productivity.

Taking a break today from a  Mom Stuff post, although it is applicable to moms!

Today was my first day of real productivity in the writing world. Some time ago I realized that I like order but I am not naturally organized. Order is just coming into a situation and taking chaos and bringing.. well, order. I can do that easily. Organization requires a deeper level of thinking. I have had to learn to be organized to some extent but have finally accepted who I am and how I process. That doesn't mean there can't be some tweaking...just not a complete overhaul or nothing will get done since that will make me come to a screeching halt. We don't work well in ways we are not wired to work.

For instance, I know people who use daytimers and make lists. I cringe at the thought of it. I tried it and it doesn't work for me at all. I am a calendar gal. Everything is jotted down in that little square.

Also, I've always been good at keeping many things organized in my head. It's worked for managing 8 kids and the maple syrup business and more so why would I change it?  Simply put, we are a curious lot and we are good at looking over the fence to see how someone else is doing something. In time we will find that we are expending precious time and energy trying to be someone we are not. We aren't being true to ourselves in living the way we were created. Funny how we can be such a multi-faceted society yet we are attracted to sameness!

At any rate, I had to get the creativity and organization out of my head and in motion because I was not always seeing results in my new endeavor: writing. In order to do that I had to begin setting goals and be productive. At the same time, I had to be true to myself. And today I met my first goal with intended regularity: 2 hours on Friday mornings set aside for my "job". Writing. It's a start. And I feel really good.

That's not easy to do when you've been a mom for almost 30 years (and a homeschooing mom). But I have reached a time in my life when I can and should write. It took some "switching gears" since I've been in a kind of auto pilot for a long time.

So, my productivity is: one article completed and submitted today. And my goal is to continue writing 2 articles a month along with working on the books that have been in my head for over a year for 2 hours on Friday mornings. The next goal is to carve out the time for the an additional day or night for writing.

It won't get on paper until I do it. I know that now. And today really is the first day of the next part of my life. No longer will I feel that pit in my stomach with a new children's book published thinking how I have got to get going on my books. Because now I am working on my goals and being productive.