This post is not nearly as impressive as I had hoped it would be.
I did alright the first week of November. I took time 3/7 days to write in some way. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but considering I’ve been lucky to clock 3 days out of a full month lately… it’s a big improvement.
Last week just wasn’t a good week. I put in precisely 45 minutes worth of work on a single day for the whole week. And that day was yesterday.
I’ve been battling not feeling well (’tis the season for me to often be on the edge of a flare) and facing a combination of exhaustion and lack of motivation, tinged with a bit of depression. When I come home from work I don’t even want to put in the effort to watch a television show, let alone hold a pen.
I have excuses that are both legitimate and lazy. The point of this month (and hopefully the next few months to come) is to find a way to move past the lazy excuses and work around the legitimate ones.
I’m rededicating myself to this venture starting today. A day that started with a series of events that left me more than just “not in the mood”. I’m tired, overwhelmed, and yes, still fighting that bit of depression that has been trying to creep in. And that, my friends, is a tried-and-true recipe for accomplishing nothing at all.
But with the help of a friend who is NaNoing properly… I’m back on the horse and feeling better about the day. This afternoon, we have spent several 15- and 30-minute sprints during which she works on her NaNoWriMo project, and I work on blogging, writing, or other things on my creative to-do list. In the downtime between those sprints I’ve darted about the house and done a few chores. It has been a surprisingly productive day when structured in this manner.
My progress is as follows:
4/10 blog posts
1/5 poems
0/2 submissions
Let’s see what I can manage by month’s end…
lissaclouser.com 
It’s good to have cheerleaders and I find short bursts of effort to be often surprisingly helpful at getting things done. Keep going, you’ll get there 🙂
Thank you! I am learning just how helpful short bursts of effort can be. I’m amazed! I’m also starting to apply this to other things on my to-do list in life. =)
Sometimes, it’s important to take care of yourself first. Don’t stress about things… November is generally when the gray first settles in, legitimate reasons or not, but forcing yourself might do more harm than good, depending on the kind of writer you are.
Whatever is going on, I wish you the best… you wrote more than me this month! 😉
Sometimes I think ‘stress’ or, perhaps more appropriate, ‘worry’ is somehow part of my hidden middle name. As I get a little bit older I get a little bit better at handling it. (At least on most days!) Thank you for your encouragement!
The muse doesn’t work unless the body and mind are well cared for. 🙂 It will all fall into place, just maybe not in the timeframe you imagined. Muses are fickle when it comes to time, too. 😉
Your words could not be more right. Muses are fickle enough when body and mind are well, and when they aren’t…. well, all bets are off. I’ll do my best to take care of me. Thank you!