A Writer’s Reset
This summer flew by much like a car at the race track—fast and furious. My summer writing schedule arrived in much the same way—many projects and with near simultaneous due dates.
I have a couple
thoughts on that question I hope will both equip and encourage you when you
find your current writing schedule ready to overflow.
- First, breathe. Take a slow breath in, close your eyes and let the breath release as you take your time counting down from ten to one.
- Next, pray for God to show you what writing projects are due first. In my case, I had several due within the same week. Now what?
- Break the submissions down by size. If you have a large project due on Tuesday of the week, plus a small one Wednesday and another even smaller due on Friday, rethink your schedule. Do the least time-consuming first, then the next and follow last with the big project. Hear me out. Faced with a week like that in the past, I would work on the largest project first, all the while worrying about the other two. I tried this a couple weeks ago. I took those small pieces, completed, then submitted them. Once I removed them from my task list, I was able to focus on the more involved work. No stress involved and my writing was more laser-focused on all three of the submissions.
- Change your office for the summer. If you sit at your desk in its own room, closet, or corner, pack up a few necessities you use as you write and change your writing address. Refresh and reset your mind for great work. It doesn’t matter if you move to a different location within your home or you decide to find a special coffee or tea shop to set up a couple mornings or evenings of the week. When you change where you work, it gives your brain stimulation and newness to work that large muscle. A little change can make your focus better and rid your mind of the distractions at home for a bit.
- If you leave your office, at the end of summer, assess what you missed about your office and what you enjoyed about the new spot. I did my assessment after the month of June. I found my office had become too cluttered with little items sitting on a couple surfaces that were growing, but I had become oblivious to them. Items I’d needed to give a quick bit of attention, but instead I’d set them aside for another day. Hmm, I wonder when another day will arrive?
Only you will know
what reset you need for your writing area, schedule, and focus. Most issues can
be fixed if you take the time to step back, step away for a bit, and see what
stands out for attention. You can do this. I recommend that you do.
The above are not
the only items to assist the busy writer in a much needed reset, what else
would you add?
When not writing Rom-Com, she’s The Launch Team Geek helping
authors launch their books and also a Virtual Assistant for a couple
best-selling authors. Her work was published in a Divine Moments Compilation
Book—Cool-inary Moments. She’s also the Social Media Manager for the
Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and
current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. She’s
a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Novel Academy, MBT
Monday Devotions, The Write Editing and others. Connect
with Tammy at https://www.tammykarasek.com.
Thanks Tammy. I agree and found checking off my small projects first and then tackling the larger one let me breathe. I’ll have to give changing office location or rearranging the office a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to do something to help destress over your list of items to do! I hope you give the changing up your office location or arrangement a try! It's sort of like that feeling when you buy a new purse you wanted—Lol!
DeleteI love this, Tammy! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, ma'am!
DeleteI recently spent a few days organizing and clearing clutter in my writing space. What a difference this made. It cleared my brain, too!
ReplyDelete