I Like Feeling Productive

Who doesn’t like being productive?

I feel good when I get stuff done. I need a goal, a purpose.

Without a challenge, I’m bored. I don’t always feel like working though. But I dislike feeling unproductive.

It’s so easy to put off and procrastinate rather than start right away. But I know I can’t wait for a perfect moment. I also shouldn’t wait until I feel inspired or motivated. Sometimes I just need to sit down and start.

I prefer doing a little every day rather than a lot all at once. It’s exhausting to write for 6 hours straight. But 60 minutes isn’t that tiring.

I’m not always as productive as I’d like to be. That’s okay. Some days are better than others.

I’m learning to start over. just because I did or didn’t do something yesterday doesn’t mean I can’t change what I do today.

I have bad days, even bad weeks. But I always find a way to get back on track.

At any given time, there are plenty of projects on my plate. They aren’t going to complete themselves. I need to start and finish them myself.

I’m not very good at taking breaks and doing nothing. Which is why I try to get a little bit closer to where I want to be with each passing day.

Baby steps. Walk before I run. I should enjoy this journey rather than stress about it. I’ve been worrying about the wrong things lately.

Somehow, someway it will work out in the end, so long as I work hard every step of the way.

When You Feel Like You Aren’t Smart Enough

Every so often, I feel like I’m not smart enough. Imposter syndrome hits me so hard.

In my first year at university, I expected to be average. I anticipated feeling stupid because I thought everyone would be smarter.

Now in fourth year, I can’t help but think everything will be over my head, beyond my capabilities. I tend to underestimate myself. That’s just who I am.

Even though I worry, I try to channel my anxieties into productivity. Easier said than done, I know.

I don’t know what this semester or the next one will bring, but present me wants future me to remember that I’m smarter than I think.

Don’t worry about what other people are doing or what they aren’t doing.

I have good ideas. Stop shooting all of them down.

As of now, I’m happy with my courses. I’m excited to finish strong.

I’m not a fraud or an imposter. I’m just a student doing my best. I want to improve. I need to learn and grow.

I’ll try to take risks and not regret anything, rather than playing it safe only to wonder what if.

I’ve done well in years past, so there’s no reason why I can’t succeed again.

I Need To Stop Procrastinating Right Now

In a perfect world, I wouldn’t procrastinate. But I live in an imperfect world and I’m an imperfect human being.

I delay. I put things off. And when the deadline nears, my stress levels skyrocket.

Even though I’m someone who hates leaving things to the last minute, I don’t always start early enough.

At least when I procrastinate, I try to be somewhat productive. Instead of doing the thing I should, I’ll do something else like clean. It’s not as urgent as an essay due in three days, but I’ll still take cleaning over writing. Or editing. Don’t even get me started on edits.

I find it interesting how much better I’ve gotten at procrastinating over the years. I guess I’ve had a lot of practice. For some reason, I didn’t put things off as much in high school. Then I went to university and everything changed.

I procrastinate with blogging all the time. I can’t help it.

When I was younger, I used to be more of a morning person, so I procrastinated less.

Nowadays, I stay up later and do most of my creative writing later in the day, which means I procrastinate until I can’t.

How To Have A Productive Day

Or at least a semi-productive one.

Feel free to use what works and discard what doesn’t.

• Wake up early. Earlier than you normally do. That way, you have more time. In a perfect world, you’d go to bed earlier the night before.
• Tackle the most difficult task first. Especially if you’ve been procrastinating. Get it out of the way. At the very least, start something.
• Bunch things together. For instance, let’s assume you need to use the computer for a bunch of tasks. Try to complete all three at once rather than turning on your computer multiple times during the day. Get all your groceries in one trip. Run a bunch of errands together. Pay your bills at the same time.
• Break up big projects into small tasks. If only so you’re not as overwhelmed by all you have to do.
• Have incentives. Motivate yourself to work hard with rewards. It can be a piece of candy or a night out with friends.
• Multi-task, don’t multi-focus. It’s almost impossible to focus on two or more tasks and do them well. It is possible to do two things that don’t split your attention or require intense concentration though. For example, listen to a podcast while washing the dishes.
• Get rid of distractions. Go to another room that doesn’t have a tablet, TV, etc. Ask a family member to change the Wi-Fi password. Or get a friend to hide your smartphone.

Here’s to having a productive day year.

Why I Hate Outlining

Outlining isn’t writing. I’m a writer, not an outliner. Besides, I love writing, not outlining.

It drives me insane. Outlining might as well be the bane of my existence.

Outlining takes time. I could spend those hours writing instead. Besides, we only have 24 hours every day. I can’t afford to spend half of it on an outline.

An outline doesn’t guarantee anything. When my plans fall through, I’m back at square one.

My characters take one look at my outline and proceed to do the exact opposite. I bet they laugh at me behind my back too.

It requires a certain mood. I almost never want to outline.

Outlining isn’t fun. At least writing is some of the time.

I don’t follow my outlines. The one time I did, I didn’t finish my novel. That manuscript has been rotting away for years now.

It can lead you down rabbit holes. You might not recognize you need to be saved until it’s too late.

Outlining doesn’t work for everybody. Exhibit A: me.

Some teachers want you to hand in outlines. I wrote my essay first and then created an outline later. Because I’m a rebel.

I dread the thought of outlining almost as much as I do driving. You just never know what might happen.

Outlining puts off writing. We all know writers are masters at procrastinating.

Outline for too long and you have one day to write and edit your final essay. Good luck.

It can be inefficient. Which is unproductive. As a student writer, I need all the productivity I can get.

Outlining will never compare to writing. I’d rather edit than outline. What has the world come to? I’ll pick the lesser of two evils, thank you very much.

I’m sort of, kind of joking. Seriously, I don’t hate outlining that much.

Making The Most Of Unproductive Days

Unproductive days are okay. Sometimes you deserve to relax. Other times you have to be productive out of necessity.

Regardless, you can’t work all day, every day for 365 days of the year.

Life happens. Unforeseen events and circumstances occur. That’s how it always has been. How it always will be.

We can have the best intentions. We can make elaborate plans. But our intentions don’t always result in the things we expected or desired. Besides, plans fall through.

It’s tough to feel like you’ve let a perfectly good day go by. As if you wasted 24 hours. But if you were happy, if you spent some of the time doing what you wanted, would you say that’s wasted time? Or would you think it’s time well spent?

Perhaps you weren’t productive in the morning. But what’s stopping you from having a productive afternoon or evening?

Maybe you spend 8 hours sleeping and lying in bed every day, give or take. But if you work hard for even just 2 or 6 hours, you can still get a lot done.

Never let one bad thing have a domino effect on everything else. Never allow one negative person to ruin all the positives in your life.

In a perfect world, everything would be optimized all the time. But you don’t live in a perfect world. So one day you might prioritize blogging over reading. Another day it could be writing over editing. What’s the problem?

At least you’re making progress on something. And you’re doing what makes you happy.

Productivity isn’t just about getting a lot of work done. Because there’s so much more to life than just work.

Maybe working easy on the right things is better than working hard on the wrong things.

The Need To Disconnect And Connect

I feel the need to disconnect all the time, especially in a world where thanks to the internet or social media more specifically, we’re increasingly connected to each other.

Some days I’m better at disconnecting than others. Finding that perfect balance presents a challenge.

Recently, I’ve noticed I’m not able to concentrate as long as I used to.

I remember the good old days where I finished books in one day as I would sit down and read for hours on end. I went without interruptions or distractions for long periods of time.

But now I’ll read for about an hour, feel the urge to check my phone, and ultimately, give in to the temptation. Then I’ll get carried away on Twitter or Instagram. Before I know it, I’ve spent half my day on social media. Hyperbolic statements are part of Herminia’s brand. So is referring to myself in third person.

I realize I may not disconnect as much as I used to, but I do my best. It’s important to step away from the screen. My sensitive eyes appreciate it.

Also, I’ve gotten used to carrying my phone with me everywhere I go. Some days I wonder how I’d survive if I left my mobile at home either accidentally or intentionally.

It’s not easy to disconnect, at least not if you’ve grown up so connected. But the difficulty makes disconnecting that much more rewarding.

If you’re wondering where all this is coming from, I’m currently taking three media classes. For fun, I read a chapter of a book, which discussed how social media has changed our ability to connect and concentrate.

So lately I’ve been thinking about my relationship to media and how it affects my happiness, productivity, etc.

As of right now, I’m ready to disconnect and go to bed. I’ll connect or reconnect with the world tomorrow.

What To Do After Camp NaNoWriMo

What in the world do you do after Camp NaNoWriMo?

I have some ideas.

Write.

You just wrote 50,000 words. (Or more. Or less. Point being you put pen to paper. You did, didn’t you?) So why not write some more? Of course, it’s a good idea to work on other stories and projects. But if your Camp novel is still incomplete, there’s no law prohibiting you from finishing it in May. Write whatever you want, OK?

Edit.

Writing a lot in April can help kick-start a good editing streak. Personally I try to avoid editing anything right after writing it. But if you’re so inclined to edit your Camp story, go for it. That said you have nothing to lose if you take a few days, weeks, or months away from your first draft. During that time, you can focus on editing older manuscripts you have lying around. But don’t let anyone, myself included, tell you how or when to edit. It’s your life. Edit on your own terms.

Read.

Trying to read 250,000 words and write 50,000 in the same month is tough. May can be a great time to catch-up. Readathon, anyone?

Blog.

Guess who didn’t comment on many blogs in April? You’re right if you guessed me. I hope to be a better blogger in every respect this month. Create better content. Comment more frequently. Join me.

Bottom line: do whatever you want in May…within reason. You survived Camp after all. Might as well keep the productivity going.