Changes
This post is tangentially related to writing. It's about balance in life which impacts both your life and writing.
All things change, including me. When life gives you a hint, it’s time for change. For me, the hints include increased lack of sleep, stress, tension, anxiety, and reacting without thinking. None of those things are me. I learned long ago that ignoring any of these indicators was a determinant of my well-being and life, and would eventually lead to a burn-out or collapse. I don’t want to go through that again, so I don’t ignore the signs.
The problem is to determine what parts of my life are causing the signs to appear, and then change in order to eliminate them. Once I realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be, I took a metaphorical step back and looked at my past week. What was I doing that caused the stress and other issues? Just thinking through what I’d done and accomplished didn’t provide any clues. I pulled up my to-do/not to-do lists and noticed I had an increasing number of items I hadn’t completed over the past few weeks. That was unusual. Looking through my backlog of lists, I noticed something interesting. The number of to-do items and scheduled tasks increased almost daily to the point every time slot was filled, and I had alternated days (some tasks on certain days instead of on each day) just to keep up. It doesn’t take a genius to see I was overloading. I had no real free time. Even meal times were multi-tasking as writing times (I enjoy writing while I eat).
That was my problem. I felt I needed to be doing something in order to be accomplishing something. That’s a false equivalency.
It was time for a change. I went through my lists and removed everything that wasn’t critical; things I was doing because I wanted to, but didn’t have to be done or done at a certain time. Everything that I had scheduled, that wasn’t immediately useful, was also deleted (such as trying to learn Japanese every day, which I’d probably never use). I got my lists and my daily schedule to a humane level. I created breathing and relaxation time.
A week later, I’m back to my normal self–whatever that means.
Some times you need to change to remain the same.
—
On the writing front, I’d trashed my space opera idea (and several months of work) as being something even I wouldn’t want to read, much less write. I think I over-planned it to the point of dullness. I’ve started pantsing a new book which I’m having fun writing. Although I like a certain level of planning I enjoy pantsing more. Of course, that means I will have a lot more work during the rewrite and editing phases.
“Last Call”, the noir I’ve been working on for the past several years, will come out within the next month. This is the best thing I’ve published so far, and I’m looking forward to holding it in my hand. I like everything I’ve published, but each book is better than the previous ones because I’m becoming a better writer.
—
So, take time for yourself. You don’t need to be active every minute of your life to be accomplishing things. Staying sane and healthy is the most important accomplishment you can control.
And, yes, I’ll still be writing while I eat.
The problem is to determine what parts of my life are causing the signs to appear, and then change in order to eliminate them. Once I realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be, I took a metaphorical step back and looked at my past week. What was I doing that caused the stress and other issues? Just thinking through what I’d done and accomplished didn’t provide any clues. I pulled up my to-do/not to-do lists and noticed I had an increasing number of items I hadn’t completed over the past few weeks. That was unusual. Looking through my backlog of lists, I noticed something interesting. The number of to-do items and scheduled tasks increased almost daily to the point every time slot was filled, and I had alternated days (some tasks on certain days instead of on each day) just to keep up. It doesn’t take a genius to see I was overloading. I had no real free time. Even meal times were multi-tasking as writing times (I enjoy writing while I eat).
That was my problem. I felt I needed to be doing something in order to be accomplishing something. That’s a false equivalency.
It was time for a change. I went through my lists and removed everything that wasn’t critical; things I was doing because I wanted to, but didn’t have to be done or done at a certain time. Everything that I had scheduled, that wasn’t immediately useful, was also deleted (such as trying to learn Japanese every day, which I’d probably never use). I got my lists and my daily schedule to a humane level. I created breathing and relaxation time.
A week later, I’m back to my normal self–whatever that means.
Some times you need to change to remain the same.
—
On the writing front, I’d trashed my space opera idea (and several months of work) as being something even I wouldn’t want to read, much less write. I think I over-planned it to the point of dullness. I’ve started pantsing a new book which I’m having fun writing. Although I like a certain level of planning I enjoy pantsing more. Of course, that means I will have a lot more work during the rewrite and editing phases.
“Last Call”, the noir I’ve been working on for the past several years, will come out within the next month. This is the best thing I’ve published so far, and I’m looking forward to holding it in my hand. I like everything I’ve published, but each book is better than the previous ones because I’m becoming a better writer.
—
So, take time for yourself. You don’t need to be active every minute of your life to be accomplishing things. Staying sane and healthy is the most important accomplishment you can control.
And, yes, I’ll still be writing while I eat.