Hallmark and Me. Together We Rock Productivity
Recently I’ve developed a love-hate relationship with Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. They are sucking me into long lounges in front of the TV with their selection of Christmas Movies in July.
I’m a sucker for Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies, and have always set up my wrapping table in the living room to make good use of those movies to keep my mind occupied and accomplish something at the same time. But when they show the movies in July, I don’t have many tasks which can be performed while lounging in front of the TV. Needless to say, I’m either in front of my computer for hours on end getting ahead of the game with blog posts or client work, or sitting in front of the TV indulging in one movie after the other, feeding my passion for sappy, feel good-ness.
The furballs aren’t exactly unhappy with this arrangement. They move between my desk and the couch where they know I’ll stay put long enough to fulfill their need for endless belly rubs and lap time.
Combining Tasks and Creating Synergy
Long evenings of sloth and self-indulgence changed when I suddenly had 4 ideas for blog posts waiting in the wings, wrote 75% of one on my phone in between dances, and even jotted down a few notes while at the gym. I know myself well enough to realize I have to, as we say in the biz, flesh out the ideas before the germ they came from moves on to more fertile waters.
The obvious solution smacked me between the eyes when I was beginning to despair of forcing myself away from those tantalizing stories. The laptop has relocated from the closet to a TV tray where I can write and self-indulge at the same time. It might seem like doing so would make nothing but garbage come from my fingers, but the truth is, I write better when I don’t allow the internal editor to stop me every other word and make changes. The TV and movies whose stories I’ve seen over and over grabs my monkey mind and keeps it busy with a never-ending supply of bananas and toys while my fingers and the subconscious place where ideas flow are free to put words on the page. What comes out at first may be wild disarray, but isn’t that why we edit?
A Shift in Perspective
When the idea for this post came to me, I meant to write about how the movies have killed my productivity. But as I started to write, I realized it was only true until my laptop found a new home.
In the last 5 days, I’ve completed several hours of client work. I’ve written and published 2 posts and drafted another. I’ve run all my weekly errands, met a couple of friends for lunch, honored all of my commitments to go to the gym, even when I started the day with a migraine, and even washed and vacuumed my car. I can say with complete confidence that regardless of how much time I spend in front of the TV watching Christmas movies, I will have at least enough posts written to cover me through next Friday, possibly even Sunday. And that isn’t even counting the client work I’ll finish as well.
The Busier We Are, the More We Accomplish
I’m discovering what I knew before I made the short-sighted decision to quit my day job and be a writer full-time. The more I have to do, the more I get done. What’s been missing in my life for a while is the need to prioritize. I had set my bar too low so I put things off, believing I had plenty of time.
Now, I know after the movies are over for a few months, I have other things I need to accomplish along with the work and health goals I’ve set. My freezer is nearly empty of single-serving meals, so I have to spend time refilling it. There are home-improvement tasks I have put off for too long. And my yard looks like hell. The truth is, not having enough to do or sufficient deadlines to meet has made me lazy. I look at all the tasks on my Trello boards, at my often messy house, and out of control yard and think “there’s always tomorrow”. But I’d gotten to the point where it was always “tomorrow” and today slipped away with nothing to show for having been there at all.
Using What We Learn to Get Back on Track
The biggest failure to date has been in finishing the re-write of “Life Torn Asunder”. I know this has been 
my wake-up call to revisit my priorities; decide what and who I want to be, and do everything in my power to make it so.
Life has a way of reminding us to stop spinning around like a carnival attraction and bring our focus back to ourselves. We’re given the opportunity to look at what we’ve done, who we are, and where we’re headed if we don’t make some changes under the harshest possible light. Only then can we clearly see whether the path we’re treading is fulfilling our needs, from the most basic like food and shelter, to the most expansive like publishing a memoir and launching it successfully.
I take my wake-up calls seriously, not only because I’ve learned they get louder and more painful when ignored, but because I know they’re always in my best interests. This time is no exception. I needed some shaking up, and maybe a little happily-ever-after to remind me I not only deserve my own, but am well on my way to achieving it, despite how things might look at this moment in time. I just need to spend less time existing and more time being in every single moment.
Remember the Importance of Being Rather than Doing
A very wise man has written several books in which the recurring them is how we can only change the moment we are in. We can’t change what’s already happened. We can’t alter something that has yet to occur. All we have is this moment and when we don’t use each one to the fullest, we cheat ourselves.
It’s more than cheating ourselves, though. Every one of us has a dream or two which can and will impact someone else. Is it really fair to let down those who are depending on us to hold up our end, even though they’re likely unaware of the synergy between you?
So what have I learned this week? It’s OK to have your cake and eat it too. You can combine activities as long as they aren’t mutually exclusive. In my case, my ADD brain needs something to grab a piece of it and keep it amused while another part creates or balances books. Sometimes it’s music from one of my pre-set Pandora stations, and sometimes it’s Hallmark movies.
Selective Multi-Tasking
How do I know my methodology is effective? I’ll put it to you to decide. I wrote most of this post and another of similar length while sitting in front of the TV. When I started editing the next morning with music playing instead of the TV as a distraction for my monkey mind, I found little I wanted or needed to change. Before you suggest it was a fluke, I’ll qualify my statement by saying the words you see on my pages flow from a point outside the normal brain functions, and at times, outside of my own mind itself. I don’t question where the words or ideas come from, just do my best to get them on the page before they’re gone.
If you’ve started considering I’m channeling, don’t. I don’t have an Abraham or Seth, or other famous channeling being speaking to me. At least not that I’m aware of. I have words which must be written, for reasons beyond even my own comprehension. So out they come before they make my brain explode. Nothing more, nothing less.
What I would like you to do is give careful consideration to what works best for you. What brings out your brilliance, and even more important, what stifles it. Many of us have a nasty tendency to overthink things to the point of stagnation. If something like a mix of pop tunes or a few Christmas movies can propel us out of that stagnation and into a place where we bring our best selves to the forefront, it’s simply a case of using whatever tools work best for us, no matter how weird they seem to the outside world.
Write on!
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a writer, blogger, Virtual Assistant and advocate for cats. Sheri believes in the Laws 
of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. She specializes in creating content that helps 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 release of “Life Torn Asunder: Rebuilding After Suicide”.
