There are many other things I'd like to do this morning. This is going to be my fourth deep working writing session and this is the first time I've felt like I could just skip it.
Changing my schedule from a daily writing plan to twice weekly deep writing sessions has worked really well for me. It has given me the room to do other things during the week and not feel the pressure to write every day.
Here's the question I need to ask myself in this moment - why am I writing this book?
Changing my schedule from a daily writing plan to twice weekly deep writing sessions has worked really well for me. It has given me the room to do other things during the week and not feel the pressure to write every day.
Here's the question I need to ask myself in this moment - why am I writing this book?
- I want to write a book and prove to myself that I can do it
- I've been searching for a good book idea for years and I finally found something. So, now that I have the idea it's time to go to work
- I want to prove to myself that I can take an idea and create a valuable piece of work...that I can see it through to the very end (this is a big deal for me)
- The topic of the book is actually helping me work through a lot of personal things and making me a better person because of it
- At the moment there's very little on this topic out there - So far I've not a set eyes on a book quite like this. So, I might have something unique to bring to the world...something worth sharing
- I do believe that this is a good time in the world for a book like this and that people will find it valuable
- There's probably no better time in my career so far for me to write this. Due to my US working schedule I have a lot of time in my UK morning to write the book
I know how this works - If I stick to my plan, and keep at it, I will produce the work. I just need to keep turning up and continue my ritual of setting the right conditions for the work to take place.
I'm starting a lot earlier than I had originally planned today. I will start writing at 7:30am and finish at 10:30am. Now, I could actually start earlier on a Thursday in the future - even 6:30am and be done by 9:30am. Something for me to consider. What's great about working even earlier in the morning is that everyone is still in bed and there's really nothing happening in the world that would require my attention.
Let's check the conditions:
- Index cards for random thoughts and notes - check
- Coffee - Check
- Water - Check
- Snacks - Apple (I really need to get more healthy writing snacks - grapes, nuts...)
- Turn internet off - (Final thing I'll do after posting this)
- Downloaded playlist - Check
- iPhone in other room - Check
- Timer - check
OK...feeling much better now. And I know that if I do this session - 3 hours without distraction - I will feel really good about myself and have a sense of achievement at the end.
I must do the work. No one else is going to do it for me.