Montag

I came up last night. The weekend was packed with socializing, plotting Christmas purchases, and even just packing. In retrospect, it was a bit wearing.

Which solves the riddle I was asking this morning: "Why am I so tired and unmotivated?"

I realized that the remote, undisclosed location is not a magic bullet (go, go, go!) but is just part of the overall solution. I still have to show up and be present. Which is exactly what I was having trouble with this morning. Even after coffee.

So I threw the ingredients in the bread machine and took a walk down to the beach. I suspected that part of the problem was also the gorging I did the night before at a party. But whatever it was, it was my brain that was foggy. I couldn't find my motivation on the beach either, although I had a nice sit on a log on the snow. On the way back, I felt a strong desire to go buy something at the corner store--happiness through consumption--but I couldn't think of a thing I needed.

Finally, after a second cup of coffee, at about 11am Chicago time, I got down to work. I came to understand the procrastination is really the act of distracting your brain from what you should be doing in hopes that the motivation to do that will magically appear. In the creative process, that can sometimes work. All this talk of procrastination...off to make some hot chocolate.

That brings up the second form of procrastination: interruptive procrastination. When you're doing a task that is either not the easiest or is just not that exciting, you're more prone to have tangential (or non-sequitur) thoughts and are more likely to give into them. At least I am. I have such thoughts a lot. It's one of my superpowers, but I've got to keep it in czech.

[Like writing this blog: how many random references is too many.]

I managed to work a good 5 or 6 hours today. Today just proves my 3rd favorite maxim: tomorrow begins tonight. That is, whatever you do tonight will affect your tomorrow. I got up around 11 last night after a hectic day. How could I expect to hit the ground running this morning? I think I first discovered this maxim when I was drinking more.

Here's a video that I happened upon today. It's pretty much about what I'm doing, and he even calls it a sabbatical. My friend and former CSU colleague rolled his eyes when I called it that. If you don't have 17 minutes, at least watch the first 5 or so. And if you don't have time for that, here's the shortest summary: We need time off. Whether you work for 7 months and have 5 off, or work for 7 years and have 1 off, a sabbatical refuels our fire and refocuses our vision.