Getting Down to the Task

         

Getting Down to the Task…

Let’s see. I really need to go through my inbox and get things filed away. Ugh! The laundry is piling up…the furniture looks dusty. Oh! I have to go to the store for some pasta for tonight’s dinner. I still haven’t done my exercise routine. Uh-oh, I forgot to call so-and-so back, and I’ve skipped my meditation/prayer time for days now. I’ll write later. Or tomorrow, first thing. Yep, that’ll work.

Sound familiar? If you have children at home I am sure there are other reasons you can add to the list. School starting, getting their clothing ready, planning lunches, etc.

Seems the best way to get any writing done (in my case) is to do it first thing or last thing, depending on my energy level at those particular times of the day. If we tire easily at the end of the day, then obviously that won’t work. I once fell asleep at the computer at night, head nearly touching the keyboard!  So, morning is better for me. It’s quieter than usual and the phone doesn’t ring, not even the persistent telemarketers call before 7a.m. If I get to bed early, 5:30a.m.is my favorite time to begin putting words on the computer screen.

Brewing coffee or chai tea is a help…the scent stimulates the senses and gives the subtle message: ‘Wake up, wake up.’ Living in a city sometimes gives that extra advantage of getting out super early, and minutes later returning with a cup of favorite tea or coffee to place a smile on my face and a gentle opening of the eyelids as I take a seat at my desk. And then I begin.

Hey, I don’t expect to spew out half a novel, or even a whole chapter. But the mere act of starting my day (or ending it – if that be your case) with writing ‘something’ grants me the sense of entitlement of the status as ‘writer.’ After all, writers write, don’t they?