You may have noticed that, despite my decision to become more active on the website, I had a lot of inactivity throughout most of February. I feel like anything I can say to you or myself is just an excuse, but then again, I’ve always been pretty self-critical.
In all honesty, my routine started falling apart around the time that Covid hit and it went completely downhill around the time of moving back to my hometown. I’ve been struggling to find the right way to implement a routine with my current circumstances.
Rationally, I know that my best writing time is soon after getting up in the morning, which working around other schedules means that this must be early morning. But despite the logic that this is the only time I can consistently fit any significant time blocks in, I struggle. Between not liking to get up early and the cold, I am not always productive during my ideal time.
Considering the circumstances, I’ve been trying to be more forgiving of myself and I’ve taken several self care days when I need to. But I know I need to get back into a routine one way or another since writing is part of what makes me feel like myself.
So, I’ve made a bit of an indulgent purchase with my tax return in the form of an iPad that should arrive in a couple weeks. I figure that with the tablet, I can still use Scrivener in the morning without being in my icebox of an office, which will take away half of my reasons for avoiding getting up early. The rest will have to happen on willpower. It will also make it easier to write when I’m away from home.
One other thing I’m trying to make sure I can write more is that I’m having a productivity competition with my 10-year-old. He’s my homeschooled child and he has also been struggling to do what needs to be done since Covid. So the plan is that we’ll hold each other accountable and whoever accomplishes more of their goals each month wins. Hopefully, this helps.
On another note, I’ve recently set up a page for the website that will display my current progress in each of my WIPs. I intend to be better about sticking with one at a time (at least for a given stage), but the last few months, I’ve certainly been bouncing around between multiple projects-more than I realized, now that I’ve finished this page. If you’re interested, you can find my progress here.