote or market or network all 3 websites, then squeeze in another 2-hour writing session before quitting and starting dinner/laundry/chores/going insane".
Yeah. Do you see what I mean? No wonder I lost momentum. It's a dizzying schedule. And I don't even have any kids (though the cat could rival a room full of toddlers any day of the week).
So, although I'll still be my own personal carny, of sorts, where I must juggle my day-to-day life with my entrepreneurial and creative aspirations, I've come to realize that I can only do so much, and as long as I'm doing what I love, I've already accomplished my goals.
Even if there's always another load of laundry waiting to be done.
WIPS:
- after a month and a half of no fiction writing whatsoever, I finally got back to work on my NaNo 2009 WIP. Story 1: boring. Now i know why I've been putting it off for so long. So, I've taken a new approach, started working on a new intro and I think I'm getting excited about it again
- Looked at upcoming fiction deadlines to see what interests me, where I want to submit pieces to, and came to the realization that I need to clone myself if I want to do it all. Doing it all well is another story. Either way, I've got the remaining NaNo stories to pick through – hopefully at least one will match with an upcoming deadline to give me some sort of direction on which one to work on first
- As part of my personal challenge to do the 500 Words A Day Challenge, I actually managed to get just over 1K today. Woo! Can we say "icon upgrade"?
If you’re a writer participating in WIP Wednesday, post a link to your blog in the comments! Fellow WIP Wednesday participants:
-
Cate Gardner: WIP Wednesday: Dead Pearls Floating
- Mercedes Yardley: WIP Wednesday: Whoomp! (there it is)
- Barry Napier: Hurry up and wait
- Jennifer Tatroe: WIP Wednesday: The Voice
- Aaron Polson: WIP Wednesday: The Big Feelings About Genre
[NWC]
Mary’s eerie tales inspire in readers the urge to double-check the deepest, darkest closets, to peer anxiously under the creakiest of beds, and to always sleep with the lights on.
God job Mary – glad to see you’re finding something that works instead of trying to force yourself into the schedule you think you need. I’m big on doing what feels the best (and is most productive) instead of what’s expected.