The Importance of Flexibility

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."
                         - Lawrence Kasdan


The above statement couldn't be more true. And you'd think, that after 13 years of having homework, that I'd be used to it--or at least able to manage it.

HA.

The funny thing about doing what you love is that finding the motivation to do it is no easier than trying to find motivation to, say, clean a toilet. Just like with anything, I seem to find excuses to do pretty much anything else; I have to clean my room first, I have to do laundry first, I'll just take five minutes and read a bit before I start. (Note: There is no such thing as "only five minutes" when it comes to reading. Either I don't read at all or I sit down and spend twelve hours reading a book cover to cover.)

It's not that I don't still enjoy writing; once I actually start, I can go on for hours and have a lot of fun doing it. It's getting started that's the issue. Because no matter how much I love something, I will always love Netflix more.

That's why I need to be flexible.

I need solid writing time. I need to schedule time for writing; to write it down on my calendar, like I would for any shift at my part-time job. But my job schedule is basically unpredictable; sometimes I work 5 days a week, sometimes 6, sometimes 3. Sometimes I work 30 hours, other times I work 44. Sometimes I start at 4, sometimes 5, others I get asked to come in at 1. Sometimes I plan to write, only to have someone invite me for lunch or to a movie, and I end up abandoning my laptop to go have some fun.

This is where flexibility comes in.

I wish I could pick one time of day that I could always have to write, but that's just not possible. I need to work around my schedule, and change my habits to fit my life as it changes around me. I need to change as my priorities change.

Changing is hard. A lot. I definitely work better when I have a solid routine to follow, and straying from said routine brings little productivity with it. I need to schedule time as it becomes available, and set it far enough in advance that I know that it's coming.

But as important as my writing time is, I need to know when to keep it, etched in stone, and when to toss it away, in favour of valuable time with friends and loved ones--and just plain down time in general. (We all need our Netflix fix every now and then...wow that sounded awkward.) Even if I do have "homework" every day, that doesn't mean I have to sacrifice everything else in return. What would be the point of that?


Until later,

- Justyne