Talks with the Mirror

Parte 16: Productivity

2020

Barbara Cartland holds the World Record for the most novels written in a single year. Her number was twenty-three! That's two-hundred and forty pages... times twenty-three. FIVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PAGES! That would mean writing about fifteen pages everyday! Maybe it doesn't sound that difficult to someone who only considers the fact that this person has writing as her profession, therefore should not be wasting time on anything other than writing, but we have to consider something: that is fifteen pages a day of unrelenting creativity. 

For that whole year, Cartland could not afford the luxury of a single day of writer's block. She had to push through to meet her own deadline... albeit insane in my opinion. 

The only thing that matters is that she did it. She accomplished what she set out to do, and hopefully took a long break after that. I would be severely concerned for my brain after a continuous flex of that magnitude. 

Some writers say that all you need to do to keep yourself on a good road is to sit down and write two-hundred words everyday. The secret to this is not that you will find your genius in those two-hundred words, but rather that once you start writing with your mind set on the word limit, you will be surprised at how effortlessly you will surpass it and realize that you have written way more than you intended to. 

The mere idea of a goal can tire us out and turn on the lazy bug. That's by productivity is so hard, but the effectiveness of the principle of "do something" is still being tested out by yours truly, and it is showing promising progress.

You can either make a huge list and stare at it until the sun has gone down and you've done nothing, or you can write a simple list of five things and allow yourself room to change one of those five at any given moment, or add a sixth. 

During this quarantine period, it can be really easy to get stuck in the cycle of riding the days out until we can go back to normal life. The correct attitude would be accepting the present situation as your new normal, and making it work. When are you ever gonna have this much free time in your hands to do something productive that isn't assigned to you by your job? Maybe when the next pandemic hits, but we are trying to stay positive here.

If you've always been artistic but find yourself too tired to paint due to your eight-hour shifts, right now is your time to let all those beautiful ideas come to light. Then, when quarantine is over you, can look back at the impressive portfolio you have put together, rather than brag about how many Netflix shows you finished. 

Do you like knitting? This is your time, sis! That sweater that will be waiting for you when winter comes is dying to be made, and you have all these ideas and finally a hand free for long enough to get a good portion of it done everyday.

What else is there to name? 

Do you enjoy learning about things that you would not be given the time to learn at school? The gazillion of online programs are the thing for you, and they are waiting! Put down the popcorn, or that vibrator you won't leave alone, and go learn something! 

I'll admit that before deciding to be productive I had to first be on the other side of the curve. I wanted to enjoy this free time with plenty of bed time. But, here's the thing: I can rest plenty when I'm dead.

So be it a-song-a-day, working out, reading a book, cleaning the house, or drawing some new tattoo I want to get, the important thing is to keep moving while I can.

I'm no Buddha, nor anyone remotely worth following, but I'm the test dummy trying everything and letting y'all know what works.