Habits
No, I’m not talking about the black and white robes nuns wear and not riding habits either. I’m thinking about how we establish routines, even if we’re breaking a good habit by allowing a bad routines to creep in.
It’s been claimed that it takes 21 days to build a new habit.
It certainly doesn’t take me as long to break one that I WANT to reinforce and cultivate. The past week or so has been disrupted for me. I haven’t felt like I’ve gotten enough sleep even after I went back to bed for 5 hours on Saturday afternoon.
I’ve flipped through that book about 7 habits effective people have. Yeah. Me? Not so much. My biggest issue is following through on something I want to do. Take my journal entries, for example. Once I’m on a roll, it’s easy to keep going. However, speed bumps that get me off track require no more than missing 2 consecutive days.
I’m still working on the short story that Bria talked me into writing and submitting by the end of this month. It’s difficult going, but everyone who’s seen bits of it seems to like it.I have to admit even to myself that it reads very differently from the other stories I’ve written. I’m hoping this is a good thing and that tortuous feeling has merely been growing pains.
Bria and I traded after Labor Day weekend and we were both frustrated because of cutting off in the middle of the stories. She’s got one scene in mind that she wants me to write just for her. It’ll be a fun one to write so if it gets rejected, that’s definitely on the plans to add in.
Several people have reported rejections for this anthology with a few receiving contracts. It’s disconcerting to realize that they’ve made decisions already and disheartening to realize that mine either won’t make the cut or won’t be finished in time. Although, if I don’t finish it, I know Bria will kill me.
Time is at a premium lately and boy could I use a few more hours just for sleep.
Ha! My blog post today says there’s something to be said for routine (aka habit)… that it’s peaceful. Routine is peaceful for me. No decisions to make. I lost the better part of the weekend working on my author website off and on so my writing got a little off track. Trying to find the groove today hasn’t been easy so I totally empathize.
A de-clutter group I pretend to belong to has a great saying. “Take a look at your routines: is it working for you or against you? It’s so easy to get sidetracked into routines that just don’t work the way you want them to, but as you said, no thinking required.
This nonsense with a 4-day week, a 5-day week, a 4-day week, a 5-day week of school is also not helpful. Getting everyone back on track again is a Herculean effort. Everyone seems to want something too. I hate the start of the school year. *sigh*
Good luck with finishing the story and finding more time for shut-eye.
I’ve had plenty of time for sleep, but this interminable cough has put dark circles under my eyes. I don’t sleep for more than four hours at a time!
But I’m not herding cats and writing fun fiction. So I’ll stop feeling sorry for myself and root for you instead. 😉
I have no routines, other than getting up at a certain time to make it to work on a certain time.
Maybe that’s my problem.
But I AM working on eating better and specifically concentrating on eating foods that help fight fatigue (potatoes, onions, eggs, wheat bread, peanut butter).
Because there’s this nifty blog entry I’ve been meaning to write…and I’d rather just be lazy…
Setting up a writing routine is in the works. (snerk)
I have this weird feeling that if I google my name, this post will be #1 lol
Yes, but I hope you love me even more when it gets accepted!
I’m just proud of us for chasing after something – EVERYONE K’s premise for this story is a lot of fun and the scene she alludes to but doesn’t write for this short is AWESOME – just thinking about it makes me giggle.
As you know, I’m a HUGE believer in goals (and apparently capitalizing random words) and could never get through the 7 Habits book — but I HIGHLY (*grin*) recommend The Power Of Focus.
That book saved my career right out of college and helped me shape my life in a better way :
GO KAIGE GO – GO KAIGE GO – GO KAIGE GO – GO KAIGE GO
lol–maybe it’s the change of the seasons. I’ve been having problems too.
I used to preach the habit thing. It’s corporate America in all it’s glory. “make it a twenty eight day focus”. I’m actually using it right now to de-focus on my job. It’s amazing how far habit can take you.