Well, it certainly has been a while!!
Like many folks out there, we're settling in to school day routines and autumn-time activities, having never had two kids in school at the same time, I'd foolishly thought this would unlock huge swathes of time and productivity. Reality corrected this viewpoint pretty quickly! Being a (quite privileged) stay-at-home mom, I'm the kind of gal who volunteers immediately to prep materials for school, volunteer for the classrooms, put together projects for Sunday school, walk neighbor kids to the bus stop, dust for a friend, whatever.
You can see how this might tie up a day or two.
Mind you, this is more blessing-counting than whining. I've been able to take a solid look at how things are prioritized in my day, and have found that yes, indeed, when I focus on the family and home first, the free time seems to actually open up a bit. Drinking more water lately seems to help too, regardless of the amount of time I spend running to the bathroom! This isn't contradictory - the first week and a half were flat-out insane! That craziness aside, today was a good model for what this season could look like - knock out the basic house stuff either before the kids are up or after they're off to school, play catch-up on paperwork, give 30 to figuring out dinner, concentrate fully on my daughter or son for longer stretches, and having thinking/writing/art time for one or two sessions/day.
That being said (and, apologies here for sounding disjointed, I'm in the thick of a vertigo spell!), I am Not sure about the next round of ROW 80. The challenge has been hugely informative, and I've done writing that just would never have happened without it - just shy of 12,000 words that didn't previously exist only arrived as a gift from ROW 80. I've also connected with LOVELY, Supportive, outstanding writers - even ones with MORE kids than me!! PUBLISHED writers, mind you! These reasons alone may keep me in the challenge :-)
If I re-enlist for the next one, the goals will likely be even more modest (since I was rarely able to accomplish them). I'll see how the next week plays out and use that to help my decision-making. I'm certainly not making any decisions tonight, as I'm feeling terribly woozy and uneasy to boot! To the good - I've been waking up earlier the last two weeks, and positively identifiying what free time looks like, and where it falls. If I re-do ROW 80, for round FOUR, the results are likely to be at least interesting.
That alone is reason to keep my hat in the ring. On the other hand, interesting is something I don't seem to run out of around here.....
Take care. If you are considering ROW 80, I will tell you this. Something will get written. Something will likely get finished. And you will certainly learn as much about you as you do about your WIP.
With dizzy and spin-ney apologies,
S.
Like many folks out there, we're settling in to school day routines and autumn-time activities, having never had two kids in school at the same time, I'd foolishly thought this would unlock huge swathes of time and productivity. Reality corrected this viewpoint pretty quickly! Being a (quite privileged) stay-at-home mom, I'm the kind of gal who volunteers immediately to prep materials for school, volunteer for the classrooms, put together projects for Sunday school, walk neighbor kids to the bus stop, dust for a friend, whatever.
You can see how this might tie up a day or two.
Mind you, this is more blessing-counting than whining. I've been able to take a solid look at how things are prioritized in my day, and have found that yes, indeed, when I focus on the family and home first, the free time seems to actually open up a bit. Drinking more water lately seems to help too, regardless of the amount of time I spend running to the bathroom! This isn't contradictory - the first week and a half were flat-out insane! That craziness aside, today was a good model for what this season could look like - knock out the basic house stuff either before the kids are up or after they're off to school, play catch-up on paperwork, give 30 to figuring out dinner, concentrate fully on my daughter or son for longer stretches, and having thinking/writing/art time for one or two sessions/day.
That being said (and, apologies here for sounding disjointed, I'm in the thick of a vertigo spell!), I am Not sure about the next round of ROW 80. The challenge has been hugely informative, and I've done writing that just would never have happened without it - just shy of 12,000 words that didn't previously exist only arrived as a gift from ROW 80. I've also connected with LOVELY, Supportive, outstanding writers - even ones with MORE kids than me!! PUBLISHED writers, mind you! These reasons alone may keep me in the challenge :-)
If I re-enlist for the next one, the goals will likely be even more modest (since I was rarely able to accomplish them). I'll see how the next week plays out and use that to help my decision-making. I'm certainly not making any decisions tonight, as I'm feeling terribly woozy and uneasy to boot! To the good - I've been waking up earlier the last two weeks, and positively identifiying what free time looks like, and where it falls. If I re-do ROW 80, for round FOUR, the results are likely to be at least interesting.
That alone is reason to keep my hat in the ring. On the other hand, interesting is something I don't seem to run out of around here.....
Take care. If you are considering ROW 80, I will tell you this. Something will get written. Something will likely get finished. And you will certainly learn as much about you as you do about your WIP.
With dizzy and spin-ney apologies,
S.
You must come back for round 4! But even if you don't *sigh* I'll still be checking up on you and begging you to read more of my stuff...I can't do this without you! Yes, I'm being totally selfish!!
ReplyDeleteClaudia, I will always be excited to beta for you and other ROW-ers, never fear! I will probably be back in, I just really need to give this a Lot of thought, and NOT while on meclazine. I'm both excited and nervous about it, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteProbably that means I should Do It Again :-)
And you may go ahead and be very selfish indeed - you are a Major inspiration to me!!