Every ROWse Has its Thorns

For the last few weeks, I’ve been struggling to keep my productivity up. It’s partly a (temporary) lull in motivation, partly some minor life upheaval, and partly creative fatigue. I’m thankful things are beginning to turn around. The effects of the minor life upheaval have dissipated, motivation is beginning to revive and the creative well is (slowly) refilling. I’m looking forward to regaining a happy momentum…the sooner the better.

This experience has reminded me that I need to plan for dips in motivation and creative fatigue. Both are normal parts of any goal-oriented journey. And I’ve realized that I can’t always rely on momentum alone to keep me going. Friction, my friends, is the enemy of perpetual motion machines and mental processes (different kinds of friction, I know…but, whatever).

Now, I just need to put a plan together. No problem, right?

Sure.

In the mean time, let’s see what’s been going on with my ROW* since last check in:

Wherefore Art Thou, My ROW?

O ROWmeo, ROWmeo…

It’s not really my ROW I’m searching for, it’s my motivation. It snuck out in the middle of the night. Probably to party. I expected it to come slinking home just before dawn, shamefaced at abandoning me and ready to get back to work. Alas, my motivation has stayed away.

I keep standing in motivation’s yard, calling up and getting no response.

Right now, I’m working (not very well) on fumes.

Despite the drag I’m feeling from lack of enthusiastic motivation, I keep on keeping on. I’m sure, pretty sure anyway, that I can coax motivation back if I just keep going.

Did I Hear That Right?

*ROW80 update at the bottom of the post

We have a running joke in our family. Whenever we think we misheard someone, we repeat back to that person what it sounded like s/he said. Sometimes, we’re reasonably close. Other times, we’re wildly, hilariously off.

We’re not alone. Lots of folks do this all this time, often without even knowing how off the mark they are.

You see this especially with song lyrics:

*May be a wee bit NSFW, due to language (but only two or three instances…and said in such a great accent…so there’s that).

***

And now for a ROW80* update.

This has been a challenging week for me. Over the weekend, our car was robbed.

Stand by Your ROW

Welcome to another…

Wait, what are we doing?

Oh yeah. Another ROW80* check in.

Here we go.

This week went much better than last. Strangely, I planned more optional days off and found myself more motivated to not take them. That’s both interesting and annoying.

You can see last week’s goals here.

And here’s how I stood by my goals:

Are You Overthinking It?

*ROW80 update at the bottom of the post

Have you ever gotten stuck on something that you feel should come naturally but it’s not coming naturally and you can’t figure out why so you sit around and try to work it out but then you get stuck in the thinking about the thing and that’s worse than getting stuck on the thing in the first place…?

*pauses for breath*

If you overthink things (or just think you do) this video is for you:

Overthink. That kind of sounds like overlord, doesn’t it? Like something outside yourself is thinking for you.

As the ROW Turns

Another week, another Sunday ROW80* check in. Welcome back.

This week was a mixed bag for progress. I did well on my cello, health and family goals, but got very little done on my rewrites. Oh well, as a famous southern belle once said, tomorrow is another day.

You can see last week’s goals here.

Here’s what’s been going on in my goal world:

Should We Quit Social Media?

*ROW80 update at the bottom of the post

I recently came across the TED Talk by Dr. Cal Newport saying , not only is social media not harmless, it is dangerous and addictive.

 

It’s something I’ve heard before, but Dr. Newport makes a few persuasive points. Perhaps the most persuasive point is that social media sites are designed to be addictive the way that casinos are, that having social media apps on our phones is like carrying little slot machines with us everywhere. He further argues that social media is not an essential technology (see the video for a full explanation), and we don’t need it to be successful or well known. He concludes that, for us to make the choice to use social media, we have to show a compelling reason that the benefit outweighs the harm.

Of course, I did find the video of his TED Talk on YouTube.

You Win Some, You ROW Some

Whaddya mean the finish line is still three yards away? I’m comfortable here.

Here we are again, another Sunday ROW80* check in.

I’m a little disappointed in my progress this week. I didn’t miss by much, but what I did miss was due to poor time management. I’ll be working on that this week.

You can see last week’s goals here and the updated writing goals here.

Here’s where I’m at now and where I’m going:

Writing

Last Week

I finished the STO2 and M scenes and worked up editing notes for LLF and the scene that comes right after (let’s call it NA).

I should be pleased, as I hit my updated goal. Still, I’d like to be faster and more efficient with these scene rewrites. My problem is that I’m often putting my writing off until the end of the day, when I’m tired and short on creativity. I need to put the writing first…even if it means getting up a little earlier.

What Would You Do if Money Was No Object?

*ROW80 update at the bottom of the post

Some years ago, I shared the video below. I’m sharing it again today because I find it deeply inspiring and hope you will too.

It asks a question we should ask ourselves on a regular basis:

What would you do with your life if money was no object?

It’s a question about passion and how you want to share your gifts with the world. So often we dismiss our dreams because we’re told they’ll never amount to a “real job.” We don’t stop to think there’s a different way to go about it all. And that we can always find a way, if we look hard enough…even if that way sometimes leads us in a different direction than we imagined.

ROW the Line

It’ll all about balance…

Welcome to another Sunday ROW80* check in. Time to see if this week’s progress balances the goals or is ready to fall to its doom.

I’m calling this week another win even though I’m more tired than enthused. I hit all of my goals…or will by end of day.

Let’s see where we’re at, shall we?

Writing

Last Week

The scene I’ve been working on forever the last couple weeks has been the bane of my existence (although I’m quite sure there will be others…and probably very soon). You might think, because it’s a rewrite, it would be no problem. It was definitely a problem.