THE DREADED D WORD...
No I'm not talking deadline or death....or debutante or even dodgy. My dreaded D word is discipline.
One dictionary (another D word, and this one I do like) gives the definition (another) as_
The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience.
My thesaurus offers up drill, exercise, method, practice, regimen, regulation, training, control. It also goes on to talk about chastisement, correction and punishment.
Frankly I'd rather without the punishment but I'm a great one for putting things off. Don't feel like doing it today, I'll do it tomorrow. Or next week. Or April.
I think lack of discipline goes hand in hand with procrastination. Settle down at the computer, ready to work on that short story when....oh look...shiny thing on the internet.
Yes there are ways and means. Turn off the internet. Avoid all emails, internet trawling and the wormhole of Facebook until it is earned. By writing at least 500 words or so.
Or set a timer, write for that duration. Say 30 minutes then in your (timed) break, check an email or three. Then back into it.
There are those that use spreadsheets to track progress (I mentioned in a blog last year that I have a folder set up with the year and then each month in it. An easy way to see what I am achieving each month. Interesting to note that in the August folder last year there are two poems and lots of baby photos = birth of grandchild)
Discipline comes down to breaking the bad habits and making good ones. Easier said than done.
Somethings are just so much easier.
Like walking down our driveway.
Going up is so much harder. Not that we don't do it, we just don't do it a lot. Unless forced!
So how do I become disciplined?
Many writers offer tips such as -
Remove temptation - bit hard to remove the television or the garden.
Change your normal routine - should I attempt to write in a coffee shop? Hello another shiny thing.
Schedule breaks and rewards - hello chocolate!
Eat regularly and exercise - hello chocolate regularly.
I think the one tip that resonated with me was don't find time to write, make it.
A combination of not sleeping well last night and having a line of dialogue whirling around my head and this morning waiting for the oven repair man before I can head off to do my Wednesday chores has led to five hundred words of a short story.
I wasn't playing in the garden or vegging out in front of the television. I was writing.
Creating a good habit is one thing, maintaining it is another.
Yep, this sums it up beautifully.
Vicki
One dictionary (another D word, and this one I do like) gives the definition (another) as_
The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience.
My thesaurus offers up drill, exercise, method, practice, regimen, regulation, training, control. It also goes on to talk about chastisement, correction and punishment.
Frankly I'd rather without the punishment but I'm a great one for putting things off. Don't feel like doing it today, I'll do it tomorrow. Or next week. Or April.
I think lack of discipline goes hand in hand with procrastination. Settle down at the computer, ready to work on that short story when....oh look...shiny thing on the internet.
Yes there are ways and means. Turn off the internet. Avoid all emails, internet trawling and the wormhole of Facebook until it is earned. By writing at least 500 words or so.
Or set a timer, write for that duration. Say 30 minutes then in your (timed) break, check an email or three. Then back into it.
There are those that use spreadsheets to track progress (I mentioned in a blog last year that I have a folder set up with the year and then each month in it. An easy way to see what I am achieving each month. Interesting to note that in the August folder last year there are two poems and lots of baby photos = birth of grandchild)
Discipline comes down to breaking the bad habits and making good ones. Easier said than done.
Somethings are just so much easier.
Like walking down our driveway.
Going up is so much harder. Not that we don't do it, we just don't do it a lot. Unless forced!
So how do I become disciplined?
Many writers offer tips such as -
Remove temptation - bit hard to remove the television or the garden.
Change your normal routine - should I attempt to write in a coffee shop? Hello another shiny thing.
Schedule breaks and rewards - hello chocolate!
Eat regularly and exercise - hello chocolate regularly.
I think the one tip that resonated with me was don't find time to write, make it.
A combination of not sleeping well last night and having a line of dialogue whirling around my head and this morning waiting for the oven repair man before I can head off to do my Wednesday chores has led to five hundred words of a short story.
I wasn't playing in the garden or vegging out in front of the television. I was writing.
Creating a good habit is one thing, maintaining it is another.
Yep, this sums it up beautifully.
Vicki
Comments
Post a Comment