I have a daily routine. Do you? Mine is super simple. Vacuum up the stray kitty litter around the house, do my daily affirmations, meditate, update my gratitude journal, then write my aspirational diary entry – complete with photos. I like to look back on the year in pictures. Then it’s time to write, catch up on Facebook and Instagram, and check emails. Every so often Microsoft updates intrude on my best laid plans. I admit, I dread them. One of the recent ones, though, gave me a gift – curated news stories. I manage to sneak in some reading time daily before I move on to other stuff. There’s always something interesting.
Today’s must read was an Inc. interview with Richard Branson. I’ve long admired the man – a true adventurer who isn’t afraid to follow his dreams. He’s had an amazing life, marred by little controversy for someone with his very public persona. His Wikipedia page is longer than some books I’ve written. It’s filled with successes and gives honest nods to his failures and heartbreaks. And yes, he’s had more than a few.
Reading his life story makes me feel tired, and like an underachiever. How does he do it? Even at his income level, he’s only got 24-hours in a day, right? My biggest struggle is finding time enough in a day to do everything I have to, much less everything I want to. In truth, finding time to write, even now when it’s my only job, is not easy. The day fills with this and that and interruptions and before I know it, the word count is in three figures, creativity has waned and my energy meter is pegged at zero.
Okay, back to the interview. The secret to Branson’s success is do what’s fun and time will expand to accommodate your needs. Fun. Pundits from Confucius to Mark Twain have advocated finding a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. There’s merit in the concept, but not everyone has the luxury.
I was fortunate to find the interview in the middle of a long day. I’d closed my writing program after 184 (count ‘em) words and was ready to sign off. Needless to say, I felt defeated. I love this story, and its characters, yet it wasn’t flowing. I knew my beginning, middle, and end and had lots of twists and turns planned, but the actual writing was hard. The last time this happened, I needed to change my point of view from third to first. This time I needed to change my point of view. I’d forgotten the joy of bringing a story to the page, the fun of creativity. Instead of weaving a gorgeous pattern of words, I was making widgets!
I can’t wait to get back to my stalled-out story after I finish this blog. Gotta go, words are waiting, Thank you, Sir Richard.
great post, Kait. I've taken a full week off from my WIP to tend to visiting family. I needed the break.
ReplyDeleteso glad you had time to spend with your family. It's amazing how invigorating time off is!
ReplyDeleteYour organization makes my (fairly simple) life look chaotic!
ReplyDeleteIt's great how we often run into inspiration just when we need it.
Burnout can be a major issue for self-employed people (which includes most writers) because we tend to let the "urgent" work needs overwhelm our need to tend to ourselves. And just because something was fun, doesn't always make it so. Switching gears can recharge our batteries.
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