Anyone else struggle to stay on track with their writing? (I seriously hope this is a rhetorical question!) Well, I have many, many times. Here’s 4 of my current favorite tools for staying on track:
1.That nagging feeling that can derail you? Name it. You choose the name. Call it by the name of your nemesis (Devlin, if you’ve seen the movie Just Go With It) or your least favorite food (Eggplant Parmesan). Right now, I’m calling it Resistance, from Matthew Kelly’s book Resisting Happiness. Once I recognize that I’m starting to veer off course, I call that feeling by its given name, which allows me to be more objective about it, making it easier to defeat.
2. Mel Robbins is a productivity superhero. I subscribe to her weekly newsletter Take 5 With Mel and follow her on Instagram. I’ve also try to implement her 5-4-3-2-1 rule from the 5 Second Rule, which is basically a way to snap yourself into action. She always has good advice and a good kick in the pants. Check her out.
3. I remember the reality of time. I know it will pass regardless of what I do with it. And I want to be on the other side of that time passage with some writing accomplished. It’s a much better feeling than the alternative, which I’ve experienced too many times. So, get working, especially knowing it’s just Resistance!
4. Start each day with a positive message. Here’s mine from this morning, particularly apt as I’ve been whining about not having enough time to write.
“If you can’t find the time to write, that’s just nonsense. My friend Mary Higgins Clark had five kids and was widowed-that’s a woman who had no time to write. And she still used to wake up and write and then get the kids up. There’s always time to write. You can skip the TV show you’re watching, you can wake up an hour earlier, you can write during lunch – you always have time to write. If your life is so full of other things that you don’t have time to write, then writing isn’t a priority and you’re not a writer. There’s nothing wrong with that, but face that fact. Don’t tell me you don’t have time to write.”- Harlan Coben.
Just writing this has given me new motivation for my looming writing project. Better get to it before Resistance tries to pull me in a different direction – again.
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