Empress Procrastination Tries to Manage Her Time

Every human being has exactly the same amount of time, and yet consider the output of Robert Louis Stevenson, John Peabody Harrington, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, William Goldman, Neil Simon, Joyce Carol Oates, Agatha Christie, and John Gardner. How did they accomplish what they have? They weren't deflected from their priorities by activities of lesser importance. The work continues, even though everything else may have to give. They know that their greatest resource is themselves. Wasting time is wasting themselves. When people ask them, "Where do you find the time?" they wonder, "Where do you lose it?" ~ Kenneth Atchity

Time management is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Frankly, I suck at it. I'm a very organized person in theory, but the execution of it lacks a bit at times. I really work best under a deadline. When I have a deadline, I have no excuse to put things off (I am the EMPRESS of Procrastination). When I have a deadline, I let nothing get in my way. I stay up late, wake up early, spend every waking minute working on my project to get it done. Without a deadline...I sort of end up like this:

So, I've set up a schedule for myself. We'll see how it goes. I tend to not stick to these things very long. But I have eternal hope :D I am a stay-at-home mom with two kids who are now both in school full time. I know I have the hours in the day to do everything I want (most of the time). So I should be accomplishing a lot, right? I mean, I should be churning out a new novel every other month and my house should always be spotless, shouldn't it? So why is everything, including my novels, laying around half done?

Honestly, I have no idea. It's like spending $100 out shopping and having nothing to show for it. I will admit, that despite my best intentions, I often find myself during my child free hours, simply staring off into space, or cruising the blogs and tweets, or cuddled up on the couch with some hot coco and one of the many shows I've recorded over the week but haven't gotten around to watching. Often, even writing just sounds like too much work and all I want to do is vegetate.

And I really need to stop beating myself up over that. Heck, everyone needs a break...especially stay at home moms :D But, I could be managing my time better. And since I have several projects that I really REALLY want to get done in the next month or so, I have put myself on a schedule that should, if I follow it, allow me to accomplish what I want to in my personal endeavors, and still enable me to take care of my home and family in the way that I want.

I write best when I am alone and it is quiet, usually in the mornings...but I have also discovered that if I get all the house chores done first thing in the morning, my day goes much smoother. I seem to have more time to do everything else, and I am much less stressed going about the rest of my day. So I have decided to sacrifice a bit of my "me" time every morning to get the things done around the house that need doing. If I can stay on top of things, the chores should only take an hour or so a day...which leaves me plenty of time to squeeze in a few miles at the track, run all my errands and still have time to write or watch tv or just stare off into space until my children come home.

So, that is my game plan :D I will manage my time wisely so that I can fit everything into my day that I need, and want, to do.

Does anyone else have a hard time managing their time? Do you find yourself playing online or doing something else when you should be applying those fingers to the keyboard?

Pre-Editing Problem

In going through my awesome stash of quotes the other day, I came across this one:

"People have writer's block not because they can't write, but because they despair of writing eloquently."

Anna Quindlen

I read that and thought "Oh yeah - that's my problem RIGHT THERE." Well, let's face it, I have many problems (ha!) but this is definitely one of them. I don't think I often have writer's block in the sense that I can't think of what to write. I have a definite overflow of ideas most of the time. But I think I have a hard time OVERTHINKING things. 

Instead of just sitting down and writing, I am constantly editing myself, before I've even put a single word on the page. I'll think of a line and instead of just getting it down, I think "Hmmm, that's not quite the right way to say that. What is the exact right way?"

And I end up with a whole lot of blank pages.

I'm putting the cart before the horse, I'm counting my chickens before they've hatched, I'm eating the cookie dough before it's cooked (oooo....cookie dough....)

I am editing BEFORE I write. And it is definitely something I need to quit doing. It's counterproductive. It's discouraging. And it is a ridiculously effective way of procrastinating LOL

Yeah, it's hard to turn off that internal editor. And yes, editing is a big part of writing. But I've gotta give myself something to write before I edit, instead of trying to get everything perfect on the paper the first time. Of course, knowing this and doing it are two totally different things :D But I can give it a good shot :)

How about you? Do you find yourself editing before you've even begun to write?

Last one, I swear :D

Our Friday Funnies will be moved to Saturday as we explore the last of my present issues.

Without further ado - Issue #3:

I get a little intimidated - because I like to read during my down time. And when I'm holding a superbly awesome book in my hands, I'm thinking two things, pretty much simultaneously.

"This book is sooo good, I love it!!!"

and

"I will never write something as good as this, why can't I think of stuff like this, holy cow why do I bother!!?"

So, yeah, not so easy to pick up my own pen when I'm constantly comparing myself to other people.

Solution - lol suck it up, quit being a baby and (as my mother used to say when my siblings and I would be checking out what was going on with the peas and other undesirables in everyone else's dish instead of mind our own bee's wax) - Mind Your Own Plate!

And I found a few bits of awesome to go along with Mama's bit o' wisdom:

(this one comes from the same Richard Rhodes quote from yesterday...I just saved this line for today) ;-)

If you're afraid of what other people will think of your efforts, don't show them until you write your way beyond your fear.

I love this one - LOVE IT. Because I do love what I do, I love what I write. And that generally doesn't change until I send it out for it's first crit and it comes back covered in that lovely shade of red and I realize how much work it really needs :) But when I'm only concerned about what is going on in MY head *sigh* it be grand :)

Another bit o' awesome, from Frank Herbert:

The successful writer listens to himself. You get a writer's block by being aware that you're putting it out there.

He makes a great point. If I focus too much on "putting it out there" and not enough on listening to myself, I will never write anything again. I think listening to yourself, at least in the beginning stages, is essential, and something I need to try a little harder to do.

One last bit of awesome, from P.J. O'Rourke:

Write badly. Bad writing is easier.

LOL This one just made me laugh. It goes along with my own mantra that I'm supposed to be chanting every day "Just suck it up and do it." 

Yeah, so there are books out there that are going to be better than mine. So what? There are books out there that will be worse too. I need to listen to myself and if that proves difficult, suck it up and write anyway, knowing it's crap. Crap is fixable. But you can't fix something that doesn't exist - so just get something down.

Anyone else waiting in line at the Intimidation Station? Climb aboard Michelle's crazy train - we're leaving the station in 5 minutes :D

I Have Issues, Ya'all...

I was talking to a dear friend yesterday about taking breaks in writing - and I realized, with a bit of a shock, how long the breaks between my projects (novels...not counting my NF stuff) actually are. I finished my last book (first draft, not revisions) a year ago, almost exactly. A. YEAR. AGO.

Why on earth haven't I started something new yet? Well, let me rephrase. Why on earth haven't I FINISHED something new yet?

Really, what is my deal? I've got ideas coming out my ears. I have more first chapters than you can shake a stick at. I have playlists and outlines and revision notes and partials and even a query letter or two...but another finished project - nope, not here!

So - I've been doing a bit of thinking about why it's so hard for me to start something new. I've come up with three main issues (and we are going to take these one day at a time so this post doesn't end up a mini novel on its own):

1. I am Queen of excuses - I am Empress of Procrastination - I can talk your EAR off (my ever-loving and beyond sweet crit buddies can attest to this) about why I haven't/can't/shouldn't/won't start something new. And I'm not just pulling crap out of thin air - these are GOOD excuses :D I mean, I really do have stuff going on...just sayin' :D


So, seeing as how I can pull 100 legitimate (and several thousand not so legitimate) reasons for remaining new projectless out of my...er, hat *ahem* at any given time, what am I going to do about it?

Well, in my procrastinating musings and rummaging through awesome book collection, I came across a few handy little quotes that nailed me right on the head :)

Solution to #1: Awesomeness by Nicholson Baker:

Sit in sun. Sun goes behind cloud. Look at watch. Notice that second-hand does not always point directly at little marks on dial. Sometimes it does, though. Then sometimes it doesn't. Why? Feel panic at how quickly life slips by. Get to work.

Life does slip quickly by. All those excuses I dole out are just that - excuses. Excuses, for no real reason at all, for putting off something I love and want to do  - Solution - get off butt and get to work.

Stay tuned tomorrow for reason and solution #2 - in the meantime, how is everyone out there doing? Do you have issues with starting new projects? Do I have any rivals for Empress/Emperor of Procrastination?