While we're on the subject of experiments that have worked splendidly...
So, how did Operation Morning Person go? I just had my best writing week in I don't remember how long -- and that's even with my lunch hour getting pre-empted more days than not, a development that would have had me climbing the walls had I not already gotten nearly two hours of good stuff done.
And, contrary to my expectations, I did indeed see 5 a.m. -- six out of the past seven mornings. Full immersion turned out to be the way to go.
I might as well mention another experiment I tried recently and have been really happy with -- the Saturday Digital Sabbath. It's not as extreme as it may sound -- I don't shun my MP3 player or my cell phone, but I do stay off the computer. (OK, except yesterday, when I needed a recipe for crockpot pasta sauce, instructions for replacing bicycle brake cables, and an instant download -- Groundhog Day -- to watch during an impromptu family movie night.)
But I do avoid e-mail, my feed reader, and other favorite online distractions (such as filling in empty "Year" fields for tracks in iTunes -- just 300 to go!), and as a result I'm more present for my family, better rested, more productive (see sauce, pasta; and brakes, bicycle), and, as it turns out, not critically out of the loop. I recommend it.
Finally, in a successful effort to make sure I spend more of my "writing" time actually writing, I've also begun relegating all of what I call "marketing stuff" -- Publishers Lunch and Publishers Weekly, Facebookery, kidlit blogs, posts to my own, etc. -- to a two-hour window on Sundays. And seeing as how this week's window began at 5 a.m., and it's 7 now, I do believe it's time to sign off.
Bartography readers, here's to a great long weekend, spent having fun and doing whatever works for you.
And, contrary to my expectations, I did indeed see 5 a.m. -- six out of the past seven mornings. Full immersion turned out to be the way to go.
I might as well mention another experiment I tried recently and have been really happy with -- the Saturday Digital Sabbath. It's not as extreme as it may sound -- I don't shun my MP3 player or my cell phone, but I do stay off the computer. (OK, except yesterday, when I needed a recipe for crockpot pasta sauce, instructions for replacing bicycle brake cables, and an instant download -- Groundhog Day -- to watch during an impromptu family movie night.)
But I do avoid e-mail, my feed reader, and other favorite online distractions (such as filling in empty "Year" fields for tracks in iTunes -- just 300 to go!), and as a result I'm more present for my family, better rested, more productive (see sauce, pasta; and brakes, bicycle), and, as it turns out, not critically out of the loop. I recommend it.
Finally, in a successful effort to make sure I spend more of my "writing" time actually writing, I've also begun relegating all of what I call "marketing stuff" -- Publishers Lunch and Publishers Weekly, Facebookery, kidlit blogs, posts to my own, etc. -- to a two-hour window on Sundays. And seeing as how this week's window began at 5 a.m., and it's 7 now, I do believe it's time to sign off.
Bartography readers, here's to a great long weekend, spent having fun and doing whatever works for you.
Chris Barton. permalink
