Modern-life maladies & their antidotes

Starting Sunday, I am participating in Screen-Free Week.  For me, the observance of Screen-Free week is a structured sabbatical from screens.  I don't watch much television, but other screens do take up a lot of my time.  It's so easy to just "quickly" check e-mail or see what's happening on Facebook.  There are news stories and interesting articles to read and heartfelt or funny videos to watch.  Most of this checking and reading and watching is unnecessary, and added together it substantially chips away at my time.  Time that I say I don't have for other pursuits because I'm too busy.

Earlier this week, my daughter and I and a few friends visited a local artist at his home and studio.  It was an incredibly inspiring experience!  This artist works in a variety of media, and the home he shares with his wife is itself a work of art.  He also works in local schools and is a dedicated husband, father and grandfather.  I was amazed at the scope and extent of everything he does.  When I asked him about motivation and focus, he said that he really just loves what he does and that's the key.  He also mentioned using all the random bits of time in a day to work on his art.  Time that I might be using to look at a screen, I thought to myself.  Obviously, someone who makes his living as a full-time artist is different than those of us just trying to do some creative work on the side.  Still, it was inspiring to see his passion and commitment to his work.  It made me think of all the aspects of modern life that can tempt us away from our creative work or passions or hobbies.  I thought of three main maladies: 

1)  Multi-tasking - It turns out that multi-tasking isn't so great after all.  If you're interested in the research, watch this or read this.  I don't need any convincing.  When I try to do too much at the same time, it inevitably backfires in some way.  I forget about the laundry sitting in the washer all day, break a glass while hurriedly washing dishes, and start a writing project but never finish it.  Some simpler jobs can be combined effectively:  I can carry on a decent phone conversation while folding laundry.  But intermixing too many tasks often results in doing a lot of things badly or incompletely rather than doing a few things well.  

Antidote - Focus on one thing at a time.  Cultivate paying attention and mindfulness.  Eliminate distractions as much as possible; see #3 below.

2)  Busyness - We are so proud of our busyness sometimes, aren't we?  I'm guilty.  The truth is - we might not be quite as busy as we think we are.  And we might be making choices that reinforce the busyness we supposedly lament.  We have elevated busyness to a virtue, according to this article.  Yet in reality, busyness is more like a disease according to this blog post.  I recommend both of those links as excellent reads, by the way.   

Antidote - Avoid multi-tasking; see #1 above.  Say no sometimes - you actually can't do everything, at least not at the same time.  Stop telling yourself you're so busy.  Eliminate distractions and time-wasters; see #3 below.

3)  Distraction & time-wasters - These will be different for everyone.  My distractions and time-wasters are mostly of the electronic kind, and I suspect that's the case for many people.  For me, it might be compulsively checking e-mail or Facebook.  For others, it might be excessively checking sports scores, stocks or news updates.  Or it could be spending several hours per day watching television or playing videos games.  There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these activities, but in excess they take time away from other activities, result in ineffective multi-tasking (#1) and contribute to our feeling that we are constantly busy (#2).

Antidote - Limit distractions.  This is not an easy task, nor does it have a one-size-fits-all solution.  For my part, I'll take my screen-free sabbatical next week.  

You might also enjoy these blog posts:

I don't need to know about Mario Puzo and other lessons from Screen-Free Week
The Case for Space (about the role of technology in our lives)
The Case for Creating:  make stuff; it feels good.

On facing my demons & being inspired by others

Last week, I worked on a number of different potential blog posts and/or essays, but I didn't complete any of them.  It was a pretty heavily-scheduled week in terms of family, school, volunteer and work commitments.  Still, if I'm a writer - then I make time for writing no matter what.  There will always be other "things" going on.  I haven't blogged for several weeks; my last post was March 4th.  I haven't yet discovered the secret to blogging consistently or meeting my other writing goals.  Because there is no secret.  I just have to do it.  I'm super-talented at making excuses, procrastinating and wasting time when it comes to writing.  My perfectionist tendencies, the fear of failure and the voices of doubt all conspire to help me with my excuse-making, procrastination and time-wasting.  It's possible to overcome these demons with sheer willpower, consistent schedules, good habits and some accountability.  Why am I able to just get things done and complete projects in other areas of my life, but not with my writing?  I don't procrastinate or waste time in anticipation of making my bed each morning or flossing my teeth every night.  The difference, of course, is that my self-worth isn't at all intertwined with how I make my bed or floss my teeth.  Sure, the dental hygienist always mentions that I could do a better job of flossing.  But I don't take it personally.  I also don't worry that someone will come into my bedroom and say that I suck at making my bed.  With my writing, however, the critical voice is there.  The voice that says... "Maybe this sucks."  "You're not a good writer."  "They might think it's stupid."  "Who do you think you are?"

While I was "thinking about" blogging last week, my daughter just went ahead and blogged.  You see, she doesn't "think about" all the stuff I do.  Thankfully, none of my children seem to have inherited my perfectionist tendencies (or at least not to a great degree).  My daughter didn't mull over whether people would like her post or not.  She doesn't revise her blog posts twenty times before posting them.  She just decides she's going to blog and does it.  Interestingly enough, I had been writing recently about how important modeling is to effective parenting, because what you do and how you behave are infinitely more significant than what you say.  At the same time, I was struck by how my daughter can be a model for me.  She hasn't developed all the doubts or fears that I have when it comes to writing.  I hope she never does.  She models for me just getting it done.  Then I thought of other examples of people doing their thing and getting stuff done.  And I felt inspired!  It's possible to see what other people are doing and feel inadequate.  Most of us have felt that at one time or another.  We can choose, alternatively, to be inspired by others.  To see what they do and think it's great.  To see what they do and let it inspire and motivate us to do our own unique thing that we do.  Who was I inspired by last week?  An artist friend who showed her work at a gallery; friends, family & neighbors who volunteered in many different ways - cleaning up their neighborhoods, parenting or working with young people who have disabilities, planning events and raising funds for a variety of good causes, etc., etc.

In the spirit of being inspired and not listening to the doubting voices, I will not endlessly revise this post but simply click "publish" and be done!  In fact - this post turned out to be a bit different than I planned or thought, and that's okay!

How about you?  Who or what has inspired you lately?  What will you do with that inspiration?

random doodle because I am not going to procrastinate by looking for the perfect graphic companion to this post