I’ve had really low motivation for the past week. Many different factors went into this, but they all begin with the words lack of.
Lack of sleep. Lack of healthy meals eaten at regular intervals (I have a terrible tendency to skip breakfast and lunch, and make it up with snacks. Don’t do this). Lack of exercise (with all our family activities in full swing, it’s easy to let that one go. Especially since I’ve never been excited about working out in the first place).
Lack of excitement about my work, exacerbated by the above factors.
I’ve been writing on willpower, with the aid of an egg timer and a wordcount tool to keep me on track for my word goals.
A bit of social pressure came into play as well. Since I self-identify publicly as a writer, I feel honor-bound to actually do the work.
Those things kept me going through the rough patch. I’ve had a couple of good nights, sleepwise, and I’m feeling all caught up. We’re on break on school this week, giving me time to breathe, recharge, and get my house in shape. I’m no neat freak, but after a while, clutter is just a drag on my spirit. Getting things put away in their proper places lifts my mood.
I’m planning on baking a chocolate cake this afternoon. Now that will really help!
How are you all doing?
I started nodding about twenty seconds into your post… Writing when there’s such a dearth of vital ingredients, so to speak, it’s hard work. And I’m definitely in the same boat as you. I’ve started writing “socially” as I put it. At least 3 or 4 times a week, I set up to chat with an author friend on FB, and we spend an hour or two in our respective places, writing away, checking back in at the end of the night to report on our progress. And socialize a bit, of course. It’s helped me tremendously.
I may also need to try out an egg timer… and bake some apple cobbler. 🙂
“Social” writing is a great idea when excitement for the work isn’t enough to carry you through. I know that there are people who do writing sprints using Twitter hashtags to get a group together.
I have an accountability group that checks in weekly to recount successes and failures. That has helped to keep me going. Unfortunately we are in different time zones so no one is writing at the same time as I am!
I’ve realized that I’m most productive when I’m writing on my laptop in some boring, Wi-fi-less lobby while a child is at practice or in a class. I should make it a point to get out of the house more often!
Mmm, apple cobbler. I’m making a white cake over the weekend, but after that I’ll make an apple pie. Been a long time since I tried my hand at one (I get lazy and do apple crisp instead!).
What is this apple crisp you speak of?
Yeah, my best writing is the two hours my kids are at school (we’re taking a hybrid homeschool approach, so they’re in a part-time pre-k/K montessori program). I set up at the nearest library branch, and refuse to connect my laptop to the wifi there. It’s amazing what I accomplish when I have no wifi and my brain is so much more fresh than when I sit down to write post kids’ bedtime.
The time pressure of writing while children are at activities/classes also helps. It’s harder to goof off when you know you only have X minutes before you have to pick them up. Funny how fast even I can type in that time. 😀
Apple crisp is cut apples with a flour/oatmeal-butter-crumbly topping. Sugar and cinnamon are also involve. Bake in oven, serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Yum!
Now I feel like baking some, but I have a white cake recipe I want to try first!
I spend ever so much more time baking than I do writing these days. Never seems to boost my inspiration for wordslinging. 😛
Lol, yeah. I meant in terms of lifting my mood, not helping me get more words. Sweet things make me happy–even if they’re not the best for my waistline! 😉
What have you baked recently?