Scheduling Writing

On the way home from Costa Rica I thought through each day, and what I needed to do each day, and the time I would need to do it. Because I really wanted to write 1000 words a day on my book.

My daily personal items include: scriptures and prayer (15-30 min.), exercise (30-60 min.), pelvic exercises (15 min.) eat breakfast (15 min.) (because I need a reminder or I often skip it), take my probiotics (also need a reminder), shower/dress (45 min.) (because it takes TIME and throws everything off if you don't include it in the schedule), and eat lunch (15 min.)

A total of 2 - 3 hours.

Then I thought about my responsibilities each day and calendared those as well (Tuesdays PT in the morning and afternoons with Clara; Wednesday YW Pres. meeting or temple; YW Activities, Laundry and groceries. Making dinner.)  I then scheduled a three hour block of time each day to Write.

Tuesdays are full. But then I realized, I could ask for help. This literally NEVER occurred to me before (to have a regularly scheduled "Dan-day" plan. There are plenty of times we go out or once in a while he picks dinner up)! So I asked Dan to be in charge of dinner on Tuesdays so I could write from 4:00 - 7:00. He happily agreed.

I put everything into Wunderlist so it could help remind me of my "daily routine" and scheduled writing time. And I calendared so that when I'm asked to do something or have an appointment, I can choose a time on Thursday or Friday when I'm more open.

I've been very good about accomplishing my daily routine and even in the timeframe I wanted to. (Rather than get distracted by meaningless activities.) But when it came to writing, I had a brain block. I wrote almost 1000 words one day.  And a few hundred words the next. But then I took a nap.

And then I got an e-mail from UCLA about summer classes. And I knew I still needed more structure. I'm not self-disciplined to be on my own yet. And the coolest thing ever is a class is being offered on dialogue (which I think I'm pretty good at) and Point of View (which I am very bad at)! I had recently been telling Dan, "I wish there were a class specifically on Point of View because I'm still confused! (Maybe this was a special wish granted just for me!)

The class doesn't begin until April. But then I remembered a little note about winter classes that started late. So I took a deeper look and found a six-week class that began the next day on "Emotion in Writing." So I signed up. And I'm So Happy!!