The week has gone nothing like I imagined, I knew it would be busy, but I didn’t expect outright insanity to reign. According to my planner, there was time enough for everything. According to real life, not so much. Monday was meetings and appointments from 8am until 10pm…BUT I still wrote!!! The writing wasn’t pretty and consisted of me dictating as I drove from one place to another, but I did it. At the end of a 14 hour day, I had a rough new chapter. VERY ROUGH. But words are on the page and I have the beginnings of a chapter that didn’t exist before.
Tuesday and today were much of the same, rushing from one thing to the next, except this time crazy cleaning lady (me) made her appearance as we get ready to welcome guests. I made the mistake of watching a few episodes of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo on Netflix and now have this intense desire to tidy all. the. things. It seems improbable, but cleaning has made me want to write more. Go figure. Sitting in bed last night, I knew my dresser, bathroom, sitting room, pantry, and bookshelves were as clean and organized as possible. For the first time in a while I was able to focus entirely on writing. No more nagging feeling that something else needed to be done. Amazing!
Maybe, by the end of the year, my house will be a shining example of organization and my manuscript will be done. *wink* A girl has to have goals and this feels like a solid one to add to my list. And if one goal feeds off the other, even better!
I mentioned my planner at the beginning of the post and it is life-changing! Let me explain. It took me a while to build up the courage to change planners, however, in my continuing effort to do it scared, I ordered the Living Well Planner. It is everything I hoped for and more! Even better than my Erin Condren *gasp* and ranks right up there with my Passion Planner and Panda Planner…maybe even a little higher because of the spiral design, corner protectors, goal sheets, weekly goals, etc. Yeah, I’m gushing! The brilliant design makes me focus on my goals and keeps my writing, lists, to-dos, and projects right in front of me each day. If you are still looking for a planner for 2019, do yourself a favor and take a look at this one!
Last thing… Despite not being completely thrilled with my word count, I’m over the moon with joy that I persisted and “wrote scared.” I embraced a new way to get my story on the page and wrote/dictated when I didn’t think I could. It feels good to prove this to myself with the goals I have set. A small victory that feels HUGE in the face of my schedule for the next 3 months.
Do you have a favorite planner you use? And how do you handle getting your writing time in when your day is crazy from beginning to end?
Happy writing!
A Crazy Joyful Life 
Great job finding a way to get the writing in! I also made the mistake of watching a couple episodes of Tidying Up this week. It’s such a pleasant show! I don’t have the time to do any kind of in depth cleaning like that this round, but perhaps the next?
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It’s so addictive and Marie Kondo couldn’t be any cuter! I’m not sure I could get mad at her even if she pushed me to get rid of some things. When you do start tidying, I would love to hear if it helps you focus on your writing – it’s a crazy side effect for me that I was surprised by.
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Wow, what a week! Huge kudos for writing in the midst of all you had going on.
I’m looking forward to starting Tidying Up this weekend. Maybe we will both have shining houses and numerous words at the end of the year! 🙂
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Thank you! I will be cheering you on as you begin your tidying journey! I can practically see our completed homes and manuscripts already!
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No planners for me (as long as I can find my phone that is). But your idea for dictating story when everything is busy around you… I really should try that myself. I have done it for a but here and there, but never enough to actually train my software well. I really should try again.
Thank you for sharing your success. May it inspire more people than just me.
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I would love to hear how it goes if you do give dictating your story another shot. I have been using a new app called Penman when I’m on the go – it isn’t perfect, but it has worked better than notes for me so far.
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I looked at Penman. Won’t run on my Android and my iPhone is an old 4, so no joy there. But I should at least try again. It would be a good way to go for walks.
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Good job on getting words down even when busy
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Great job keeping up with life and your goals.
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No actual planners, I use apps on my tablets because I use it daily for work and entertainment, and I can set reminders.
This being said, I’m amazed at your being able to write anything in crazy times. I know I can’t!
So well done!
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I am a organisation addict and I love Maria Kondo and the whole planning community. Both have helped me, and I too, find that when everything is done, I am calm, less monkey brained and able to focus. I hate having things undone and that nagging feeling that I have forgotten something.
I have a diary which I have converted into a planner and my iCal is set to throw important reminders at me when I am most likely to be on the computer. Between these two things, I find life is tracked, manageable and it relieves a lot of anxiety.
I will be interested to hear your thoughts on your new planner over the year. I hope you find planner peace.
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Thank you for your encouragement, it’s nice to hear from others who have been down this path. It amazes me how organizing the house (simple in the grand scheme of things) has such an impact on my overall focus.
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