Try, Try Again

I used to wake up in the morning and think, oh glorious day, I have the whole day to write, research, go to lunch with my husband, pick up a book at the library, go grocery shopping, and make a batch of brownies. That would be a “light” day in my overly optimistic normal work week. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, had gotten a lot done, but had often managed little to no writing. Even though it was the first thing on my list.

I’ve tried a lot of different routines over the last ten years. I’ve tried to be a clock-watcher going from one task to the next as if I were back in college going from one class to another. I’ve tried using a To Do List that had everything written down that needed to be done that day. I’ve tried organizing that list in priority order and in easy-to-difficult order. I’ve tried the free spirit approach. I’ve tried doing what other writers do – whomever I happened to have heard at a conference or read about in a magazine.

Most of those methods either didn’t work at all, or worked for a limited amount of time. So I started doing a lot of experimenting on when I am most productive, what gives me energy and what drains it, and what I don’t do well when I’m tired. A few weeks ago, I created a new routine that allowed me to do anything I wanted before 9am, but only writing (with the email program turned off!) from 9am to noon. It has worked wonders! But past experience tells me it will only work for a while, and then I’ll need to switch things up again.

What I’ve found works best for me is to reevaluate my writing life every few months to see if I’m accomplishing what I feel I need to. I consider whether there is a different or better way I could get more done. And most importantly I don’t look at it as “failed yet again” if something doesn’t seem to be working. That is, I no longer look at it that way. Now I see it as changing my routine to meet the changing needs of life.

Plus I’m learning that my creative brain needs to do things a little differently every now and then, shake things up to keep it interesting. I’m keeping a list of things I could do differently, or in a different order, or in a different place so that I have a new routine to turn to when the current one sours. The next thing I’m going to try? Adding analytical tasks to my day every day to see if it acts as a pressure valve for my internal editor. I am constantly told I over-analyze things, so if I do something like balancing my checkbook or planning for our upcoming transcontinental move every day I’m hoping it might tone down my internal editor. We’ll see!

If you have time, listen to this lecture by Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture, on time management. It might give you a new perspective. And let us know what is working for you, what isn’t, and what you’re going to try next. We’d love to hear!