In my last post I revealed how I’m trying a new process or habit, to help me write my book. Simply, I’m committing to working on my book for a teeny tiny period of time each day.
A tiny commitment
What time period did I choose to commit to? Just 10 minutes. I know, it sounds ridiculous. Ten minutes a day is nothing. Exactly! The reason I chose such a tiny amount of time is
I set an alarm that goes off after 10 minutes of writing time – it has a lovely, uplifting chime. When I hear that chime, my writing work for the day is done.
Of course, after 10 minutes, I’m usually in the writing-flow and want to do another 10 minutes. That is what happened on the first day. I did 40 minutes of writing in total.
A week of 10-minute commitments – summary:
Tuesday: Wrote for 10 minutes. It was easy and it flowed, so I continued.
Total writing time: 40 minutes
Wednesday: Similar feeling of flow and wanting to continue.
Total writing time: 70 minutes.
Thursday: The writing flowed again.
Total writing time: 90 minutes
Friday: It was a struggle to do 10 minutes. I spent most of the time cutting out great swathes of stuff I’d written previously.
Total writing time: 10 minutes
Saturday: I wrote nothing.
Sunday: I didn’t feel like doing it. I told myself I only had to write for 10 minutes, and anyone can do 10 minutes, so I did.
Total writing time: 40 minutes.
10-minute sessions add up
So far, I make that 25 slots of 10 minutes. This equates to 250 minutes, or about four and a quarter hours of book-writing in a week – with little effort and no overwhelm.
Monday: After days of endless rain there was a dry-weather window, so I spent the afternoon at my allotment. Deeply satisfying.
Later, instead of my book, I worked for several hours on this blog post (too long, methinks, but equally satisfying). Then I left the blog post overnight to percolate.
So, zero book writing time on Monday.
Today: I cut this blog post by three quarters, leaving a quarter remaining. (I must get better at writing shorter blog posts).
So far today, I’ve spent 20 minutes working on my book and may do more writing later. The thing is, I’ve achieved double my 10-minute commitment and that is a cause to celebrate and feel good about myself.
Keep it going
I know it’s important to keep the energy going, of any project that’s dear to our hearts, to engage with it and give it our energy.
I also know that starting a writing session, whether for blog or book, is the hardest part – hence the tiny 10-minute writing time commitment. However, once started and the momentum is going, it’s easier to keep going.
Once that happens, you can see progress and everything feels easier. You feel like you’re getting somewhere and that you are in control of the process. With that, comes a feeling of increased self-esteem, satisfaction and confidence.
And don’t we all want that?
Take breaks and enjoy!
To sum up, I think this new practice is working for me. The only mistake I made, was trying to increase my time commitment too soon – and I forgot to take short breaks. This created a slump on Day 5. Lesson learned.
So, enjoy your creative projects. May you have time for all of the things that give you joy, satisfaction, and increased self-esteem. 🙂
Note: Thanks to Joseph Michael for his course, Writer’s Block Relief, and the ideas he outlined there. Taking his course shifted my first-book-writing stumbling blocks. The teeny tiny time-block commitments were just one idea in the course that I’m finding valuable – and liberating.