De-clutter, write or study?
Recently I’ve begun de-cluttering my home. It’s a challenge as it consumes so much time away from writing and completing courses I am studying! Of the many courses I chose to study, one begging for attention is implementing what I learnt in a course on photography – all six modules crammed with high-end, professional information, intensive and challenging. My fingers itch to use my camera again!
De-cluttering
De-cluttering will hopefully to clear my mind as much as my home. All the unused ‘stuff’ I’ve accumulated, much of which arrived in my home when my mother passed things onto me. Family history is a big one. Several crates later, all indexed and numbered, are now being stored. Why store stuff? Why not just get rid of it all? Well you might ask. I’m the custodian of family treasures, photos, letters, keepsakes and so on. Strangely all of these items held greater importance until recently. They still do, though in a very different way.
You see, I’ve de-cluttered my mind of the constant racing thoughts that can be all-consuming, and with those thoughts gone, I now have a fresh perspective on what it means to keep all these historical items. I am not my past. Yet, family stories are unique. And so I hold onto what I will re-visit when the time is right, and hopefully write those stories, well some of them at least.
Guilt over keeping what has been passed down the generations, some from the 1800’s, diminishes as I pass items (like the Beale Piano, an early 1900’s item) onto those who want them, family first. Selected items are stored, and local groups, such as Buy Nothing score unclaimed and unwanted items.
Writing
I know we all have our excuses for not writing yet as I say, de-cluttering the home is beneficial to making way for new thoughts. It’s a trend and widely acclaimed. Just type ‘de-clutter’ into Google to see a myriad of proponents, such as Mary Kondo.
Pacing self is so important! With shifting heavy items in the de-cluttering process, and the magnitude of it all, I find exhaustion hits every hour or so. A 5-10 minute break does the trick: coffee, a quick walk in the garden, feet up for five. And then back into it! None of these breaks are long enough to write in. Besides, my focus is on the next crate of ‘stuff’ not the next sentence I might write!
In devoting nearly all my time during the week to de-cluttering, I feel anxiety build-up. I want to achieve all my goals, especially with my writing. Grumpy begins to walk in the door. Over coffee, a dear friend asked me why I wasn’t writing, and with my admission realizations hit me.
The key to writing, that is, to keeping Grumpy at bay and letting Happy walk in the door of my mind, is to write every single day. It doesn’t have to be for a long stint.
It’s often promoted by writers as the best way to write! Yet, it’s way too easy to be distracted from doing just that. Possibly because I do write from home. How do I squeeze in the time with the urgency of a major project hovering over me?
Scheduling in time to write needs to be non-negotiable!
A day to just write – or a half day – or an hour – or ….
Yes, the day, time and duration can be fluid. For example, Monday morning is often my day and time to write after a busy weekend focusing on family. However, I’m flexible, and when a family member needs help every other Monday, I re-schedule that day to another one in the week. Sometimes the change rattles the brain and Grumpy gets a look in! But here I am on a Sunday evening, my new time.
In short, I schedule a non-negotiable day or evening each week plus a half an hour each morning
With a specific time to look forward to, all the in-between stuff gets done. I plan the de-cluttering, the general housework and coffees with girlfriends. They all find their time. Happy swings through the door. And with one day set aside for writing, and the house getting closer to being re-organized, repainted and refreshed – oh, didn’t I mention the painting? Yes, that’s meant gutting the rooms. So it’s a long project. Essential, therefore to have time set aside to write!
You’ve met Grumpy. And Happy. Sleepy is me at the end of a day. Sneezy is how the dust accumulated in the now empty spare room affected me; Doc is possibly where I’d end up without self-pacing; Dopey is how I feel after a long day; Bashful is how I used to be and still am, to a measure!
Here’s how I lock in writing time
1. Schedule a non-negotiable people-free writing day or evening. It reminds me of Pupil Free Days at school. As a teacher I got so much done without the distraction of students. (Argh you say, as a mother, with kids underfoot when the teachers had these days! I feel for you! I was, and remain, a mother, too!)
Without time to set our minds to the task of teaching – and now as a writer, to writing – the task simply cannot be done as well as it could be. Ask any writer!
2. Heed Julia Cameron’s advice in The Artist’s Way and write a journal every day. It clears the head of cluttering thoughts and promotes happy smiles.
3. Use a coaching technique I learned that highlights what is important to me right now. It’s magical and helps me focus.
4. Grab my social media note book and scribble down the numerous ideas that come to mind, sometimes with content outlines for blog posts, sometimes a verse for an inspirational post. This might take away that sense of panic about ‘what can I write?’ I actually have lists already but I want fresh ideas as well.
5. Read, make notes and put into practice hints and tips from Robin Houghton’s ‘blogging for writers’ which I purchased at the Save the Children Book Fair recently.
6. Thank my dear writer friends who encourage me – over coffee – to get on with it!
Buying time!
I’m not really wasting time. It’s called de-cluttering! It’s managing the push-pull of wanting to write about the very items I’m storing that’s hard! The advantage is, being more tightly organized means I can pull an item or a crate from storage and focus on that when I am ready! In the mean time, a fresh new coat of paint enlivens the once cluttered bedroom freed once again for grandchildren to enjoy; and the house breathes more freely!
Acknowledgements: Images from Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are from the edition published by Dean & Son Ltd, London, 1954.
I have no problem tossing things out. Most of my clutter IS the writing. Manuscripts, notebooks full of scribblings from workshops, ideas from writing groups.
You’re so fortunate, Tania! I must become more ruthless!