Consistently Inconsistent by Steph Beth Nickel

This month's prompt asks us to share our daily creative rituals.

As was the case when my kids were growing up, the only real thing I was consistent with was my inconsistency.

The same is essentially true of consistency when it comes to daily rituals of any kind.

However, I am learning the importance of creating a flexible schedule that I stick to ... more or less.

I start most days with a brief exercise routine. If I don't do it in the morning, it's not going to happen. This gets the endorphins flowing, gives me a sense of accomplishment, and helps me shake the sleepiness from my mind and body.

I'd like to say I then eat a nutritious breakfast, but, hey, we're taught from a young age that it's wrong to lie.

My aim is to read the Bible and pray before I get down to work, but that doesn't always happen. Ideally, I would commit each task to the Lord before I began (whether it be writing; editing; or home-tending, as one of my FB friends calls it). That hasn't become a habit as of yet, but it's still my aim.

I put the pro in PROcrastination. So, I aim to cross at least one thing of my Procrastination List before noon each day. It gives me the same satisfaction as crossing multiple things from my Daily To-Do List. 

Although I suffer from Oo, Shiny! Syndrome and the call of "just one more" YouTube video, I find sitting down at my computer and focusing on a single project until it's done allows me to "go deep," especially if I don't allow myself to move onto something else when I hit a roadblock in what I'm doing.

For physical and mental health reasons, it's important to schedule several breaks. But there's a vast difference between scheduled breaks and flitting from project to project like a wayward dragonfly.

Like most people, I have several different projects on the go at any one time. While I love doing those I find easiest and can be accomplished in a short amount of time first thing after I sit down at my computer, it's better to save them for a time when I don't need as much discipline or creativity to get them down. That's why I've recently placed them on my afternoon schedule. 

While I am an early bird, if I return to my computer in the evening after the rest of my household has gone to bed, I can accomplish a fair amount then as well. However, I try not to leave things in the Yes! column until the evening. I never know if I'm going to have the ambition to get anything done.

What is this Yes! column of which I speak?

By dividing my tasks into three columns, it helps me prioritize my endeavours. The Yes! column is things that are, essentially, non-negotiable. The Maybe column is those things that rank second in terms of my priorities. And the third column, Would Be Nice, is where I tuck those things that have to get done someday.

Do I always complete the items in the Yes! column before moving on? Absolutely not! But it does give me a starting place.

I make To-Do Lists on my phone, but I transfer them to paper. Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes. Plus, I love crossing things off the list. It gives me such a sense of satisfaction even if those things are in the Would Be Nice column.

I admire people who have rituals that keep them grounded and help them alert their brain that it's time to get the creative juices flowing. Sitting down at the computer at the same time every day. Lighting a candle. Hanging a Do Not Disturb sign on their door and shutting it. Turning off their email and social media notifications. And getting down to work for a set amount of time.

However, that is not me.

When it comes to my rituals, it can be summed up by two statements:

1. Prioritize my To-Do List.

2. As much as possible, focus on a single project until it is accomplished.

How about you? Are you of the Strict Schedule Crowd or the Take Things as They Come Group?

A Time and Space to Write - Bonnie Way

A soft, irregular clicking sounds fills the den.  A square, white computer screen casts its glow over me.  My eyes dart to the clock display in the bottom right of the screen, calculating the time since the baby went down for her nap and how much longer I might have to write.  My ears are tuned to the sound of the baby monitor sitting behind me.  Silence still and so the clacking continues.

Writing time can be hard to find as a mom.  I've often used naptimes, typing feverishly while the baby sleeps, thankful for each moment I have to write without a small writer sitting on my lap trying to help hit buttons on the keyboard.  As my daughters have gotten older, I've also stolen moments to write when they are playing with each other (again, typing hastily while listening to the sound of their play, ready to intervene should the sounds cease to be happy) or watching a movie together (if I'm under deadline and need that writing time) or having time with Daddy.

I often find myself envying my fellow writing students who aren't moms and can write whenever they want.  Then I have to remind myself that I started my blog before I was a mom—when I was a single young woman who still found it hard to find time to write.  There will always be something more pressing upon our time, some chore or task that demands to be done and pushes aside the writing.  The key as writers who also wear other hats (such as mom) is to keep making time to write.

Canadian author Cassie Stocks says, "Don’t tell yourself that once the children are grown, or the renovations complete, that then you’ll start writing. Start now, write around the dirty dishes, write about the dirty dishes.  The right time to write is when you sit in the chair."

Many of my creative writing instructors have talked about finding a schedule to write.  Knowing that you'll be sitting in the computer chair from 8 am to 10 am to write often makes the ideas flow.  For me, that's more of a rough routine than a schedule, but I do know that I can think about and plan articles, stories and blog posts while driving or doing dishes or walking them to the park and then, when I have that time at the computer, type like crazy.

Sometimes, finding that time to actually write requires being creative.  I asked fellow Inscriber Dayna Mazzuca how she manages to write while homeschooling two kids.  She answered, "I don’t find the time; I make the time or my husband gives me the time.  If I have to take the time, then I do our schooling in the morning and send my kids upstairs to do extra computer time (they have very limited computer time) or watch a movie.  Normally I have a writing day while they have a community class on Tuesday mornings.  In the afternoon, I have something low-key for them to do so I can keep writing."

So whether your writing routine is daily or weekly, whether you have kids distracting you from writing or something else, make sure you find that time to sit in the chair with your computer (or notebook) and write.  We are writers and writers write.

Where do you write and how do you make the time to fit it into your other tasks and jobs?

Weighing in Your Writing by Pamela Mytroen

A while back I decided I needed to lose some weight. I stepped on the scale the next morning and took note of where I was at. The next morning I did the same thing. I carefully followed my ritual every morning for a full year, fully expecting to see a change in the numbers. I did manage to wear two perfect footprints into the rubber pad, but alas, I did not lose a single ounce.

The other routine I followed religiously was that I continued to eat all my favourite foods, especially my hot buttered popcorn and potato chips. Yet I kept hoping that I would see a new mark on the scale. What is the definition of insanity? Doing something the same way repeatedly and expecting different results every time? If I expected to see a change, then my routine needed to change.

So it is with writing. If we are not progressing, something needs to change. The same old routine is not going to magically produce results. I would love to wake up a writer with a published book and several more writing credits to my name but I have discovered it’s not enough to think, talk, and dream about being a writer. Strong desire does not equal amazing results. It’s not enough to ‘weigh in’ every morning and see if I have magically written anything in my sleep. Something has to change. Something needs to be sacrificed.

My writing strategy this past year was to write first and THEN check my email and facebook. It worked. I was able to have many non-fiction pieces published. Funny how just that one little sacrifice had to be made. My writing plan for this year is to give up that first golden hour after supper – from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. when the couch is calling after a day at work. I have started this routine and have discovered that once I get writing it is often 8:30 or 9:00 before I need a break. I am also part of a small facebook writing group. We write for 30 days and then choose our best rough work and send it out to each other for editing. We have had a few stalls but we’re still going and I find I am motivated to write just knowing that they will be waiting to see a piece.

These days when I weigh in my writing, and on the scale too (the popcorn machine doesn’t come out as often) I am seeing a new balance with more credits to my name.

What are you willing to give up to see change?

Pam Mytroen