Deadlines
I am not a lazy person. I am not one for letting things slide when they need to get done. I’d much rather get the job over with and enjoy that relaxation time later, which makes it oh so much sweeter. Don’t get me wrong, I value my lazy moments as much as the next guy, especially since they are so few and far between these days. So, if I get home after a long day at work and a long commute home to find a Hal Hartley flick on my DVR, chances are that is going to get my attention (after my cat) if I have the choice to hold of working on that script.
Aye, there’s the rub. Procrastination. Let’s face it. It can be difficult to create something. No. “Difficult” is the wrong word. It takes effort. Much less effort in reading a book (that has been sitting on the shelf and gathering dust as I’ve promised myself I would get to it) than it does to write one. So, even as writing is pretty much the great purpose and joy in my life, with so little free-time and so many other tasks demanding my attention, it is increasingly easy to put off the task that requires the most effort.
This is why I find it important to set aside specific times for such tasks. I tend to do my best writing at night, though that time is not always reliable. Therefore, I set aside a large chunk of Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons to do most of my writing. Still, such a structured schedule (and keeping in mind the usual inconveniences of the workweek) is still at the mercy of sudden bursts of inspiration as well as deadlines.
Inspiration is easy. When it comes, I just have to give myself up to it, even if that means looking over at the clock to suddenly realize that it’s 2:00 in the morning, and I have to get up in five hours for work. Sure, I pay for it in the morning, but that’s what coffee is for.
Deadlines are another thing entirely. Deadlines can be terrifying. They can drive you to panic, force you to soldier on through the night with the anxiety that the next sentence you write could be your last and it could suck.
Deadlines can also be incredibly liberating. They can give you a kick in the pants, force you to cut the crap and get working on that masterpiece you’ve wanted to write all along but just could not get around to. Now, thanks to your looming deadline, you suddenly have the driving force behind you (often a whip, but sometimes a fire-breathing dragon) to set you to your task and make you forget about all those other concerns in your life. Like hygiene.
The great thing about deadlines is it gives me an excuse to keep the television off and focus. I don’t have to sit around all day at work during slow days bored and longing for the days that are so stressful I want to slit my wrists. No longer. I can open up that notebook and fill its pages, even if it’s only at a half-sentence at a time and comes out complete drivel, because I have to have something I can work with by the time I get back to my computer at home.
Working under pressure is a funny thing. It gets the got done, but it would be much easier if there was no pressure at all.
Now, if only I can solve the most complex problem of all–how can I make time to go to the gym?