Tag: Do It Scared

Writing

Giving In

Kellie

Sometimes in life, you just have to give in. Cave. Tuck tail. Throw in the towel. Surrender. Raise the white flag. The last part of the week was a bit like this for me. I don’t mean this to sound negative, on the contrary. I learned a great deal about my motivation and my writing habits this week, all thanks to KonMari, ROW80, and good ole procrastination…productive procrastination.

NOTE: If you aren’t familiar with the KonMari Method, or Marie Kondo – the creator of KonMari, it is a tidying and decluttering journey where you are encouraged to keep only what sparks joy.

Introspection:

  • Giving in to my desire to declutter and organize helps me focus on my writing – even just one little thing like a drawer or a bookshelf.
  • Procrastination isn’t always bad. If something is on my mind I am better off setting a timer and doing it rather than trying to write distracted.
  • ROW80 encourages me to be accountable for my writing, without it I wouldn’t have made the connection between writing, decluttering, and productive procrastination. Not in a million years!
  • If I don’t read or listen to a book for at least an hour a day my writing suffers. Writers should be the biggest readers. Period.
  • I am happier and more content when I write, even when I have to dictate it – nothing beats the feeling of new words on the page, no matter how they get there!
  • Everyone is happier when I’m not yelling about how messy the house is…

Accomplished:

  • Dictated 1 full chapter
  • Typed half of another chapter (still getting hung up with my inner editor when typing)
  • Words this week: 6,987 (just for the manuscript)
  • Worked on the aesthetic graphic for the new chapter
  • Signed up for a webinar on editing
  • Plotted a new twist…it struck when I was decluttering and gave me chills!
  • Decluttered my dresser, entire bathroom, two linen closets, bedroom bookshelf, Evie’s dressers, guest bedroom and bathroom, kitchen towels, and entire pantry
  • Spent a whole day with friends – it had been too long!
  • Canceled subscriptions that had forgotten about
  • Set the household budget for the next month
  • Got through all the laundry…not that it ever REALLY ends
  • Cleaned out my email (thanks to the app Chuck!)
  • Consolidated ALL my calenders – all 7 of them
  • Got a headstart on correspondence for the upcoming week
  • Planned all our meals
  • Accomplished all homeschool goals with the kids
  • Cleaned the house top to bottom
  • Read/listened to 3 books
  • No television or podcasts
  • Hosted a family dinner for 10 of us

Overall, I’m happy with what I accomplished this week. With so many meetings/appointments, family coming into town, and my sudden urge to declutter on top of our normal craziness, I was worried, but it all got done. I’m excited to see what the new week has in store and what I can accomplish with a few curveballs thrown my way. Here’s to “giving in” and accomplishing more than planned!

Writing

Writing Here, There, & Everywhere

Kellie

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!