You’ve decided to make a change:

• Training for a triathlon instead of watching TV with your spouse.
• Reading a book a month. Or a book a week.
• Waking up at 5:00 AM to write your novel while your kids sleep.

Good on ya! You’re making a conscious effort to get better at life.

But how noble are you, really?

I mean, this personal development stuff is kinda all about us, right?

This morning, I got back from visiting family in California. I had a helluva good time.

• Stories were told.
• Beer was drunk.
• Almonds were munched.
• Westerns were watched (My introduction to the genre, believe it or not: Chisum and The Outlaw Josey Wales).
• Tractors were driven.
• German shepherds were scratched behind the ears.

But blogs weren’t written.

It’s my fault, for sure. I could have carved out time, but I didn’t. Now I’ve got an 11:59 PM deadline looming, and it’s coming up on 9:00 PM. What to do?

The busier we are, the more we think about how busy we are.

• “What should I do next? Wow, this list is long.”
• “Is this what I should be doing right now?”
• “Aaaah, I’m so busy!”

Thinking steals time from working. Now we’re even busier.

This is a problem.

Order Matters Less Than You Think

You have a to-do list of some kind, I’m assuming. If not, quickly make one.

I didn’t have any pictures of me arguing with anyone, so here’s a pretty sunset. Ahh. Relaxing.

I recently had an experience at work that ruffled my feathers.

It was just about lunchtime when a new email showed up in my inbox. It was from someone in another department, and it was a complaint about a truly minor problem. What bothered me, though, was this: the email insinuated that my department was at fault, when in reality, the other employee’s own people were responsible.

We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.” Instead we say, “I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.” — Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Reasons it’s hard to do creative work that other people will see:

1. It’s damn scary, and we don’t like scary things.
2. There’s an endless supply of less-scary things that may or may not need to be done.
3. It’s easier to do those other things and plan to do our work later.

Here’s a list of things I find myself doing when it’s time to sit down and do my work. Some of these might sound familiar.