The in-laws drove up from Alabama for a visit this weekend. It's always fun catching up with my husband's family, but it is also exhausting, trying to get the little kids to interact with their grandparents after months apart. Everybody was great about the fragrance thing, of course--don't know why I always worry about offending someone. During the family gathering on Saturday my teenage step-daughter Z told me something wonderful: Her headaches went away after she stopped using body spray and smelly detergent. She's had unexplained headaches for years, so this is great. I can't recommend enough taking a look at the chemicals in your life if you have a chronic, unexplained condition. It can't hurt.
My book life just got a little busier. I've been working on my own writing stuff, then yesterday my brother sent me a new short story of his to critique, and this morning got my next editing assignment. Now, my former MO is to work on one thing frantically, to the exclusion of everything else. However, I've learned a couple of things about that method, and those are:
- The piece I'm working on suffers because I get brain-fatigue but push through anyway.
- My writing is always the last thing I work on. There's always something else to work on.
- I'm more stressed.
Conventional wisdom says to complete one task before moving on to another. I have to modify that to fit this crazy artistic business, and say that I must complete one mini-task before moving on to the next. Think of it more like a rotating to-do list.
Hope your Monday is good.
"Rotating to-do list" of "mini-tasks".
ReplyDeleteI like that. Thats perfect for me.
Todays not a good day, writing-wise, for me. My brain is still pukered out from the weekend festivities. Im shooting to start tomorrow. Thinking of all the things to do -- and this mini-task merrygoround makes it manageable.
That's funny, I tried to make a metaphor of the merry-go-round thing but couldn't make it work. Guess I was over-thinking it.
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help. :-)
The task tilt-a-whirl, the errand ferris wheel, the chore carousel - it's never ending!
ReplyDeleteI think breaking up major things into smaller, more manageable things and then alternating between them helps keep things fresher and less intimidating. I think that's true for writing too. I've suggested to Darc that he have several stories going at once so he can switch between them if he gets stuck or bored with one.
Bottom line - finding an MO that works, and it sounds like you're on the right track. :)