I complain frequently about how difficult it is to fit writing time in around the day job.
It is rare for me to have a day I can dedicate completely to writing, as all my weekdays are spent at work and my weekends are then spent doing those chores I don't have time to do during the week.
This time of year, however, I usually have about ten days off work. Even accounting for the madness of the Christmas festivities, that still gives me several days I can spend at home, dedicated entirely to writing if I chose to do so.
But do I get more writing done on those days? Sadly, no. If I spend the day at home, I find too many distractions. I waste time watching TV or playing computer games. When I do put my butt in the chair in front of the computer, I find myself stopping to make myself endless cups of tea, or wandering off in search of biscuits. Or one of the cats will come along and sit on my keyboard, making it rather difficult to get any typing done.
I seem to function better with the pressure of deadlines. Those mornings I crawl out of bed at 5:30am to sit in Starbucks for an hour before work I get more words written than I do sitting at home for an afternoon. Knowing I've only got an hour makes me obliged to write the words. If I know I've got six hours with nothing more important to do, the pressure is off and I'm much more inclined to get sidetracked doing something less important.
It seems I'm not yet disciplined enough to be a full time writer. I'm only an effective writer when I have deadlines. When I know my writing time is limited, I have to get on and do it.
Perhaps there's some truth to the old saying, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person". And perhaps I should stop whingeing about not having any time. When I have time, I am more inclined to waste it. When my time is limited, I make better use of it.
So I shall keep up my early-morning writing sessions, because they are proving to be the most effective time to write. I shall endeavour to complain less about not having any time. After all, we all have the same number of hours in our day. It's how we use them - there's the trick.
Perhaps one day I shall be ready to be a full-time writer. Until that time, I've got a lot more to learn about discipline.
1 comment:
Certainly recognize some of me in this! I do better with pressure, too, like assignments from my writing group, challenges here on Absolute Write, etc. Recently I picked up a story I started in 1991(!!) and finally finished it. I'd be happy to find enough self-discipline to write CONSISTENTLY for one hour per day.
Post a Comment