One of the biggest revelations that I had, in the phase of my career that I would call “in burnout, but also in denial” came from a conversation with a dear friend of mine, Thea Harrison.
This resonates with me SO MUCH. I was always judging my productivity by NaNoWriMo (and from the ones I did before I started publishing when I ONLY had to write) and being frustrated when I couldn't churn out 2000 words a day every day including weekends all year long. I completely had to rethink this because pandemic meant I was literally having panic/anxiety attacks. So now I mostly ignore my actual word count, give days off if I need them, and try not to feel bad about it. And lo and behold, I wrote 4 books during 2020, which was exactly my pace beforehand.
I love the concept of NaNoWriMo, and it gave me friends and fun. But, I did the same thing. It ceased to be fun if I fell behind, and I beat myself up. It's not right for me right now. But the writer's group continues, and so do my summer plans of enjoying some story telling.
You literally just blew my mind. I've always been a quick writer -- particularly when I get to a certain point in a story and I just write every day -- I know I'm capable of 5k a day, even more sometimes, so I always feel like there's something wrong with me when I don't write that much. I've wrote three first drafts last year, but now I'm feeling so burnt out that I don't even want to finish editing the third of them.
I so get this. My problem, though (not writing words but writing code) I get in a zone. Just deeply involved in what I'm doing and everything is flowing and my brain is at high output and things are getting done. 8, 10, 12, 20 hours later I come out of the zone...I'm frozen in position, can't move at all, I have to pee, I'm starving, and so dehydrated I can't spit.
As I've gotten older I've tried to NOT do this. It actually takes me days to recover. The work at the beginning is great but the last hour it's pretty sucky. So I have a program that, every 2 hours pops up in front of everything on the screen and says "stand up. Go to the bathroom. Drink something that is not coffee. Take a walk. Eat something.". In bright flashing colors.
While I get a lot done in the zone, it's exhausting and bad for me.. and I get more done doing little bits every day. And it's better for my body overall... But boy, I miss those days when I could do "the zone" on a regular basis... it felt like meditation. No outside thoughts, no distraction, no other people in the world.... I like exercising my brain like that...even if it's really bad for my body.
Oh! This is wonderful. I was beating myself for taking the weekend off of school, when I have THINGS I am dealing with. I love school, but have been worrying about not writing my paper. But I work full time, our kids are returning to the school I work in, we had a friend with a personal loss that has left me bereft, I just became my mom's caregiver over the holidays, etc. etc. etc. I know (in theory) I need down time, but I don't trust it. And, I know, consequently, I've lost a sense of balance. Not sustainable, and not what I want for my kids.
Thank you. I feel more centered. The post and puppy have helped. :)
This resonates with me SO MUCH. I was always judging my productivity by NaNoWriMo (and from the ones I did before I started publishing when I ONLY had to write) and being frustrated when I couldn't churn out 2000 words a day every day including weekends all year long. I completely had to rethink this because pandemic meant I was literally having panic/anxiety attacks. So now I mostly ignore my actual word count, give days off if I need them, and try not to feel bad about it. And lo and behold, I wrote 4 books during 2020, which was exactly my pace beforehand.
I love the concept of NaNoWriMo, and it gave me friends and fun. But, I did the same thing. It ceased to be fun if I fell behind, and I beat myself up. It's not right for me right now. But the writer's group continues, and so do my summer plans of enjoying some story telling.
You literally just blew my mind. I've always been a quick writer -- particularly when I get to a certain point in a story and I just write every day -- I know I'm capable of 5k a day, even more sometimes, so I always feel like there's something wrong with me when I don't write that much. I've wrote three first drafts last year, but now I'm feeling so burnt out that I don't even want to finish editing the third of them.
I so get this. My problem, though (not writing words but writing code) I get in a zone. Just deeply involved in what I'm doing and everything is flowing and my brain is at high output and things are getting done. 8, 10, 12, 20 hours later I come out of the zone...I'm frozen in position, can't move at all, I have to pee, I'm starving, and so dehydrated I can't spit.
As I've gotten older I've tried to NOT do this. It actually takes me days to recover. The work at the beginning is great but the last hour it's pretty sucky. So I have a program that, every 2 hours pops up in front of everything on the screen and says "stand up. Go to the bathroom. Drink something that is not coffee. Take a walk. Eat something.". In bright flashing colors.
While I get a lot done in the zone, it's exhausting and bad for me.. and I get more done doing little bits every day. And it's better for my body overall... But boy, I miss those days when I could do "the zone" on a regular basis... it felt like meditation. No outside thoughts, no distraction, no other people in the world.... I like exercising my brain like that...even if it's really bad for my body.
*boops the nose gently*
I think I need to hang up a sign over my computer that says "quit while it's still fun" because this is excellent advice.
Oh! This is wonderful. I was beating myself for taking the weekend off of school, when I have THINGS I am dealing with. I love school, but have been worrying about not writing my paper. But I work full time, our kids are returning to the school I work in, we had a friend with a personal loss that has left me bereft, I just became my mom's caregiver over the holidays, etc. etc. etc. I know (in theory) I need down time, but I don't trust it. And, I know, consequently, I've lost a sense of balance. Not sustainable, and not what I want for my kids.
Thank you. I feel more centered. The post and puppy have helped. :)