A few Measly Steps a Day

The dentist session was not the horror I expected.

Hi D, I'm glad your visit was less the ordeal you imagined.

I'm getting much done, and more comes in that keeps me going. Have a question for everyone, even lurkers, how important is what I'm going to call "dwell time" to your ideal creative efforts? Some procrastinators may be using their distractions to dwell on their task till the time to due date shrinks to roughly the amount of time they'll need to get something done. But by not having a rough draft (I'm thinking of the classic college papers rushed out the night before) harm their efforts because they don't have time left to polish and recall stuff to add-in.

I'm curious because my own dwell time is shrinking at the moment. I'm needing to settle on my decisions and act faster. I miss my dwell times. But is that a sad thing?

R

Hi Guys. Inspire here. Hope everyone is well.

My steps for the day:

1. Make space in the hallway to get the vacuum cleaner through
2. Vacuum room
3. Move computer over to other side of room
4. Put all stuff on desk in a box so I can use the desk while I'm sorting through the box.

Good luck today, everybody!

Welcome back. Tick off those small steps!

Thursday:
get to ad hoc clinic my client organized to just see the operation, possible be of help; at least stay out of the way.

This mean a really early start (up at 6:29 — "I was up before 6:30."

To sleep, perchance to dream,
R

Hi, Scout/Inspire, I'm glad to see your post. Wishing you good things with your steps.

R - You asked about dwell time. I assume you mean time where your work is on a back burner and it's just sort of percolating in the back of your mind. For me sometimes it's part of the creative process, and sometimes it's time that could be better spent doing something. I do think we all need some down time, or dwell time or whatever. How much? Good question. I've always thought that you spend a lot more time being productive than I do, and you need to make sure that you get some down time, whereas I need to make sure that I don't take too much down time. It's partly because I'm retired, and simply don't have the demands that you do. I probably didn't answer your question.

I'm considering - strongly considering - changing the novel I'm working on from past tense to present tense.

Happy stepping, everyone.

My steps for the day: (3 days ago)
1. Make space in the hallway to get the vacuum cleaner through
2. Vacuum room
3. Move computer over to other side of room
4. Put all stuff on desk in a box so I can use the desk while I'm sorting through the box.

Got them done today. I asked a personal coach one time, "How do I estimate how long a job will take me"? She said, "Figure out how long you think it will take.....and then multiply that by 3". So, I'm right on track. I estimated one day and it took me 3.

I have more goals but it's too late to formulate them. I'll do it tomorrow.

As far as down time goes (I forgot the term you used) at this point in my life all I know how to do anymore is down time. From nothing to down time. Not a good pattern. The project I'm working on now is a turning point. The steps I just got done are a big part of the turn. I'm hoping it will make a difference. I know it will. It's just too long to explain. Good night, everyone. Good steppin' tomorrow.
"

Scout you're right about how long a task will take - about three times what you think it should take. Also factor in the unexpected interruptions (health, etc.) and the unexpected problems (not finding something you need, tools breaking down, project not working the way you expected, just not feeling in the mood, etc.) It's frustrating. I believe that's a big part of why scanners have trouble finishing things. They think, "It's just me," but it's also the uphill battle and the disappointment of everything not working in real life the way it does in our heads.

Me - I got a whole lot done on Thursday, almost nothing on Friday. I hope today will be productive - a productive day feels so much better than a nothing day.

Happy stepping.

D - are you a scanner? I'm a serial diver. I'm glad you brought that up. I think maybe it's why it never works for me to just do one box at a time in the closet. I have to dive in and take EVERYTHING OUT and make a giant mess. It drives me nuts but setting the goal of just one box at a time never works. I wish it did.

Good for you for having a productive Thursday.

Scout, I'm a diver too. But finishing projects is hard whoever you are. There are all the problems inside of our head that stop us, but there are also problems that the world throws out at us. Anyway, I do tend to hang on to projects and plug along. At the end of the day, we're all people.

Speaking of scanners, scanners love new things. (I hate learning how to use upgrades on the Internet.) But, I have to admit, I don't learn many new things these days. The book I'm working on now takes place in Canada in the Yukon, and I did some research on the Klondike Gold Rush, and on the First Nations tribes of the Yukon, and I loved it. I used to love learning things. It makes me think that I should spend some of my "dwell" time (Goofing off time?) just surfing the net and learning about things.

Good luck.

Hi team. I'm not sure where I'm with diver/scanner. Maybe there's another metaphor. I look at how much time I have, then I frame how much I can get done in that time. I recently coined a couple of ideas because I'm running a Liberating Structures event with a few other members on The Cull of the Wild.
The terms were Solipare (riff on solitaire) for using break time to pare something down or do a minor tedious task (sort t-shirts, say). And the other is Due the Dull (set a time to take on a yuck or dull task).

In other news .. Feb's a short month long on creativity for my part. One of things I love doing is a "walk and talk" with myself. I take off on an urban trek and when the way is clear, just talk out loud to me, myself, and I. The three of us have a grand time.

The most surprising Growing Yes is working with a friend to bring co-counseling to her project. Out Of The Blue. We were talking, she asked me to just run my mind/mouth around some of her challenges with this work and I mentioned this aspect: this is stressful stuff and if the recruits could learn to co-support each other they all will make it and stay contributors all through the process.

And she came back with, OK, how do we do this?

Oy vey.

R

Hi Team, mostly positives to report. Got my slides in Monday AM, as promised, and got a "Looks good" back. This opens time. Actually muscled in a mis-interpretation of a workshop exercise into something I'm doing next week. Humble me sent a note to one of my teammates recognizing my error and appreciating his grace for letting me twist it towards my image. Could be revelatory, like jazz, or mud, like, er, mud.

So excited about all this creating it's hard to keep my head down and get some sleep. I'm enjoying it, cuz, this too shall pass.
R

Hi, R.

As to the diver/scanner metaphor, I think most of us are both. I'm on the diver end of the metaphor now. I don't hop around from project to project as much as I used to. At twenty, i was much more of scanner.

My life is full of yuck tasks right now. All modern conveniences in my house - plumbing, heating, oven are breaking down at once. A don't multitask as well as I used to, so I tackle one problem at a time. Also, my teeth are breaking down. The plumbing is fixed. The problem I'm working on right now is heat. Thanks to global warming, my house isn't as cold as it could be. My wall heater can't be fixed, so I've decided to bite the bullet ($$$$) and get central heating and air conditioning. I'm debating whether or not to buy a space heater in the meanwhile.

Your "oy, vey" story sounds a lot like figuring out a plot problem. It seems impossible, then i kind of think about it and talk to myself about it, and write about it, and I get an idea. Then I ask myself, "Okay, how do I do it?" Oy vey!

D, too many yuck tasks. Most anything away from my body I come around to facing; things like teeth require special appeals to the deities to just leave me alone.

Today, returning to a long dormant fantasy idea of spreading the good spells from peer support. Just poof, Revu, you're On in 5 hours. The freak out was possible yesterday, bit calmer today, and some rehearsal chatter is happening, which is a fairly good sign.

Everyone, rally & deal with the yucks,
R

Re teeth. The deities leave you alone for a while, and then they come and get you.

I have two projects for today - they're not yuck tasks, they're just kind of scary. Finishing proofing the draft of my will. and Entering a contest.

Good luck to you, Revue. (You probably don't need luck.)

Projects completed.

I didn't sign up for a program that would add another payment to me. I could have afforded it but it would have really tightened my budget. It's to better my health. But i have other goals I desire more. I'm trying to follow Dave Ramsey's philosophy on repaying debt and paying cash for things. So I'm proud i didn't get further into debt.

Hi Aviza, subscriptions are the stealth debt channels. Right now, I have internet access, cell (under $8 a month), & utilities like electricity.

I'm a big fan of freemium apps, for the free part. The app developers find out I don't convert to their chagrin. Then they try various enticements. One even had ads for a bit, dropped the ads, then last month requested a donation. I thought about it for a week or two but when I felt ready to send a contribution, the button was gone. Oh, well.

Today, call at 2 pm, bits and pieces of creative work on a couple of projects. Yuck: copied the needed files to shift through to do our business taxes due on March 15. Just seconds of work, still Check.

R

A friend shared this quote:

Quote:

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” ― Martha Graham Graham’s response to Agnes de Mille when de Mille was complaining about her final choreography on Oklahoma! She was not happy with it, especially the Ballet scene. Pretty amazing friend to give her the quote of a lifetime.

Thanks for the quote, R. The part I find most motivating is to keep the channel open even if our work isn't very good. I have no idea if my work is good or not. I really don't know. The story about Agnes de Mille not liking her choreography is an interesting story, but I'll bet there are hundreds of stories about Agnes McMurphy not liking her choreography, or Joseph McShmo not liking his acting, or Elaine Glimme not liking her writing.
Anyway. I like the quote.

Completed steps - I entered two contests.
I'm steadily working on the yuck jobs. I have quotes for central heating.
I bought a new computer. ("home" and "end" functions don't work.
And I'm writing.

At the moment, it's all good.
Me, signing off.

Happy you like the quote. Yeah, they had reached a pretty high level. If you've read Anne Truitt's memoir series you'll see she struggled with that to. At one point she was not even scraping by and looked towards getting a j-o-b and wrestled with what that would mean for being able to follow her artistic impulses.

Stuff Barbara Sher's forums were just slathered in.

Off to a dental appt (fillings) in a few minutes. Yuck 1.

When I get back need to put in daily duty on getting my biz taxes done. Yuck 2.

Tomorrow morning, this will all be in my past.

R

My next goal is to re-publish the paperback version of "Through Unfamiliar Waters." I somehow deleted it. It shouldn't be hard to do, but I'm resisting it. I'm scared that I'll have that frustrating experience of nothing working right. It shouldn't be hard. I've already done it once before. I'm not editing anything. And yet I'm putting it off. I used to think I was scared of success, but that's not what I'm scared of. I'm scared of expecting success and being disappointed.
The weather is either great or horrible depending on how you look at it. It's warm and sunny. My trees are blossoming. The worrisome part - we've had almost no rain this winter. The new weather pattern seems to be that winter rains start in late February and continue through April or May. I hope this is the case.
I think I mentioned that my heater went out. I am using my oven's broiler for heat. Climate change has helped me in this regard. We haven't had any frost this year. The outside weather dips into the 40s in the night, and my house gets down into the low 60s - not too shabby. In the past we used to have frost every day in January and February. Outside temperature used to fall into the twenties and thirties at night. No, I'm not advocating that we burn a lot of fossil fuel. The warmer temperatures and lack of rain also translate into the hot weather and fires we've had for the last five or so years.
I was able to write a lot, and now I've hit a snag. I have that vague idea of where I want to the story to go, but I'm lacking the details -the oy, vey, part of one of your posts from about a week ago.

Good luck, happy stepping, and all that jazz.

The paperback's in review. It will be in action in 72 hours. Yay!

Hi thread,
Maybe twice a week, it seems, something creative my way comes. Today, I led a session on cross-counseling for a project and one of the participants asked for my contact 411. Yesterday I had a promising call with a potential client. I have to pull together a proposal, which I've already begun to putter with.

Friday appears commitment free, ha! I'll post what I can get to.
R

Moving slowly through my yuck tasks of completing tax forms. Before that, naturally, I have to complete my deductions.

At the same time, I have other yuck stuff more to my picking.

---A limerick--

We have those yucks set by others
Under which our joys get smothered
Weighed down I wonder,
Between puzzles to ponder,
If they'd do this to their mothers.

R