As the New Year creeps closer, it feels like a cat stalking a mouse, slinking nearer and nearer until it unexpectedly pounces on its prey. That is how I sometimes feel in regards to time, like prey that will soon be pounced on; unaware it is upon me until it is too late. More and more I hear people talking of not enough time. Especially when it comes to writing.
You may have heard people say, “just find a few minutes a day to write.” Good advice, if you can figure out how. The first thing that probably really needs to be done is figuring out where and how you are currently spending your time; only then can you find a way to make time for what you want.
Time experts say that if you list five things that you feel are truly important to yourself and your life, honestly look at what you want to say yes to (relative to your five things), and eliminating the things you do out of guilt, then you are focusing your time on what matters most to you.
People are overloaded with everyday life- so life tends to feel as if it is passing us by. We constantly tell ourselves we will do for ourselves later. Recent studies show that 75% of people (especially women) say that time is a huge issue in their lives. We as a nation are starved for time, which really is a newer concept. People of the “baby boomer” era do not have parents or grandparents that had to deal with these issues. With the influx of cell phones, e-mail, texting, and the like, there are so many ways we multi-task that were never possible before. “Multi-tasking is the biggest time suck of all,” says Jean Chatzky, author and money coach. Research, studies, and publications all show that when you stop and start tasks (as you do when multi-tasking), it takes your brain 15 minutes to get thoroughly focused and back on track again, so multi-tasking can actually lose you hours each day.
It is also known that, when we procrastinate, or make excuses to not do something, it is the very thing we probably need to do for ourselves. Generally, we delay due to a fear of failure, disappointing others, or not living up to our expectations. So, instead of taking action, we make excuses, and put other things first in line for our time. That is very easy to do in regards to writing, and fears can loom large when it comes to our feelings about what we write. Remember, nothing will ever sell it sits in a desk. You cannot move forward without practice, knowledge, and tenacity. So will you let time creep up on you again this New Year and slip by without finding the time to write? Or will you make use of the last couple of days before the New Year using the time to delve deep into what are your future priorities? What ever you decide, make 2008 great; follow your dreams, and stalk life like a cat on a mission to get that mouse.
