I’m not gonna lie, I’ve thought about writing many days this year. But, thinking and writing are not the same thing. Sometimes, it feels like they are the same thing. You are walking around having thoughts, and you think that they are orderly and that you will recall them. You are lying to yourself. Or, maybe it is just me; don’t mean to throw that on you per se.

I enjoy having written. It frees my mind.

I don’t enjoy writing. Especially not starting writing. It is hard. Everything that seems ordered and reasonable and sure to be engaging disappears when it is no longer just floating thoughts. And, thus, each session of writing includes time second guessing whether I had any thoughts at all…will I ever have them again…why should I pretend to try to write things down that surely even future me will not be interested in perusing?

Here are some things I’m thinking about right now:

  • Long weekends come with a lot of pressure - what are you going to do with this gift of an extra day of not work?
  • Planning makes life easier - if past you made a plan, it is easier to stick with it than come with something on the fly
  • Habits make life easier - doing the same thing every day is kinda like having a plan
  • Hobbies give us something to do when we didn’t plan - or when a wild holiday weekend appears

I think that if I want to consistently write, I’m going to have to plan to do so and build it into my routines. My grand plan for spending a few minutes on the laptop fails miserably when I am almost never in front of my laptop anymore. (not like I’m being forced to not use it, just I have filled my day with other things.)

Based on everything I have read on habits and self-change, I should stack writing on top of a routine that is already successful to me. I really want to do it in the morning, but I don’t have time - I’m out the door before 0500 every morning, and shifting to still earlier seems like a poor plan. I’ve tried to move to just before bed, but then I forget and would rather just go through my normal routines.

I think I am going to try to move to just after dinner. Eat, clean up, write. Just a few minutes. This seems doable. I shall start tonight. Hopefully something good comes of this plan.

Re-reading my “Let’s get this party started” post at the beginning of the year, I have mostly kept to my claims for the year..except that writing thing. And, my backpacking trips have been not solo…but I did not expect to give up my car or for my partner to want to go outside. Backpacking solo would now require some serious biking, and my tent does not fit in my panniers…a problem for future me.

I am going to go through my drafts and see what I can get pushed to fill in the gaps in the last few months.