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Thursday, March 16, 2006
Battling Your Inner Housewife
I'm the type of person who keeps a running list in her head of things that need to be done, and the list just keeps getting longer. At this rate, I will never die. LOL. Because I work from home, those little things that need to be done are there around me all day long, niggling me. Hey, you, when are you going to get this done? My husband, on the other hand, can walk around the house blind to dust bunnies, unaware of the unpolished silver keepsakes, happy. Men generally, I've found, are good at simply saying "that doesn't have to be done" instead of tearing their hair out trying to figure out how to get it done at all costs.
What does this have to do with being a writer? Well, it's about resisting the tug of other chores in order to get the writing done. The way I cope is to do at least one thing on my list every day, no matter how busy I am and no matter how small the task, even if it's just a short phone call. The other thing I do is simply to cross off things I will never get to. Yes, just cross them off. Someone let me in on this secret at some point, and you wouldn't believe how liberating this method is. There are plenty of things that will cease to matter (as much) once they've been postponed a few months, or that will simply resolve themselves. Some time ago, I read a short essay by a congresswoman who had raised five kids. Her secret? If a bag of laundry stayed in the basement for a year without anyone missing it, it automatically got donated to charity. Words to live by (grin).
posted by Anna DePalo at 5:12 PM
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1 Comments:
Playground Monitor said...
I LIKE that congresswoman's attitude! Think I'll try that.
God bless lists. Without them I'd forget everything.
Marilyn
6:17 AM
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