Reasons to Do

Happens to me every time. I try. I organize. I make plans. I do the "good" things. Then I write something that makes me think. I'm doing the "right" things. They're good things that work for a lot of people. Schedules, timelines, deadlines, etc. They inspire and motivate. But... they don't work well for me. Not when I set them anyways. Work Here's what I do at work.

• Check calendar, read e-mails.

• Finish all work due this week, starting with each day.

• Example; if it's due Monday, do it now.

• Monday done? Finish Tuesday.

• So on and so forth.

• Wednesday, it's usually Wednesday.

• I'm out of work, time to study.

• I'm tired of study, time to write.

• I'm tired of write, time for Friday!

• Friday.

• Read only Friday. Pop open Kindle, read a book.

• Attend meetings, take some time out to train someone.

• Write a report for the week.

And that's it.Every week. The same schedule. Nothing changes, nothing needs to. It's simple. It works. It encourages working ahead of schedule. It encourages building spare time to respond to disasters. It prioritizes activities based on need. I also work within the Pomodoro schedule. I finish 2-3 easy tasks, work on a hard task. Pause, finish 2-3 easy tasks. Work on a hard task. Repeat until I finish the hard task. So on, and so forth, and so on. Home But, that doesn't work for home. I don't work with anyone, so there's no need to check my calendar or e-mails. The work is what I want to do. Most times when I'm home, I'm with family. I want to be present with my family. Sometimes, when I'm out of emotional energy. I write instead. I've been writing a lot lately. As it goes, "I've been staring at the edge of the water." Instead of the unknown, I write. So when days are good, no words flow. When the days are poor, the words are a waterfall. But I don't want to be miserable. So for awhile, some days I would write. Some days I wouldn't. I couldn't figure it out. One day I would write a poem. One day I would write a short essay. One day nothing. One day a character bio. Another nothing. Until the days became nothing. Then something happened. Solution? Ghostwriting. I started writing for others. B2B marketing. Blog posts. Financial articles. White papers. Anything I could get my hands on. Hooked. Addicted even. I could write for people. I could pen for others. I didn't need to find out what I wanted to write. I started writing. Every day. Making. Penning. Composing. It was so simple. I was finally able to make the advice of "write 500 words a day" work for me. I didn't have to find the inspiration to write. Then, I started writing for myself too. I started this blog. I started writing for fun again. I realized all that organization and structure that works for me at work, doesn't work at home. It doesn't fit me. I have a strong work ethic. It allows me to push through any number of discomfort at work. It allows me to strive in otherwise impossible tasks. But, I get glimpses of myself at work. Not the moments when I'm doing my best to be charming and suave. The moments when I devastate. When I take everything that people who love me see as good. Twist it. And burn it against someone. When I make them small. It doesn't happen often. It is often "deserved". But that's not how one should be. I don't want to be that at home. So, the other motivation that's deep within me. Helping others. That. I do that. And it works. Obviously.