I have read countless people that have said that you need to protect your creative time. It has been said that this is one of the most important things you can do. I learned this the hard way last week. My Dr had told me that some of my blood work had come back abnormal and wanted more tests done to rule out anything more serious. I called and made the appointment for those tests. I am NOT a morning person. I have never been able to function mentally at my best in the morning. That is why I save all my writing until about 1 pm. I also tend to make appointments during this time. However, now that I am writing seriously I have figured out that my peak creative time is between 1 and 6 pm. In hindsight, I should have made my appointments in the morning then grabbed some lunch and settled in to write but that is not what I did. I stupidly made my appointments for the afternoon during my prime creative time and instead of writing up my masterpieces I was running around getting tests done. By the time I got home I was usually too flustered to accomplish much of anything and I did what no freelancer wants to do. I fell behind.
This made me even more flustered and nervous and it was a cycle from hades that seem to be ongoing and never ending. On Friday, I sat myself down and tried to figure out the problem. Once I identified that I was “wasting” creative time on other things that could be done at other times of the day I blocked that time off my calendar and now that time is sacred. I will write from 1 to 6 and nothing else.
I am learning that I have to take control of my time or people and things will attempt to steal that time from me. As a freelance writer I am expected to turn out my best work on a daily basis so it is imperative that I do whatever it takes to remain “in the zone” so that I can churn out quality writing on a regular basis.
It turned out that there was nothing seriously wrong with me. And I worked hard all weekend and am now all caught up. However, I will never again as long as I am writing let anything or anyone interrupt my sacred writing time. I will put my phone in do not disturb mode use Anti-Social and Freedom to block out distractions online when I need to. No matter what Monday-Friday between 1 and 6 pm I will park my ass in my chair and write. No more excuses.
