procrastination

#WednesdayWisdom: Let’s shine a light on that creep.

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We all have one. You know what I mean, that task that weighs on you, either with a deadline or without, and no matter what you are doing, it’s staring at you creepily from the corner.

Obviously it’s creepy. It stalks you.

Sometimes I figure I should add it after I’ve taken care of the routine day-to-day. Get the usual things out of the way first.

But.

Today I decided let’s shine a light on that creep.

Do it first.

Before everything else, let’s get rid of that thing that’s going to call my brain and hang up, that’s going to tap its foot impatiently and make threatening gestures. Just get it out of the way so I can go on my merry way and it can leave me alone.

And I’ve got to say.

It’s liberating. No reminding myself to do it, it’s done.

No trying to calculate how long it’s going to take, it’s done.

So that is my wisdom for you today. Whatever it is, do it first.

And have a fantastic Wednesday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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My 100% always works procrastination buster.

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By Scott Robinson from Gaithersburg, MD, USA (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Gather round friends, I’m going to tell you my best secret for getting things done when you’re having trouble getting things done. Are you ready?

 

Set a timer.

What’s that, hypothetical reader? Do I want you to set one now? Oh, I can see how that could be ambiguous. I meant when you need to do the task.

And yes, hypothetical reader, I know it’s not my best-kept secret, but I didn’t say it was, did I? I just said my best secret. That it is.

I’m not sure why it works, it’s entirely artificial. No one’s going to know whether or not you honor the timer. Though you should always honor the timer.

Honor the timer.

But there’s a bit of the ritual to it as well. When that button goes, my mind knows it’s time to buckle down, to focus. It also knows it only has to focus for the amount of time on the timer.

Granted, maybe it doesn’t work for everyone. But for me, it’s the never-fail. Once the timer is set, so am I.

Check out my recaps of the hit new show “All My Traitors.” Recap of episode 2, “Lock Him Up” is available now!

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

The Work of Writing Seven: Harnessing Procrastination

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(Previous Work of Writing posts)

Currently in the throes of NaNoWriMo yet again, I find myself with the same problem year after year: sitting down to do the work. Making myself gather my thoughts and typing.

Perhaps it’s just me. But I doubt it.

I have a secret weapon, though, and this nearly-midway point, when the thought of daily word grabs starts to wear, seems like the perfect time to trot it out. And to share it. Are you ready?

Procastination.

“What?!” you cry, hypothetical reader, clutching at imaginary pearls and closing the web page in shock. OK, maybe not quite so dramatic, but what do you want from me, we’re in the middle of NaNoWriMo.

Procrastination can work for you. How? I pick a task that is generally less appealing than getting into my words, especially at those tough bits where you question all of your life choices and think perhaps you should have joined the circus after all.

For me, that task is usually cleaning of some kind. I know for some of you, cleaning is a joy, and I have to tell you, I don’t understand your kind. And I’m a little jealous, but I digress.

So I give myself two options. I can do the task — clean the bathroom, for example — or I can sit down and write my blog.

You can see which I chose in this instance, but no worries, the bathroom is next. Because I still have to do my words.

You use the procrastination to your advantage. You still get something done, and if you’re like me, while you’re doing the other thing, the ideas flow like bleach from the bottle of imagination.

Given that metaphor, I guess I’d better get going on cleaning that bathroom.

Check out my recap of the hit new show “All My Traitors.”

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Now or Later

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This morning the coffeemaker needed cleaning. You know the coffeemaker. The one I got with high hopes of a freshly-ground future. The one that dashed those hopes with clumpy steamed coffee grounds and cement-clogged chutes.

That coffeemaker.

Like with most things in life, we’ve gotten along much, much better since I lowered my expectations, and now only use pre-ground coffee. Despite owning a perfectly good grinder I could use separately.

So I looked at its alternately-flashing lights, knowing that that was the signal for “replace the smell of freshly-brewed coffee with that of hot white vinegar,” and thought hmm. Do I do this now?

And I responded to myself with a yes.

Do it now, do it now. There are some tasks that, when put off, seem to gain bulk and dimension until they feel unreasonably difficult. But if you don’t stop to think, if you just shrug and get on with it, then it’s done.

Did going through the cleaning ritual really slow me down on my to-dos? I mean really? Does it take that much longer to get up and run the clean water through?

Here’s the thing. Had I delayed, I would have been thinking about it, that tiny task, in one corner of my mind. But now it’s done. Or mostly done, I think another round of water is in order, given that vinegary coffee isn’t exactly a gourmet delight.

We know we need to prioritize and organize, but when it seems like not doing something is going to bug you more and longer than just handling it would, do it now.

Vinegar through the coffeemaker is temporary. That nagging distraction is forever.

For more on my thoughts about Charlottesville and rising bigotry, please read An Open Letter to My Friends of Color.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AtoZChallenge: Procrastination

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Panda at Chiang Mai zoo taken by user:KayEss {{gfdl}}

If you are the one person who doesn’t do it, who has a task, sits down, completes the task with nary a dreamy glance out of the window, please, please tell me how. Right here, in the comments, break it down for me, in detail, what it feels like, what your mind does, when it’s a straight shot from A to Z.

Case in point: as I was writing this, I decided I wanted to open the blinds more fully, which then alerted me to the streaky gray of my window. Was it inside? Outside? Obviously that’s a question that couldn’t be answered after finishing this post, so I got a cleaning cloth and checked.

Inside.

Huh. Making it streakier, I needed to dry as I cleaned. Great. Oh I need the stepladder to get the top of the window. Hang on, hang on, blog post. It can be cleaned after the blog post.

And here we are.

Here’s the thing. It’s not that I don’t get things done. They happen. Sometimes I think the diversions are just my brain taking the time to work things out without my input.

But there must be a clean, minimalist beauty to knowing something must be done, and without hesitation, doing it. Deadlines get me there; it’s one the reasons my timer trick — setting the timer and getting on with it — is so effective for me.

But on the other hand, sometimes you just need a clean window.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

The Work of Writing: One

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By August Müller (1836–1885) (Auktionshaus Bergmann) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

(More Work of Writing posts.)

 

Note: The below account is entirely fictional and does not in any way reflect what I may or may not have done at any time, including this morning, even if it sounds like it’s possible, remember it’s totally fictional. Fictional.

  • Good morning! Grasp coffee cup with both hands, staring beatifically out of the window. It’s Monday. Let’s get to it!
  • Oops! Gotta eat! Breakfast!
  • Check twitter.
  • Clean new electric kettle by boiling water. Huh. It needs a trivet.
  • Shop online for trivets.
  • Buy coasters.
  • Read trivet reviews closely. Scrutinize colors. Can it open a jar? Suddenly absolutely, positively need silicone trivets that can open jars.
  • Finally select trivets. Success!
  • Change mind, choose other trivets.
  • Look out window. Onward!
  • Check twitter.
  • Computer slow. Must reboot. Maybe run a check.
  • Shut down.
  • Screen is dirty. Clean screen.
  • Reboot.
  • Run scan.
  • Look out window. Can’t go onward. Must have computer to write.
  • Also must have computer to blog.
  • Also must have computer to edit.
  • Also must have computer to twitter.
  • Check twitter on phone.
  • Still scanning.
  • Pace. Every bit of exercise counts, right?
  • Still scanning
  • Inspiration! Remember the ancient method of writing with pen and paper.
  • Scratch out blog post.
  • Still scanning.
  • Take kettle for a test drive.
  • Scanning finished! Look at handwritten post. Remember why use computer to write everything.
  • Oops! Kettle’s ready. Make tea.
  • Clean out silicone Mana-Tea which also may or may not be fictional (it’s not. It’s adorable).
  • Glance out window grasping mug of tea with both hands. Onward?
  • Check twitter.

 

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

Fridaying My Way Through Writing

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It’s a solidly gray day here in Chicago, and I’m hoping I haven’t fallen off the blogging wagon. I skipped a day yesterday, the first since the A-to-Z Challenge.

Bad me.

I am in a very odd space of inspiration and non-inspiration, thinking but not quite ready to do. I’m hoping that like water suddenly retreating from the shore amidst an eerie silence, that I am on the brink of a creative tsunami.

We shall soon see.

With the show halfway through its run, and my only responsibilities picking up cake and refreshing one of the props, it’s time to return my attention to my original writing. My real writing.

I have such romantic visions of sitting down and doing the work, but anyone who has ever written anything knows how that tends to go. Just ask Spongebob.

But when that rush of creativity hits, there’s nothing much you can do other than be carried away with the tide.

And that might be a tad more romanticizing.

I also have editing to do, with a manuscript that needs to convert from draft 1 to draft 2 at some point.

This sketch comedy writing has been fun in many ways, and I’ve picked up a lot of great, transferable skills, but short-form sketches aren’t who I am as a writer. So for me and Spongebob, it’s time to hit the pencil and paper.

In or near Chicago? Check out our sketch comedy revue, Me Inside Me Presents: “Neurotrash.” Saturdays at 10 pm, May 7, 14, 21 & 28 in Donny’s Skybox Theater. Tickets $13; Students $11 SCTC Students: $7  Click here for tickets.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 Sign up for my spamless newsletter!

A New Day, A New Determination, Maybe

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OK, so after yesterday’s braincation, I am determined, utterly determined, to keep myself focused today. I’m even considering a list.

A list, people.

We all know there’s nothing better than crossing things off of a list. I’m still adjusting to the new computer, with its new keyboard. I’ve ditched its touchpad though, because it kept erasing entire paragraphs without my input. Paragraphs I wanted, no matter what it felt about it.

I’ve gotten a wireless mouse, and I’ve been using the touchscreen a surprising amount. Well, surprising to me. Not, maybe, so much to the people who invented touchscreen computers.

So as I stand here today — OK, I’m not standing, I’m sitting, though I do think one of those standing desks might be a good thing. I’m afraid of those walking desks, though, they seem to have “should have known” all over them — so as I sit here today, typing, I pledge to rev up my productivity. I will, without question, be more productive today than yesterday.

Oh hello there, hypothetical reader! It’s been so long since you’ve been by, how are you? Oh really? I’m glad to hear that. What was that point you wanted to make, hypothetical reader?

Yes, you’re right, it isn’t going to be hard to top yesterday’s record. Very astute of you to notice.

So it might not be a high bar, but at least it’s a bar and a goal. Do you hear that, brain? Today you are sticking with me, no wandering off to exotic, gossamer places, unless those exotic, gossamer places are in what I’m writing. Do you hear me brain?

Brain??

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Daydream Reliever

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So today I have my head in the clouds. My brain never came back from the weekend, and I’m having a lot of trouble bringing my focus down to this mortal plane.

I mean, who wants the mortal plane anyway when you could have clouds?! People who have stuff to do, that’s who. Oh wait, that’s me.

You’d think being in a daydreamy mood would help with writing. My imagination is drifting gently from thought to thought, caught on a soft breeze. Unfortunately, though, in that state, the ideas tend to stay inside my head and don’t make the necessary trip out through my fingers.

Actually getting something written is work. And not one part of me, from the brain that has to think to the hands that have to type, wants to do its job. It’s like I’m on a relaxed, floaty strike.

Which is really not a great thing on a Monday. If the week starts out this way, how’s it going to end up going? That’s the big question. If trying get this post written is any indication, possibly not too smoothly.

Yikes.

There are times I’d indulge this feeling, take a break and just gather wool. Not literal wool, though, because, I mean, what would I do with it? It’s not like I can spin yarn. I can spin a yarn, but I don’t think you need wool for that. Or maybe you do. Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing wrong.

Maybe I should ask Hugh Howey.

Huh, look at that. I managed to put together an entire blog post. Next stop, the WORLD! OK, maybe just some blog visits. And oh yeah. Some writing.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

 

 

Me? Distracted? Never!

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Well, after two days of luxuriating in glorious drill-free silence, with the blinds open without fear of coming face-to-face with a man far outside where nature intended, the workers are back. Ish, it appears. The drilling is coming in splatters and sputters.

Manageable, though. Definitely manageable.

Which it needs to be today. I haven’t even started my scene for class yet. And worse, last week’s homework inspired the nugget of a new project, and I haven’t had a chance yet to start it. And let us all say together: aaarrgghh.

That’s the way of writing, isn’t it? Distractions, tiny little nuisance distractions find water somewhere and they grow to 10,000 times their original size. The ideas you have are never for the project you need to work on, they’re always for something newer, shinier, blanker, un-used-up.

Sometimes I wish writing was like a spigot, righty-tighty, lefty loosey. Just open that faucet and the work comes pouring out as your fingers move methodically, melodically across the keyboard. And as I wrote that sentence I realized my fingernails had become an uncomfortable typing length and I had to go cut them. I hope you’ll forgive the interruption.

Anybody remember something I said about distractions? It seems like it might be relevant here somehow. If only I could make that connection.

So off to the back-burner, new idea. I’ve got homework to do. And I’m going to do it. I swear. Only I have a couple of things to do first.

Procrastination? What? Why on earth would you say that, hypothetical reader? I can’t see what procrastination has to do with anything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go rotate my refrigerator shelves. Kitchen maintenance never ends.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

Sign up for my spamless newsletter. And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!