Tricks

It seems wrong, somehow, how many little tricks I need to keep myself motivated. I mean, it's not like I have a job cleaning toilets or something. I get to write. I get to create stories. I mean, it's practically the best job ever. You'd never know, considering how hard it is to stop procrastinating and just get words on paper.

I'm going away for a month. I leave in 15 days. Above my desk is a sign that says: "GRACE STEARNS YOU HAVE 15 DAYS TO FINISH YOUR FIRST DRAFT!!! TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE AND GET WORDS ON PAPER!" I change the number of days every morning with new sticky notes. It's a small thing, and yet I have put more words on paper in the last week than in the three weeks previous. Whatever works.

The other thing I do is reward myself with little pieces of chocolate. Cadbury Thins break into three pieces. I get to have one piece every time I finish about 400 words. (Only one bar per day though. Ha!!)

I have also, in the past week, become a huge fan of the to-do list. I have a big notebook on my desk and in the morning, while enjoying coffee and breakfast, I scribble down the things I want to accomplish. Today's list reads something like:
write 1000 words
work for C.
yoga
JdV followup
emails
blogs
etc etc.

It's mostly the same list as yesterday's, but damn, it feels good to cross things out.

I am a woman who enjoys the small things, that's for sure. Like the daily line through "Write 1000 words."