Change the Dynamic for Productivity

Change is Inevitable

Today I get to write. It hasn’t always been that way. I allowed too many days to go by when I said to myself, I need to work on blog writing, or editing. Because I phrased it as a need rather than a gift, I often found excuses to do something else, despite knowing I love to write. The mere action of phrasing it as a requirement rather than an opportunity to do what I love sucked all the air out of my joy balloon. I wallowed in excuses instead of recognizing a need for change.

So I’m doing a reset. I’m reminding myself what a joy, and a privilege it is getting to do what I love every single day of the year. I look back on the years writing had to take a back seat to my job, my kids, and even my social life. When I wrote from 10PM to midnight, and often later, when my brain was tired, but my muse was bouncing off the walls with ideas, enthusiasm, and energy.

In some ways, writing when my body and mind were spent was when I was most prolific. The inner critic was too tired to complain about sentence structure, grammar, spelling, or choosing the right word or phrase to convey an idea. I literally spewed words onto the screen as my fingers flew across the keys, unencumbered by all the pesky rules. Is it any wonder my first 50,000 word NaNoWriMo was finished in less than 30 days? Or that the next two which I did after I’d left my full-time job used up every day of the challenge? The undeniable truth is, I accomplish more when I have a lot on my plate, and neither the time, nor the energy to overthink.

Letting Go of Preconceived Notions

Even now, when I ignore the voices telling me all the things I should be doing, or trying to control what comes out of my fingers, the words flow onto the page smoothly. I’m surprised to see the counter at the bottom of my blog post, or Word document showing 1,000 words or more after what seems like no time at all.

Each time I finish my latest word hurricane, it’s unlikely I could tell you much about what I just wrote. When I re-read it during the editing process, I’m often surprised by what came out of my unguided fingers; my unconscious mind, or by how little I need to change. Though I might have finished the day’s effort thinking; I’m going to have to edit the hell out of that. I know it’s pure crap, when I read through it, I’m nearly always pleasantly surprised. Allowing myself to enjoy the process; to look at writing as a treat rather than drudgery means my mindset is already heading in the right direction to create something amazing.

I recently signed up for a writing challenge that seemed different from anything I’d ever done before. I thought it might inspire me to at least get back on track to finish one of my old projects. Unfortunately, circumstances, including a day long power outage, and internet issues kept me from completing the challenge in the time allotted, though I can still work on it in my own time.

Time to Create Now Paradigms

In all honesty, where I got stuck was in the planning process. Granted, the moderator’s version was a little more pantser than many writing coaches. She didn’t ask for a detailed outline. Still, her instructions to do a 5-minute session to toss big-picture ideas on the page, followed by another 5 minutes to fill in some details sent my structure-resistant brain into a tail-spin. When she followed it up with instructions to do a mind map, I actually felt my thought train screeching to a halt, wheels screaming in protest as they dragged along the rails. In short, my change averse brain went into overdrive.

As I work to change my mindset from “have to” to “get to”, I recognize the merit in her exercises, and look forward to returning to the process to see what comes up. At the moment, I’m debating over whether to use her process to map out a plan to finish editing “Rebuilding After Suicide”, but am open to it being an exercise for my creative side that’s itching to write more fiction.

While the exercise is meant to launch a book, I can see it as a starting point for a short story. I’ve had so many ideas lately; some from meditations, some from dreams, and some triggered by an event in my life. I look forward to seeing at least one of those ideas unfold, perhaps in the same way I’ve always written, or maybe with an actual plan, albeit a loose one. Suddenly a change in my method isn’t so daunting.

There is No One, True Way

One of the things I’m learning rather late in life is I don’t always have to write in the same way I’ve always done. I learned the lesson long ago in my career as an accountant. In fact, I had to.

In the early part of my career, everything was done manually, in huge ledgers, and on 17 column spreadsheets. Totals were run on a calculator, and double-checked to make sure fingers hit the same numbers as were on the ledger or spreadsheet. It was a long, tedious process at best.

As the years went by, computers got smaller, accounting and spreadsheet software became commonplace. More and more business were able to let a computer do the heavy lifting, thereby creating a plethora of information. It meant people like me had to lose the idea there was only the old way of doing things, and learn new ways that changed often.

Jumping Into the Next Adventure

You got into your canoe and rode the swift-running river of information and technology, or you were left onshore watching the world pass you by. Naturally, I chose the former. I’ve always been up for a challenge, especially an intellectual one. I embraced each change like the mind candy it was.

Somehow, I lost sight of my adventurous, inquisitive nature when it came to how I write. I got stuck in the shallows, insisting the only way I could write was by letting the words hit the page as they might, without plan or program. My resistance to any other way reached epic proportions until I ran aground and didn’t make any progress. I discovered for awhile I’d rather wallow than change, and the idea scared me spitless.

The challenge made me realize it’s time to give another method a try to see if I can kick my vessel into high gear again, and find the momentum that once had me producing thousands of words a day. The words and ideas are still there, if only I can dig myself out of this rut of my own creation.

 

About the Author

Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.

If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.

Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.