Plan for Words

I tried to balance “be kind to yourself” with “get it done.” But if you’re burning out, if you’re stretched too thin, focus on yourself first. Always focus on yourself first, regardless, because you are the one doing your life. No one else. You are its heart, its core, its direction, its daily toils and its successes.

There is no secret universal recipe. Find what works for you, always!

The Basics

There are a thousand posts out there by smarter people than me on how to plan stuff. Here are some things I’ve found work for me. Try a bunch of different things and figure out what works for you. When they no longer work for you, try different ones (that’s important to remember).

• Write down all the things you’d like to accomplish, no matter how “out there.”

• Jot a few things beside each item, like time they’ll take, if you’ve already got a foundation to help speed it along, how excited you are about the task, why you want to accomplish the task (Money? Fame? Personal satisfaction? Pick one per task. Understand that most of that is outside your control and might not come true regardless. Make peace with the ludicrousness of the human experience).

• Pick your top ones. Some might be linked (I can do B after I’m done A). Some might not be.

• Prioritize: choose what you’ll focus on. I usually like to focus on a couple of major pillars, just to keep focus (like “writing” is a major pillar).

• Add timelines. Realistic ones, preferably.

• Get into the details of your plan. What will you do this month? This week? Today?

• Re-evaluate regularly.

BASICS! Such basics.

It’s a Trap!

The thing about planning, colour-coding (I love coloured pens!), is that it can make us feel accomplished. It gives us that rush of “everything is under control!”

That’s not a bad thing! It’s a great thing! But, unless the plan is solid, it means that rush will soon turn to dread. You’ve got maybe a week if you’re lucky. Then it’s all downhill into a swamp of guilt trips and feeling shitty for failing. Next thing you know, it’s 2025.

Which sucks.

So, if you’re into planning, plan for failure. Plan for difficulty. Plan for off days and how to get out of pits of despair. Plan for energy and no energy.

Honestly, my biggest tool for productivity isn’t doing more per day, it’s eliminating the stretches of time I don’t do anything. That means being honest with myself about times of the year I struggle with. Things that overwhelm me.

The heart is such a squishy organ, my friends, and will stop you sooo effectively. You can’t just plan with your brain. You can’t ignore your heart or your body. Don’t see them as limitations. See them as your personal reality, pure and simple. Things that you must work with, because it’s what you’ve got.

So make them part of plan!

Here are some extra tricks I learned over the years. Find some that work for you! (I whittled it down to a few, but there are so many more!)

Tasks that give you energy vs. take energy

Always keep in mind that energy is at a premium, especially nowadays.

Energy was always at a premium—we’re just finally discussing it and being honest about it as a whole.

So, mark down things that give you energy vs. suck your energy dry. Find a balance. Focus on more tasks that give you energy.

Be honest. If everything on your list sucks your energy, ask yourself tough questions, but keep in mind where you are emotionally, too. No need to throw all plans away. Sometimes, we just need to focus on other joys. Speaking of which…

Follow Your Joy

This is linked to energy: remember to follow your joy. You don’t have to make yourself miserable. Enough people and the world will try hard enough to do that. Does writing grimdark make you joyful? Do it. Do you prefer chef comedies? Do. It. Gaming supplements and mini adventures? DOOOoooo it!

Follow your joy.

That will give you energy. It doesn’t mean you won’t do other stuff that intimidates you, too. The energy of doing stuff you love will propel you past other barriers. You just need to accumulate energy first to deploy it.

That accumulated joy might come from crafts. Might be in exercising. Whatever it is, make time for it. Trick is, make sure to use that energy to accomplish your goals after. Don’t just stop at the easier thing. Propel forward.

It’s a balancing act, so keep practicing it!

And don’t give yourself shit when you fail. Be good to you. You’re trying hard and it’s not easy!

A word on your heart

The hardest thing with getting lots done is dealing with the heart.

You may be suffering from guilt of not doing stuff sooner. Of not getting your shit together beforehand.

You may not believe you’ll get it done. You’ve failed before, after all (hint: we all have. Anyone who’s never failed has never tried something outside their comfort zone).

You may feel shame at past failures or at something someone said to you. Their words may ring in your heart, even if you’ve managed to block them in your mind.

There’s no secret solution for hearts. But I do know that ignoring the issue or trying to “power through” will cost you time. Your subconscious is amazing at chewing on stuff while you’re not paying attention and, unless you deal with underlying concerns and worries, it’ll chew on that instead of tastier, more fulfilling morsels like plot ideas.

A simple old trick is simply to write down those worries and concerns. Be honest. Write it all down. Don’t worry about it making sense. It’s just for you. Get it on the paper. And out of your head. Write new worries or blocks as they come up. It might take you a bit of time, but it’ll be worth it.

Then write the worse thing that will happen if those fears come true. If you’re afraid of failing, what’s the worse that will happen? If you’re ashamed of past failures, why are you still feeling that sting so badly?

Write it all. Including names of people you’d have a hard time facing again if your fears come true (and ask yourself if it’s because you imposed expectations on them, or because they’re toxic. You may not be able to do anything about it. But you’ll know, for when you can).

Ignore social media. Ignore the lives of others. Ignore their sundry opinions. This is about you.

Once you’ve got your list of fears and worse things that could happen, write out what you’ll do if your fears do happen. (Tackle one at a time. Take breaks as you need, this can be stressful.)

Some solutions will be simple, like “pick yourself back up and start again.” Some will be harder. Make a plan. Give your mind solutions, not just worries.

Once you’ve chewed on all your worries and fears, write down what will happen if you don’t pursue your dreams. If you let these fears stop you. Explain to Future You why this fear was more important than Future You’s joy at seeing all the things they’ve accomplished.

Make it good. You’ll be rereading these words. Be kind to Present You, but make sure Present You is held accountable. Because hopefully you’ll get to become Future You.

So be good to Future You.

Once done, place that notebook or file somewhere safe. And remember to refer back to it when you stop moving forward. Pay attention to your movement toward your dreams, so you’ll notice when you stall.

Paying attention is key. And it’s damn hard.

One Final Word

Anyone who’s been following me for a while has seen some of the sheer chaos that my life seems to be. I quit my job without a plan. I’ve struggled to succeed as an artist and a freelancer. I’ve lived through fun wins and dismal failures.

They’ve all informed who I am.

Things may seem chaotic and hectic, but I sometimes spend years—years!—chewing on an idea before executing it. I’m not actually that fast or as spontaneous as I might seem. I just don’t talk about things until I’m ready to. I don’t action until I’ve gotten over enough hang-ups and worries that I know I can at least walk down the selected road for a while. I need to figure out some of my footing before I feel secure pursuing it. And I use my own markers of security to figure that out, no one else’s. This is about me.

So you should know that I don’t see pursuing something as a one time thing. I see most things as a lifetime pursuit (or, until I no longer like something. Then I’m allowed to give it up. Yes, even writing). But I have to not like something for a few months, maybe years, just to make sure.

Again, I’m slow.

So. Slow.

But there’s strength in not feeling like everything needs to be done right this minute. That creates anxiety. And anxiety creates blocks. And blocks stop progress.

The one thing I’ve been clear on for years is direction. I travel in one direction, generally, and that’s toward writing.

I’m lucky in that I’m not overly gifted in many things. I have to work hard to learn one skill. Writing (in a second language, no less) has been a lot of work to learn and will continue to be work for the rest of my days, I imagine.

I’m also lazy so I don’t feel the need to learn many skills. I’m not even being sarcastic or self-deprecating: it’s a fact. All of my friends are crafty. I cross-stitch because that seemed simple and I should have one hobby, right? …I’ve been working on the same cross-stich for the past, um, 15 years(?). It’s big! I pull it out during hockey season when Kerri is watching a thousand games. Some seasons I completely forget though, so then there’s little progress. (I am not good at crafts.)

Sometimes I do little cross-stitches as gifts because they’re quicker and that makes me feel accomplished. But then no progress gets done on my big cross-stitch. And usually little writing, because my creativity gets fulfilled by needle and thread. I feel accomplished by little floss x’s, because I can point to them and say “I did that!” and it takes a hell of a lot less time and effort than words. I could just do that. I know I’m lazy. So I work really hard at working around it. (Makes me seem productive when really I’m just a giant ball of whining.)

I realized yesterday that I had selected a spot on the wall for this giant cross-stitch when I started it. That was two houses ago. Two houses ago!

I’m marking time with this cross-stitch.

Does my cross-stitch sound like your writing?

Think on that. Think on where you want to put your time. And how many cross-stitches vs. books you want Future You to enjoy.

We make choices every day. We build the world for our future selves.

So the simplest question to ask to get anything done and move forward, is: which direction is most important to you? And how will you travel that road, even if only a little bit, today?

Kerri tells me I should get this done before the mortgage is paid off.  That's, like, another 13 years. I can totally do this!  ...maybe.