Reverb10 Prompt (from Leo Babauta): What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
I do a gazillion things each day that don’t contribute to my creative projects, but I’m at a point now where just about everything I do in the course of my day is important to me for one reason or another. Prioritizing my time has been a zero-sum situation for me in recent months, where making time for something important (like writing) is taking away time from something else important (like music or exercise). I’ve already eliminated just about (there’s that phrase again!) all the time-wasters and distractions that have held me back in the past. Of course, I indulge in a little bit of TV and mindless web-surfing, but it really is just a little, and I’m not the type to be focused and engaged in purposeful activity all the time. Can’t you see I’m doing the best I can, Leo?!?! What do you want me to do, write while I’m sitting on the toilet? Just kidding, man. Actually, I have written while sitting on the toilet. Used to keep a notebook under the sink once I discovered that epiphanies tended to descend from on high as soon as I dropped my pants. But now I’m getting off track…
The truth is, there are still a few places in my day to day routine where I can carve out some writing time. In fact, I’m swinging the machete right now! But again, what I’m eliminating in order to participate in Reverb 10 is something I’ve held onto for two years now, namely the idea of myself as someone with a superior work ethic who refuses to surrender to the prevailing office culture in which it’s become perfectly acceptable to do one’s personal business on the company dime. I’ve finally thrown up the white flag, and now I feel okay about spending a wee bit of my work day journaling or blogging. I’m an office temp, and my supervisors are thrilled with my productivity, attention to detail, and congenial demeanor. And they themselves spend significant blocks of work time attending to their personal lives. “When in Rome”, right?
How this blog post turned into such a rambling rationalization I just don’t know. I’d explore it further, but I think maybe I should get back to work…