"For me, it’s the feeling of rush. I am trying to get so much done in the span of 24 hours that I will sacrifice the things I need to do to keep myself sane, to keep pushing out content and making more and more art." I have been feeling this so much lately, beating myself up for not getting "enough" done, so it's good to know that I'm not the only one feeling this way.
I am on the cusp of year 83, surrounded by unfinished knitting, crochet, and cross-stitched projects. Please also ignore the " get all those photographs identified and sorted project!" My age has forced me to slow down, but not to curb my frustration at so much unfinished stuff. Posts like yours console me that we are a large club of scatterbrains, and to accept it and start another project.
Mrs. George, 76 here! Maybe I will finish that crochet poncho today, after I sort the yarn, pay some bills, skin care, humm, and read Substack😉 and then there are the Christmas cookies I promised! Great post, Ella.
Oh, you brought up the photograph project, the thing that may never get done. Maybe having the photographs is part of the baggage that those of us born pre-cellphones cling on to. But I'm with you! I was so productive during Covid 19 lockdowns! BTW, I'm 69. This problem of productivity and feeling that what you're doing is not enough has gone on so long. Ella, keep a list of your accomplishments in addition to your to dos. That helps.
1. I found it helps to sometimes give myself permission to do nothing today. And mean it. My worth as a human has nothing to do with my productivity.
2. Instead of a to-do list, I keep a running list of things that I want and/or need to do all broken down into micro steps. When I’m feeling low or scattered I pick one thing from the list and just do that. Having the larger tasks broken up into its micro tasks really helps. This running list keeps morphing and changing as I get some things done and strike some things off simply because things have changed and they’re not important anymore.
-You’re doing great. You’re not behind. You’re in the thick of it and you have a lot of company here😊
On super busy stressed times in life, I write a list of things to do each day as it firms up commitment to new items in routine and I MAKE MY BED; at least I did SOMETHING today to completion.
I started keeping a white board in my office. Each Monday, I write a list of things I need to accomplish for the week or the next two weeks. I have to walk by the white board a lot throughout the day so it is a regular (sometimes subliminal) reminder and when I space in the day or have an energy surge, I complete a task or two or three.
I’m beginning to practice what I call flexible discipline. I work within a framework of how I want my life to look, then move at the speed of my own energy. There are days when I can get 5 tasks done, and days when I only have capacity for one.
I have struggled my whole life with this. I am 71 and can tell you that living a creative life is not compatible to the kind of routines you speak of. I have lots of "routines" like your list: non-negotiables. I've decided the rest is an unachievable goal, and that I can only do what I can. I currently have a list in my office that lists all my spouse's upcoming medical appointments (made by him), possible conflicts I have, and I added the list of doctor names so I can keep them straight. I changed the two conflicts. I still thought tomorrow's appointment was on Friday.
We put too much pressure on ourselves. Perhaps that’s trite but we’ve always done this. Before social media, we did it in other ways, the self, the children, the pets, the house have to be presentable. The career has to be built but not too built because of above. Don’t outshine that man. Don’t expand enough to pinch an inch on that frame either. Maintain the thigh gap/ mourn the lack of thigh gap. Give the kids activities/don’t over schedule the kids. It just goes on and on and on ad infinitum and at some point you just have to say enough. I will do what matters to me and my loved ones. It’s all I can do and that’s okay.
1, I'm so sorry about the moths in the yarn, that's awful, and I have heard that putting things in the freezer will help kill larvae.
2, Accountability is key for getting anything done. If you have someone that you know is expecting you to send something by a certain time, you'll push everything else off the to-do list to focus on that. Deadlines stink but to a certain degree they work. I suggest working with a friend that has a similar work routine to yours and swear that you will send each other drafts of current work by 4:00pm on Thursdays, which is enough time to revise and publish on Friday.
3, The older I get (currently 53) the less I care about what I look like in photos. That's me alright, if you don't like it, too bad. I think if you can make it to my age and still have good skin you're doing great. Sunblock, water & the like is more important than make-up.
It’s so hard when it feels like there are a million things I would like to do AND a million things that I need to do. It’s overwhelming to tend to both the activities that fill your cup and the ones you need to just stay alive. As cliche as it sounds, I have been trying to just take the baby steps and do what little I feel like I have the capacity to do on any given day. I so often feel like I need to do ALL of a task when I start something but I’m hoping and trying to be more patient with what I have energy for and knowing that it’s okay to take something on incrementally.
Thanks for this. Guilt as a motivational force is doomed and corrosive. I too have found discipline more difficult this last year or so. More than anything else, and I know it's hardly systematic, I just try to tee up flow moments with hydration, movement and all the usuals, and then when that window comes along I try to ride the wave. Also trying to use poetry as a way of forcing myself to publish without that perfectionism that comes up in my prosaic pieces.
THIS is a thing 👉🏻 “For me, it’s the feeling of rush. I am trying to get so much done in the span of 24 hours that I will sacrifice the things I need to do to keep myself sane, to keep pushing out content and making more and more art. It’s the feeling that if I don’t have something incredibly cool and viral ready to post, then I am going to fall behind. But in reality, it’s the constant pressure to be productive at all times that’s making me fall behind.”
Suggested reading for a perspective shift:
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mere Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Browse Google for “slow knitting” and “slow craft.”
Late to the party again, and maybe this will be helpful for both of us (and someone else too). I spend six years in grad school before social media became a daily part of my life. During three of those years, I was mainly working by myself researching and writing my dissertation. I had a rule: from Monday to Friday, as soon as I woke up (usually at 7 -- a multi-story car park was being built behind my apartment, and that was a great help) make coffee; sit down and don't stop writing for three hours. Some days I would start by writing about how I had no idea what I needed to write about next, and I literally can't remember a day when writing through my struggle didn't lead me somewhere. Then stop writing. No reading over what I'd written that day, and usually no reading over what I'd written the day before until I'd written enough to know what the chapter was about. In the afternoons, if I needed to do research, I would, and no matter what, I prohibited myself from turning on the TV or checking email. (I still do this, including with social media except on a designated "vacation day.") I lived in a little urban center with a bunch of thrift shops and a tiny branch of the local library, so I'd close up my laptop and go browse for interesting finds and books and chat with the librarians and do my best not to think about my dissertation. I think the hard and fast "not until after 5" rule helps me be more focused during the day (and believe me, I have challenges) - and then by 5 I'm usually reading or listening to a book and crocheting or sewing and social media and the news don't have much power over me. I'm renewing my commitment to this practice, although I might brush my teeth right after my coffee these days.
I take a bit of time each evening to write down what I have done that day. My list is in the context of some general longer-term goals and reads like: did I write a short e-note to my federal congresspeople today?; did I spend a bit of time playing my banjo this evening?; did I spend (at least) half an hour researching my next piece for the community newsletter and outline what I learned; did I walk/yoga/stretch for 20 minutes?...
Keeping track of these activities daily lets me look back after a week, or a month, or... and see that while the glossy world of perfection seems unattainable, I definitely am getting stronger, learned another song, met a goal for my writing.
I'm just like that. I used to worry about it, but as I've aged I'm less upset by it (and maybe slightly better at managing now that I'm "retired"). Mostly.
I find that it helps me to make a list at the end of the day. I try to list everything so that I can see that I have accomplished things, just not all the things.
First, I am gratified so many people are experiencing the same things! I’ve been retired for over a year and there is nothing I HAVE to do in a day but I still feel disappointed in myself for accomplishing nothing. Except, I can list the things I’ve done and while none of them are share-worthy, they aren’t nothing.
There are loads of suggestions about lists and managing lists and productivity. Recently, I’m noticing suggestions to do less. We need down time to refresh ourselves, for new ideas to germinate, to solve problems in the background. Also, rather than moving directly from one task to the next, take time to recognize that you did something, enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, take a breath and only then move on. Otherwise, we’re on a treadmill that never stops.
well you got this substack post done! there's that!!!!
Progress! Even though I did start this piece almost a month ago hahahaha
"For me, it’s the feeling of rush. I am trying to get so much done in the span of 24 hours that I will sacrifice the things I need to do to keep myself sane, to keep pushing out content and making more and more art." I have been feeling this so much lately, beating myself up for not getting "enough" done, so it's good to know that I'm not the only one feeling this way.
I am on the cusp of year 83, surrounded by unfinished knitting, crochet, and cross-stitched projects. Please also ignore the " get all those photographs identified and sorted project!" My age has forced me to slow down, but not to curb my frustration at so much unfinished stuff. Posts like yours console me that we are a large club of scatterbrains, and to accept it and start another project.
This! I am 66 and feel this.
Mrs. George, 76 here! Maybe I will finish that crochet poncho today, after I sort the yarn, pay some bills, skin care, humm, and read Substack😉 and then there are the Christmas cookies I promised! Great post, Ella.
Oh, you brought up the photograph project, the thing that may never get done. Maybe having the photographs is part of the baggage that those of us born pre-cellphones cling on to. But I'm with you! I was so productive during Covid 19 lockdowns! BTW, I'm 69. This problem of productivity and feeling that what you're doing is not enough has gone on so long. Ella, keep a list of your accomplishments in addition to your to dos. That helps.
1. I found it helps to sometimes give myself permission to do nothing today. And mean it. My worth as a human has nothing to do with my productivity.
2. Instead of a to-do list, I keep a running list of things that I want and/or need to do all broken down into micro steps. When I’m feeling low or scattered I pick one thing from the list and just do that. Having the larger tasks broken up into its micro tasks really helps. This running list keeps morphing and changing as I get some things done and strike some things off simply because things have changed and they’re not important anymore.
-You’re doing great. You’re not behind. You’re in the thick of it and you have a lot of company here😊
On super busy stressed times in life, I write a list of things to do each day as it firms up commitment to new items in routine and I MAKE MY BED; at least I did SOMETHING today to completion.
I started keeping a white board in my office. Each Monday, I write a list of things I need to accomplish for the week or the next two weeks. I have to walk by the white board a lot throughout the day so it is a regular (sometimes subliminal) reminder and when I space in the day or have an energy surge, I complete a task or two or three.
I’m beginning to practice what I call flexible discipline. I work within a framework of how I want my life to look, then move at the speed of my own energy. There are days when I can get 5 tasks done, and days when I only have capacity for one.
However you get there, remember…we’re all ok 💜
I have struggled my whole life with this. I am 71 and can tell you that living a creative life is not compatible to the kind of routines you speak of. I have lots of "routines" like your list: non-negotiables. I've decided the rest is an unachievable goal, and that I can only do what I can. I currently have a list in my office that lists all my spouse's upcoming medical appointments (made by him), possible conflicts I have, and I added the list of doctor names so I can keep them straight. I changed the two conflicts. I still thought tomorrow's appointment was on Friday.
We put too much pressure on ourselves. Perhaps that’s trite but we’ve always done this. Before social media, we did it in other ways, the self, the children, the pets, the house have to be presentable. The career has to be built but not too built because of above. Don’t outshine that man. Don’t expand enough to pinch an inch on that frame either. Maintain the thigh gap/ mourn the lack of thigh gap. Give the kids activities/don’t over schedule the kids. It just goes on and on and on ad infinitum and at some point you just have to say enough. I will do what matters to me and my loved ones. It’s all I can do and that’s okay.
1, I'm so sorry about the moths in the yarn, that's awful, and I have heard that putting things in the freezer will help kill larvae.
2, Accountability is key for getting anything done. If you have someone that you know is expecting you to send something by a certain time, you'll push everything else off the to-do list to focus on that. Deadlines stink but to a certain degree they work. I suggest working with a friend that has a similar work routine to yours and swear that you will send each other drafts of current work by 4:00pm on Thursdays, which is enough time to revise and publish on Friday.
3, The older I get (currently 53) the less I care about what I look like in photos. That's me alright, if you don't like it, too bad. I think if you can make it to my age and still have good skin you're doing great. Sunblock, water & the like is more important than make-up.
Take care, and there's always tomorrow!
It’s so hard when it feels like there are a million things I would like to do AND a million things that I need to do. It’s overwhelming to tend to both the activities that fill your cup and the ones you need to just stay alive. As cliche as it sounds, I have been trying to just take the baby steps and do what little I feel like I have the capacity to do on any given day. I so often feel like I need to do ALL of a task when I start something but I’m hoping and trying to be more patient with what I have energy for and knowing that it’s okay to take something on incrementally.
Thanks for this. Guilt as a motivational force is doomed and corrosive. I too have found discipline more difficult this last year or so. More than anything else, and I know it's hardly systematic, I just try to tee up flow moments with hydration, movement and all the usuals, and then when that window comes along I try to ride the wave. Also trying to use poetry as a way of forcing myself to publish without that perfectionism that comes up in my prosaic pieces.
THIS is a thing 👉🏻 “For me, it’s the feeling of rush. I am trying to get so much done in the span of 24 hours that I will sacrifice the things I need to do to keep myself sane, to keep pushing out content and making more and more art. It’s the feeling that if I don’t have something incredibly cool and viral ready to post, then I am going to fall behind. But in reality, it’s the constant pressure to be productive at all times that’s making me fall behind.”
Suggested reading for a perspective shift:
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mere Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Browse Google for “slow knitting” and “slow craft.”
Late to the party again, and maybe this will be helpful for both of us (and someone else too). I spend six years in grad school before social media became a daily part of my life. During three of those years, I was mainly working by myself researching and writing my dissertation. I had a rule: from Monday to Friday, as soon as I woke up (usually at 7 -- a multi-story car park was being built behind my apartment, and that was a great help) make coffee; sit down and don't stop writing for three hours. Some days I would start by writing about how I had no idea what I needed to write about next, and I literally can't remember a day when writing through my struggle didn't lead me somewhere. Then stop writing. No reading over what I'd written that day, and usually no reading over what I'd written the day before until I'd written enough to know what the chapter was about. In the afternoons, if I needed to do research, I would, and no matter what, I prohibited myself from turning on the TV or checking email. (I still do this, including with social media except on a designated "vacation day.") I lived in a little urban center with a bunch of thrift shops and a tiny branch of the local library, so I'd close up my laptop and go browse for interesting finds and books and chat with the librarians and do my best not to think about my dissertation. I think the hard and fast "not until after 5" rule helps me be more focused during the day (and believe me, I have challenges) - and then by 5 I'm usually reading or listening to a book and crocheting or sewing and social media and the news don't have much power over me. I'm renewing my commitment to this practice, although I might brush my teeth right after my coffee these days.
Hi Ella,
I take a bit of time each evening to write down what I have done that day. My list is in the context of some general longer-term goals and reads like: did I write a short e-note to my federal congresspeople today?; did I spend a bit of time playing my banjo this evening?; did I spend (at least) half an hour researching my next piece for the community newsletter and outline what I learned; did I walk/yoga/stretch for 20 minutes?...
Keeping track of these activities daily lets me look back after a week, or a month, or... and see that while the glossy world of perfection seems unattainable, I definitely am getting stronger, learned another song, met a goal for my writing.
I'm just like that. I used to worry about it, but as I've aged I'm less upset by it (and maybe slightly better at managing now that I'm "retired"). Mostly.
I find that it helps me to make a list at the end of the day. I try to list everything so that I can see that I have accomplished things, just not all the things.
First, I am gratified so many people are experiencing the same things! I’ve been retired for over a year and there is nothing I HAVE to do in a day but I still feel disappointed in myself for accomplishing nothing. Except, I can list the things I’ve done and while none of them are share-worthy, they aren’t nothing.
There are loads of suggestions about lists and managing lists and productivity. Recently, I’m noticing suggestions to do less. We need down time to refresh ourselves, for new ideas to germinate, to solve problems in the background. Also, rather than moving directly from one task to the next, take time to recognize that you did something, enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, take a breath and only then move on. Otherwise, we’re on a treadmill that never stops.
I suspect that as a creative person, you might enjoy bullet journaling. There is a workshop next week about journaling in the new year on zoom with Modern Daily Knitting, presented by Felix Ford: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/journaling-for-the-new-year-virtual-workshop-with-felix-ford/ . They record these things so you can watch later if you’re interested but not free to attend.