As I hinted at yesterday, I have long wondered if I could do what Dean Wesley Smith does, and write about everything I do that day. I’m not a successful author with legions of readers who care about how I spend every moment, but I thought that writing out my day in public would force me to rethink how I spend my time—to live more focused—maybe hold a magnifying glass to my schedule and notice bad habits that need correcting. However, visions of nightmare blogs kept me from doing it. I could just see it:
“Woke up at 2:30pm. Today I meant to write, but I bred Pokémon for three hours instead. Got a 6 IV shiny. So cool. Then I caught up on Twitter for two hours, finally remembered to eat, and had to make dinner for the Brownie. She threw a fit, so I argued with her until 9:35pm. Finally! She’s asleep. I can get some writing done. But then I watched TV in a comatose state until 1am. Too tired to write. Must be up at 6:20am to get the Brownie off to school. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
Has that day really happened? Well, I’m exaggerating for humor’s sake, but it feels like a day that could happen. Just throw in a few hours of ticking, some time-consuming errands, infinite phone calls, and mundane chores and you might get a closer idea why I have been reluctant. Who wants to read about that‽
Nobody.
So, I’ve decided to do it anyway. I’m posting this project for myself only, and I’ll update each entry throughout the day. I’ll label the days so you know to ignore them. Or you can leave comments. Cheer me on. Ask me questions. Provide necessary distractions for the experiment.
I’ll be sure to post my usual articles for you, but for the next seven days, I will try to finish a book that I started a flamin’ year ago because I thought it would be a quick side project. This book is perfect for this experiment. It’s not deep writing. I’ve already done my research. Heck, I’ve already finished the first chapter.
I’m more than a little nervous. I manage my ADHD and depression. They don’t interfere with my writing as much as my chronic motor tic disorder. It drops like a bomb in all my best laid out days. This project may prove to be no different. I’ve never revealed to you how disruptive my ticking is, not in detail at any rate.
So, without further exposition, I begin.
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley”
Writing in a Fishbowl
Day One
12:32 pm: Woke up at noon and reminded myself that today I was going to hold myself accountable on my blog. There was a flush of embarrassment and a quickening of the heart as I realized I had overslept and that would be known to the world. Almost eight hours of sleep. My mind & body obviously needed it. I don’t feel guilty about that as much as I am stressed by starting my day behind schedule. I’ve got a meetup at 1:30pm that I’m forcing myself to go to, and friends coming over tonight. The windows of productivity are small today. Perhaps not the best day to reveal to the world, but the best kind of day to thwart ADHD by holding myself accountable for how so spend my time. All the obstacles of my life are at play today: a wacky sleep schedule, family crises, social obligations, and more things to do than I have time for. Sounds like a perfect time to tune out with Daredevil season two, right? (Oh, it calls to me…)
I responded to family texts next. My daughter’s purse had been stolen the night before. Then I responded to some DMs on Twitter, looked at my schedule, then started this entry. I looked up a fancy quote, researched markdown syntax to use in my blogging app, and shined light upon the unfathomable.
It is now 1:20pm, so I hopefully will not need to explain as much moving forward as I did with this first entry. I don’t want to use precious writing time writing about writing. Also, now I’m late for that 1:30pm meetup.
Word count: zippo
1:48 pm: Just realized that I forgot to eat. Now I understand why Smith begins his days with breakfast bars. Eating is too much work.
from A Splintered Mind http://ift.tt/1SaaB5K