Tag: procrastination

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Springing Into Overdrive

April 10, 2014April 9, 2014 jcladyluv

While Spring is the time of year where everyone seems to have that sudden bursts of creative energy it seems to be that time of year when I start to reflect on what I haven’t gotten done yet. I know, it seems like a negative thing, it really does. However, if you think about it, it could be the swift kick in the pants that some of us procrastinators (at least me anyway) need to get into higher gear.

I have a lot of things to carry out this year and because I set unbelievably high goals for myself on a yearly basis that even the most brilliant and best-selling novelists might not be able to get achieved in one year, I am realistic enough to know that every single item on that list will most likely not be carried out. However, I do know that over half of the things are able to be completed if I just stop my procrastinating ways and do what I know needs to be done.

What needs to be done is a lot less sleep and a lot of early rising mornings. This is hard for me to fathom because I barely sleep as it is but I remember the days when I used to pull all-nighters and slept even less than I do now and stuff got done then. But I have come to the realization, as May approaches and almost half the year has flown by, that if I don’t start sleeping a lot less in order to work a lot more than I might not even get half the things on my list accomplished. I can’t accept that.

So springing into action is what I will be focusing on and getting into overdrive. Just hope I don’t burn myself out in the process. But all sacrifices will be worth it in the end, right? Well I hope that your creativity has sprung into high gear and that you are getting all that you need to get done. If not, then let’s get moving, the year is only going to move faster from here on out. So stay driven and keep that butt in the chair, writing!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Giving It My All, Even if the Progress is Slow

January 22, 2014 jcladyluv

Facebook tends to provide a lot of inspirational sayings to me these days but I suppose it also helps to have inspirational people as your Facebook friends. Read a saying that said we have three choices in life, you either give up, you give in, or you give it all you’ve got.

I think last year, not sure at what point, I not only gave up but I also gave in. I threw in the towel and everything because I was just tired of fighting for something that seemed to be avoiding me at every turn. When this year started I realized that I needed to give it all that I’ve got and get back up and get into this fight again.

The problem I have every now and then is that my emotions tend to get the better of me and when things in my personal life are not going the way that I wish they were my focus is shifted. I am a great at multi-tasking when it comes to writing and working on different projects at one time but what I am not good at multi-tasking my personal emotions and my focus on my writing project.

I wish I was better at it but all I can say is that these last few days in which I have not been able to concentrate on my project are not going to get the better of me. I am not going to let it completely debilitate me like it did last year. I’m already doing one step better because I thought about not writing this post today and sinking deep into the emotion that I was feeling and as you see, that’s not the decision that I rested on.

Progress comes slowly sometimes but I am working on myself and on staying motivated. I’m not there yet but I am getting there.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

No More Self-Sabotage

January 14, 2014 jcladyluv

I have realized something the last day or so. I keep doing it to myself. Over and over again I will be headed toward something good and then I will overthink it, I will over analyze it, and I will read too much into things and interpret something that isn’t even there. All of it is me sabotaging myself, my own happiness, my accomplishments, my relationships with others. All because I suppose I still don’t get that I deserve those things just as much as anyone else around me.

I think fear plays a part in it as well. I’m afraid that if I do well people will expect me to always do well and what happens when I don’t. I’m afraid that when I have some semblance of happiness that something or someone else will come along and just snatch it all away. I’m afraid that if I let people in too far, if I let them get too close, that they will discover that I’m not perfect, or that I’m not like everyone else, and then they won’t care about me anymore and then they’ll leave anyway, so I just push them away first.

I got to thinking in the last couple of days that if I keep doing this, then I really will have no one, and none of my goals will be reached because I’m too afraid of what will happen once I reach them. I can’t keep getting in my own way and staying in my head all the time. It’s not a good thing and while I always felt that I sabotaged my own self in some way I couldn’t see it clearly before a couple of days ago. It wasn’t so obvious to me before as it is now and now I am on that mission to do something about it. I can’t always change my situations or things that just happen and I can’t necessarily change how other people are and their ways but I can change my ways and I can change how I react to things. I can be a better version of myself than what I am now. What does your better version of you look like?

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

6 Ways to Get More Organized in Your Writing Habits and Increase Productivity

June 6, 2013June 6, 2013 jcladyluv

Sometimes it’s hard to get your writing habits in check and maintain some discipline when it comes to working on your project(s). I am working on implementing some ways to get more organized in my writing that I wanted to share with you guys today because I know that this is something that a lot of writers struggle with. In particular writers who have not yet found their groove, so to speak.

I do have to admit that I have yet to master a couple of these (at least not for extended period of time) and I am still working on some of these suggestions myself. However, I thought that we writers all need to stick together so I hope that some of these suggestions can not only be good for me but that they can help some of you out there as well.

Hold Regular Meetings with Yourself—Your writing is a business and you are the CEO of that business. You may not have the office, with the proper support staff (or you may) but you still have to hold the meetings and check in with yourself on where you are in reaching those goals that you are hopefully setting periodically. They can be weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly, but they do need to happen.
Work on Multi-Tasking with Your Writing Projects— It used to be frowned upon to work on more than one project at a time. It was looked at as if you were throwing in the towel on the one project just to go start (and probably not finish) another one. However, times have changed and sometime when the inspiration is going dry on one project, rather than continuing at something that isn’t working in that moment, there is no reason to let the other ideas that might be filling up your brain (and your notepad) go to waste. Start another project and perhaps getting fired up for the new project can reignite some old inspiration for the other one.
Prepare Your Writing Projects in Detail— Another way to not get stuck in that “how do I start this” rut or that “I’ve got one chapter down but I don’t know where else to go with this” dilemma, is to outline your project or at least jot down the important story plots that you want to cover within your book. Having a guide map of where to go in your story doesn’t mean that you have to absolutely stick to that guide but it does help you to not get stuck wondering what will come next in the story and it will keep you from having to backtrack and try to recount minor details that you’ve already written when you forget what they are because chances are your readers will know when one detail doesn’t match the other.
Evaluate All of Your Time Wasters— You don’t have to give up all of your T.V. time, and you don’t have to never see another movie again but you do have to make your writing time matter more than that television show that you think you just can’t miss. Most people have cable now, and with that they typically have a DVR, so record the T.V. shows that you can’t miss and watch them later in your down time. But your writing time is precious and should not have to compete with the T.V. or the internet, or that phone call that you know you can make later. Don’t let your writing time go to waste.
Keep All of Your Eggs in Their Own Baskets— Now while it is perfectly okay to work on multiple projects at a time (not too many though) you do want to make sure that you don’t blur the lines between the projects. You can’t work on two projects at the exact same time period because the back and forth between the two projects would drive you crazy. Set a time to work on each project individually and separate from the others. (For example, in the morning time you work on project A, a little time in the afternoon for project B, and if you have a third project then perhaps you can devote some time in the evening for project C.)
Schedule the Down Time that You Know You Are Going to Need— Writing is not easy and if you are working on something personal to you it can be extremely emotional. If you are working on the business side of your writing career it can become quite taxing so you have to remember to take some time to do something for yourself that has absolutely nothing to do with writing. Go see a movie, get your nails done, take a spa day, go work out at the gym, take a mini-vacation or even a long one if you’ve just finished up a big project. Do something that you enjoy and that is going to give you a sense of calm so that your mind can be refreshed when it’s time to jump back into your writing project(s).

Hopefully some of the writers out there can put this into practice for yourselves and perhaps you have even more suggestions that you can add to this list that you can share with me and the rest of the readers here. Happy writing everyone!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/. Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

I’ve Never Fully Been Ready to Jump

May 30, 2013May 30, 2013 jcladyluv

I am one of those people who can prepare something to death. I mean I make a list, and then I check over it, I double check and sometimes even triple check. When it comes to writing a novel or an article, I outline, and then I research. I often end up with massive amounts of research in which only about half of it gets used and the rest gets tossed to the side and becomes a reminder of how much time I wasted over-preparing for something yet again.

I know that preparation is supposed to be a good thing and for most people it is but for those of us who can tend to use the preparation process as another stall tactic (procrastination) it can rob us of so much time that would be better spent just jumping into the project and getting started already. When am I going to learn that sometimes it really is better to just dive in (head first) and get it done. I spend so much time waiting for the right moment to come, for the right amount of money (or in most cases, any money), for the right person to partner with, for just the right amount of nerve to actually launch that business.

So much time I waste waiting and never actually doing any of the things I long to do. If I could go back and count how many accomplishments I could’ve been able to cross off my list had I not waited for some unknown right moment I would’ve already tackled most of that list by now and I would be much happier for it. If we could add up all of the countless hours that we have wasted on second guessing ourselves, and preparing everything to the point of exhaustion how many of our endeavors could we have already achieved?

You can never really prepare for everything, especially the curveballs that life throws you that you don’t even realize are coming. The best you can do is deal with things as they come and just go along for the ride. I think that is where I went wrong with this year’s plan. I over-plan and try to over-prepare everything, and worry so much about what money I don’t have to start this business that I have wanted to start for as long as I can remember. I am over-thinking everything, so much so that nothing is being done. I’ve got to just take a leap of faith and jump right in.

No one is every really 100% ready to begin the journey that will lead them into their destiny because the things that are most worth having are never really easy to attain. So if you are one of those people who over-prepares and stands on the edge of the curb waiting for all of the possible obstacles that could block your path before you actually cross the road leading to your destiny, stop waiting. If you stood by to let every obstacle pass you by before taking the chance to walk that road you may find yourself standing on that curb for a very long time. You may not be 100% ready, but what the hell, jump anyway!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Writer’s Block: Real or Figment of the Imagination?

March 14, 2013 jcladyluv

I read a blog post yesterday about writer’s block, actually more about how writer’s block does not exist. Of course everyone has their own opinions on the matter but I felt like I had to share mine. I would like to say that I agree with this blog post and that when you can’t write you should just (basically) suck it up and get over it and put some words on the page.

I would love to say that it is easy to move past the blank screen and produce greatness (or at least a first draft towards greatness anyway). I have a real problem with people who think that writer’s block is something that is just another excuse not to write or a procrastination technique. Granted there are some who do use it as an excuse and they are not genuinely blocked, however, this does not mean that every person with writer’s block is not truly blocked.

I have been through moments where I have gotten up at the designated time, prepared adequately for the work to get done, and planted my butt in the chair for hours just waiting for the words to come. They didn’t come. For a long time they just wouldn’t come. Maybe it was because I was depressed at that time or because of stress, or maybe the project just wasn’t right for me, but for whatever reason, the words wouldn’t come. I tried the “just put the words on the page” method but when the words were garbage and didn’t produce anything of value then they just didn’t mean as much.

I know that there are people who say that you should write even if what you are writing is garbage but I don’t agree with that. It is a waste of energy that could be saved up to produce work that can actually be crafted and molded into something of purpose. Sometimes your mind just needs a vacation and sometimes you are just emotionally unable to tap into that creative resource for a small period of time (not saying that it is okay for you to remain in that state) and that is what I consider a writer’s block.

I don’t determine writer’s block as just being too distracted to put the words on the paper. That is just you needed to buckle down and focus. I don’t count you choosing to party all night so then you can’t get up to show up to produce the words as a writer’s block. That just means that you need to straighten out your priorities. I don’t count the excuse of having the words trapped up in your head because you haven’t figured out how to get it on the paper (and I have made this excuse many times) as writer’s block. That is just being a little lazy and making a lot of excuses.

Writer’s block, to me, is when the words just won’t come; the struggle is there, the determination is there, the priority is there, the focus is there, but the words still won’t come. I believe that writer’s block is a lot more about a person’s emotional state when they are trying to produce work. Yes writing is typically about letting your emotions fuel the words but when they instead block the words then there might be some deep seeded issues that they have to deal with.

Writer’s block is very real to me and maybe this person who wrote the blog post expressing their view that it isn’t may never have had the displeasure of experiencing it, doesn’t make it any less real. What are your feelings about writer’s block? Do you feel like it’s real or do you think that it’s a figment of people’s imagination?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

How Do I Get this Thing Off of Repeat?

February 20, 2013 jcladyluv

We sometimes tend to get into cycles that are not good for us to be in and they often seem to be a cycle that we subconsciously repeat. I have many cycles that I personally would like to never repeat again but today I started to notice a professional cycle beginning to repeat itself and it is one that has been on repeat for quite some time now and I am working my hardest to not hit the repeat button again.

I have this cycle with my writing (as I touched on briefly in yesterday’s post) where I get excited about my projects to the point where I can’t stop talking about it (and drive my friends crazy with these characters who are not real to them). Then I get stuck on how to miraculously work on all of my projects at precisely the same time (yes I tend to be drawn to the impossible). And when that doesn’t happen the way that I want to I just stop producing altogether.

I mean sure I am watching T.V. or a movie and calling it inspiration (which sometimes it does inspire), or I’m reading a book that I suddenly can’t seem to put down (which in and of itself is not a bad thing), or I’m staring at the blank computer screen willing the words to just somehow leap from my brain onto the screen without me having to lift a finger (too bad there’s no real technology for that—or is there). All of these are quite possibly valid and relaxing time wasters, but they are also great procrastination techniques as well.

I have a plan for this year, to focus mainly on moving my writing career forward and promoting myself and my brand and heading towards success. I promised myself that I would get away from the major distractions and really purposely direct my focus to what needs to get done to not only reach that level of success but to also remain on that level. I started to notice that I was doing it again. I was getting hung up on trying to work on all of my writing projects at one time and getting frustrated because it just isn’t possible to get an effective amount of work done trying to do it all at once, and lately I have found myself constructively procrastinating.

Constructive or not, procrastination is just that, procrastination. I have to stop repeating the cycle of trying to do too much at one time and instead, designate the appropriate amount of time to each project at different times and not getting discouraged if it’s not getting done as quickly as I would like it to get done. Truthfully, I would like my ideas to be able to write themselves because if that was possible I would have over a dozen novels by now, but good quality, thought provoking writing, takes time and can not be rushed. Expecting perfection in my writing is one cycle that I can’t wait to stop repeating itself, but it’s all a work in progress.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

How To Get To The Root of Your Procrastination

January 18, 2013January 18, 2013 jcladyluv

Today I have found myself procrastinating once again, or maybe I am just a little blocked and can not produce anything decent to write. It is only fitting that my Guest blog post on getting to the root of your procrastination was published on the Procrastinating Writers Blog. Click the link below to check it out and let me know what you think.

How To Get To The Root of Your Procrastination.

Time Is Of the Essence

August 20, 2012 jcladyluv

I’ve found myself saying to quite a lot of people lately that they shouldn’t wait to do whatever they said they were going to do the next time they get a chance. That they should take the opportunity to do whatever it is now, in that moment. Simply put, I have been reminding people that tomorrow is never promised and that you shouldn’t keep waiting for the next available moment when the moment has presented itself right now.

Isn’t it funny how we can impart wisdom and advice to other people, probably advice that was at some other time imparted to us, but we can never really seem to take that advice ourselves? I was telling Ms. L. today about how every time I make a plan to really buckle down and get things done I find myself at that moment, with all of my tools lined up around me ready for me to get stuff done and then either something gets me distracted or I simply fall asleep from being so tired. Hours later I end up with just as much done as I had before which is nothing.

I can’t keep repeating this same cycle of having a whole lot of plans to do something and ending up with very little to nothing actually being done. Is anyone else in a cycle of repeated procrastination or is it really just me? I only hope that I somehow learn to take my own advice (and advice given to me by others in the past) before time really does get away from me and it becomes too late to do anything about it.

As much as people would like to believe that it is never too late to do the things that you were meant to do, everyone’s time is up at some point. If I leave this earth without making a good enough use of the gifts and talents that God gave me and without fulfilling the purpose that he placed before me, then I really will have wasted all of the valuable time that I was given and I will have nothing to show for it.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”