Here’s the writing schedule I’m going to follow for the next two weeks.
9:00-10:30
1:00-2:30
7:30-9:00
Why have I changed my schedule yet again?
The other schedule wasn’t working for me. At all. I didn’t write one single time during my scheduled writing time. Right now, in particular, I’m having trouble with getting started, and the large blocks of time weren’t helping that. Even two hours felt like too much of a commitment when there wasn’t a lot of time empty between the sessions.
So I created this new schedule with one thing in mind: making sure I don’t feel like I have a job.
That’s important. I don’t ever want writing to feel like a job.
- I split the time blocks up so that I have huge breaks between writing sessions.
- I made the sessions as short as I could while making them long enough that I can still get into flow during them.
- I gave myself 3 of them so my total writing time each day fits into my long-term goals. 3 × 1.5 = 4.5 hours.
- I started the first one later in the morning so I can sleep late if I have a bad night of sleep.
- I’m not going to move the scheduled times if something comes up to preempt the time. I’ll just assume that I’ll miss one or two of these a month and live with that knowledge. (I won’t schedule anything during these times unless there’s no other choice.)
- I’m not going to skip a session and claim that as a preempted time. I’ll just start writing as soon as I can near the time I was supposed to start and write for 1.5 hours. There’s enough time between sessions that this shouldn’t be a big deal.
I’m feeling hopeful this morning that this is the right thing to do.
Now, I’m off to get that first session done. I’ll post later today with the results for the first day of this experiment.
Here’s an update on a few other ongoing experiments
The no sweets experiment has been working really well (I’m down 4 pounds in two weeks), and I’ve decided to extend it indefinitely. The only exception is that I will allow myself sweets if I go to a birthday party, which is rarely more often than once a month, and usually less often. I’ll also allow myself sweets at my family’s annual Christmas party, but that’s it. These exceptions are clearly defined so they shouldn’t put any decision-making stress on me. That’s something I’ve liked about this experiment: no decisions. If it’s a sweet, the answer to “Can I?” is simple: “No.”
No caffeine: I haven’t had any coffee and I haven’t had any other caffeinated drinks either.
No Kboards or TPV: I haven’t been back to Kboards or TPV since I started that experiment. The fear of missing out is what was keeping me clicking on links. I’ve read a few author blogs I’d begun to ignore and checked out a podcast or two, but I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything, other than the entertainment factor I get from reading the posts themselves. This experiment has been good for me.