Life is all about trade-offs

This weekend was like every other weekend, in fact, like every other day. I had to choose between one thing and another. Now that my daughter lives 2 1/2 hours away, visits with her are very precious. Visiting her at her house also results in the expenditure of a great deal of energy, which I don’t ever regret, even for a minute. This weekend, I had already accumulated over 13,000 steps on my own recognizance between chores, errands and dancing on Friday. Though we only hit about 7,000 with our Saturday activities, we more than made up for it with over 14,000 steps on Sunday. Add in little sleep and a late morning on Saturday plus an early morning and going non-stop on Sunday, and the result is that I got no writing done at all last night; not even a blog post.

Because of my slacking off,  I’ll play a bit of catch up on my novel over the next couple of days, but because I exceeded the daily minimum both today and Saturday, I don’t really think it will be a problem (all I need to do is remember the 8,000 word night last year!). I would probably have made it up tonight had it not been for an election tomorrow and the need to slog through the propositions tonight! If I don’t manage to get the entire 3100 words I need by tomorrow done, I suspect I’ll be darned close. Even with a reduced amount of time to write tonight, I managed over 1800 words.

Granted, the story is kind of slogging along right now, but will gather momentum more and more as I continue. As usual, I find myself jotting down notes to be used later in the story. I’m also trying to incorporate some of what I’ve been learning, though more of that will occur once I do the first revision.

In some ways, I have to admit, writing is hard work.

I’ve learned that getting myself to sit down and write if I don’t have a plan can be really tough. I find it very easy to procrastinate. That’s one of the reasons I decided to do the challenge again. Now I have a plan and a word count requirement to meet. I also put more time into work because I know that I have to get accounting work done in a given time period, personal paperwork and chores plus my writing and studying. It’s really a good mix for me.

In fact, the deadlines and word count requirements are so effective that I got home today and immediately got laundry done, unpacked and put away my suitcase and took care of a couple of other chores before sitting down to write. Even so, I got a good couple of hours of writing in, slow and go though it might have been. I guess I’ll be looking for more deadlines to keep myself in line! (I know, I know. Be careful what you ask for!) but I really want to be majorly productive again. I’ve slacked off enough for the past year! It’s time to get back to doing what I enjoy, and believe it or not, it involves being productive. At least now, my productivity is in the field of my choice most of the time!

Once again, I leave you with a short post as my brain is rather tired from a long drive, a lot of writing and a lot more brain dashing, monkey mindedness.

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for goals, deadlines and requirements.
2. I am grateful for an increase in productivity over the last few days.
3. I am grateful that I’ve put several chores behind me.
4. I am grateful for a couple of days to myself before my daughter arrives for HER visit with ME.
5. I am grateful for the increased energy I’ve been enjoying as I hit the gym at least three times a week.
6. I am grateful for abundance: things to be grateful for, love, passion, determination, deadlines, imagination, motivation, dedication, inspiration, happiness, health and prosperity.

Namaste

And now for some shameless self-promotion:
I’d love it if you’d visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SheriLevensteinConawayAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel. I’ve created this page as a means of positive affirmation and would be very grateful if you’d “like” it or leave a comment! Thank you!