Monday, March 21, 2016

Writing in a Fishbowl: Day Three

Nifty logo of words in a fishbowl

1:57 PM: Fell asleep at 5:16 AM, woke at 6:20. Got the Brownie off to school, then couldn't fall back asleep. Wrote a letter to my bishop, about 700 words, lied in bed groggily, then fell asleep again at 9 AM. It wasn't a great beginning to Day Three, but I knew this would be hard, and I'm committed to seeing it through to the end.

Rolled out of bed half an hour ago. I started the day with prayer (I feel awkward sharing that because it’s so private for me. I don’t want to be accused of virtue signaling), made sure I had a protein shake, and got busy on my ThreeDo list because it was so late. A slight distraction as I discovered that my blog post, Some Things To Think About, made just before I began Writing in a Fish Bowl, was picked up by The Digital Reader’s Morning Coffee yesterday. I made sure to share the link with my Twitter followers, both to show appreciation and to make sure the other links on that page get seen as well. I am fighting the urge to read them.

Already my habits are being reshaped by this experiment.

Finished morning email, and got busy on today’s freelance assignment. I want it done before the Brownie comes home.


3:52 PM: Fixed a broken image link on my Monday blog, then made sure to share the post on Facebook and both Twitter accounts. Realized I’ve been neglecting my Facebook page again. I added it to the list. No distractions! Then I began a glorious spurt of productivity. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish my research and writing before the Brownie arrived. Work (interruption) has slowed (interruption) down painfully (interruption), but I (interruption) am (interruption) determined (interruption) to get this done. So close.


5:26 PM: Freelance work is done. That took much longer than I had anticipated, even with interruptions. I then made phone calls to find out where I could vote in tomorrow's Utah caucus. I'm still undecided. I'm an unaffiliated voter. Both parties generally disgust me. But enough about that.

The evening is winding down. I have chores I've put off, dinner to make, and family home evening to put on. I think I'll take a break and resume after I put the Brownie to bed. I will resist watching Supergirl, Daredevil, or anything else that's been updated on Crunchyroll.


10:45 PM: The Leprechaun came over to do dinner and a movie with us, but the Brownie gave us a scare. She disappeared until 8pm. She and some friends left the neighborhood to play in another playground. I ran around the apartment complex twice, even using the Brownie's scooter to get around faster. The Leprechaun knocked on strangers' doors. We live in terror of the Brownie having a seizure without us nearby.

 

But now she's been found, dinner was made, and finally she stopped getting out of bed by 10:15pm. The night is mine. I'm recuperating with an episode of Supergirl, then I will clean up after dinner and attack my book.

 

 

2:43 AM: Only 671 words written today. Pitiful. The upside is that I did a lot of preparatory work that will make finishing Section III much easier to finish, but I'm beat right now. I have often felt that the greatest obstacles to my productivity are either my tic disorder or family drama. ADHD distraction may account for occasional black holes of time, as would the periodic bout of depression, but this project is proving that my instincts were correct. I don't have any solutions yet. It's not as if I can do anything about my tic disorder, or abandon my daughter so that I can write more. I may have to lower my expectations. However, if I have a concrete idea of the type of obstacles I face on a weekly basis, that may not be a bad idea. I want to work smarter, not more idealistically.

At this point I am preparing myself to accept defeat by Saturday, but I have not given up yet. I have nothing planned for the morning except finishing Section III. So off to bed!


Totals:

Day No.1: 1250 words
Day No.2: 703 words
Day No.3: 671 words (plus 700 written in a letter)

Project Word Count Total: 2624 words