Scheduling to Seize The Day!

You have to sometimes take a step back from what you're doing to admire what others are doing. Not in the comparative, that person is so much better of a writer, so much more intelligent, etc., but just in admiration and as a source of inspiration.

Let me explain. As those who've been reading this blog for the past year know, I stumbled into writing not from planning necessarily but from having extra time on my hands and a desire to dabble. I started working on professional writing out of a desire to get on the ground and running so to speak as an anthropologist/science advocate/future museum or university educator. A co-worker of mine is a writer, and the two of us share free time talking about books, yet there's something he doesn't know. His work ethic when it comes to his writing as well as his minute attention to detail with every book he read inspires me. His passion and dedication for what he does and loves is amazing.

With that said, while I won't pass up extra shifts at work like he does because he'd "rather work on his writing," I am going to restructure my schedule using his writing philosophies as a model/proxy. My schedule is not going to be a number of words a day or a so many pages each month as some have suggested on this blog, but rather, will merely consist of a loose list of things I hope to accomplish writing-wise by the end of this year and some time blocked out to work towards those aspirations. His schedule is similar, mainly because as he told me, some days he only can get a small passage written only to completely erase it to start anew. His meticulous reading habits must follow through into his writing habits.

He sets his day and life around his passion and what he went to graduate school to do (write), and it is about time I perform similar feats when it comes to my own life and work. Even though I was not intending to spend my early post-collegiate years working on my publishing portfolio, there's no reason I should ignore the fact that right now, I have more free time and ideas forthcoming, and there are opportunities out there to seize. Going back to someone's post the other day, I need to get out of not imposing some deadlines which could "whoosh by," or everything (deadlines, accomplishments) will be what ifs and could haves rather than finished products.

After all, I know that I am capable of writing and adhering to some self-imposed deadlines once I make them reasonable. Reasonable to me just means something different than it does to my co-worker. I just am in that stage where those extra shifts at work help me out in other areas of life as well as build experience working with college students, so I'm not missing any chances at additional hours; they help me towards my long-term professional goals. He's inspired me nonetheless, and I know deep down his perseverance and commitment will help him produce bigger dividends in the end, towards his own long-term goals.

Therefore, drafting a list of goals to achieve by December 31 is my writing task #1 for this upcoming weekend, as maybe in addition to formulating long-term goals several years out in life, it's good to do so in shorter spells of time too. Carpe diem!