you know how it works. you do all the yucky stuff first so that you can do the fun stuff later. it’s a lesson i learned early on and it’s kind of ingrained in my personality. i always tried to teach it to my students as well. work hard so that later you can get the reward. it makes a lot of sense and has always served me well
this week in
flying lessons we have been dissecting the whole concept of time management. for me, the big question is: even though it seems like i should have plenty of time, i seem to find so little to actually dive into my creative projects. what am i doing wrong??
in the course of pondering this question, it hit me like a ton of bricks – it’s that whole delayed gratification idea! i mean it would totally go against my grain to get up in the morning and to start doing fun creative stuff. i haven’t “earned” it. i first have to take my walk, do my exercises, read the newspaper, fix our daily “power drink”, do my indoor and outdoor “chores” and check my email. that leads to the blogs, which leads to facebook…. blah, blah, blah. by that point, it’s time to go do whatever else is on the agenda.
i mean it’s not like i can sequester myself in a studio – most of my creative work, whether it be sorting and editing photos, writing, or planning powerpoints and retreats takes place at the computer. i don’t seem to have the discipline to ignore those little “chimes” when new email is delivered and that can start a whole chain of to do’s.
trouble is, if i jumped right into the fun stuff, all the other "have-to's" would be hanging over my head, making the fun stuff less fun! with a whole day at home by myself, i can make it happen, but that's not the norm.
so is this a curse or what?? i don’t have the answer, but i’m glad that i at least have this insight. now that i am
drawing more lines, i should be able to tweak things in a more productive direction.... i hope.
(all of these fun photos were taken during my morning walk - i'm usually not in favor of multi-tasking, but sometimes it works!)
May I drop a teenie weenie seed into your creative garden. You may choose to water it ... of not. Whatever is right for YOU. What if ... you allowed some of the structure to fall away and see what happens. What if ... you had instant gratification ... what if ... you dove right into something creative before breakfast .... what if ....?? Just a teenie weenie little thought. xx
ReplyDeletePS: Your photos are magnificent as usual. I adore the face in the tree trunk. Amazing.
ReplyDeletei have to second Donna, Doni, Lady D.....
ReplyDelete"what if" you just had no structure to your day and simply said "yes" to all the things you want to do!!!
.....i'm just sayin!
love you
xo
k
I get want you are saying about doing the fun stuff first and having all those yucky to do's hanging over our heads....but what the heck, what's wrong with eating dessert first. It's not like I'm not going to eat my supper, hehe.
ReplyDeletexoxocarol
I want to wake up, have a leisurely morning, practice shiva nata, meditate, then do something creative. But I tend to check email right after jumping out of bed and somehow that derails everything because I've lost my focus on me. {Ha. I daily ignore the "Connect with yourself before you connect with others" post-it note on my computer.} Someday I'll get there.
ReplyDelete