AHA Moment 0: You can’t just schedule a comeback
TLDR
I’ve been writing one 1000-word article every week since November 2019. That makes roughly 78 Weeks, 78 articles, and more than 78000 words.
At the beginning of May, my writing streak came to a halt, since I needed to prioritize different assignments.
One month later, I tried to get back into it and found out that my writing mojo was gone. It took me a whole other month to get back into it.
Some context
Writing has been the most exciting skill to work on throughout the pandemic. It has become a sacred weekly routine, one that balances out all other tasks. Since it creates the perfect environment to exploit some creativity, I’ve somehow become addicted to it.
However, I have realized that I am not writing enough about.. writing. There are a lot of meta topics that I’d like to cover. They usually come as “AHA” moments right in the middle of a writing session.
So I decided to start documenting these “AHA” moments. Because they are the ones that enable me to take a step back and observe my process. They are the ones that help me see my growth and my evolution as a writer.
AHA Moment 0
You can’t just schedule a comeback.
See, the 4 weeks in May were the longest time that I went without writing. I naturally had mixed feelings about getting back to it. On the one hand, I was hoping the break will replenish my creative juices and recharge my energy. On the other hand, I was a bit scared that I’ll be pretty slow when starting all over again.
It turned out I was right.. somehow. I only had no idea how much slower The Comeback will be.
I’ll get it done by Sunday, we’ll stick to our usual schedule.
I naively informed my client. Little did I know I’d have to postpone the deadline a few times and it would be a whole other month until I would be done with it.
1 month for 1000 words. I had no idea at that time, but I was about to meet some old friends throughout that month: procrastination, demotivation, disappointment, and the almighty impostor feeling. Needless to say, it felt like university times all over again.
But I can write! I love this topic, and I am genuinely curious to put it into words.
I’d tell myself day after day, hoping to slowly trigger my productivity.
No matter what happens, tomorrow at 10 am you’ll start writing and you’ll finish that article!
But the writing mojo would just not meet me at the desk.
Arghh, maybe it’s time I stopped doing this. Maybe I’m not a natural writer after all.
I’d tell myself after trying to go at it for a while.
You know, you liked writing cause it was helping you with your lack of patience and hot temper
I’d try to sneakily motivate myself to do it.
It turns out that none of my daily mantras worked. Neither did the workout sessions, the meditation, the yoga, the forest walks. I started doubting that The Comeback will ever happen. I couldn’t force schedule it, I couldn’t seem to motivate myself, to guilt-trip myself, nor to find the excitement in writing.
It turned out all I needed was a little patience.
Because today happened and with it #79 — another one for the books :)
