Astrologically, Mercury retrograde is a great time to get things reorganized, to reset, review, reorder, revise, rework, revisit, refresh, revamp etc and not so much pushing forward with new work. Mercury retrograde happens three to four times a year for about three weeks at a time. It's happening right now Nov 25-Dec 15 -- I find that these times give permission to clean things up and get set up for the next work cycle-- everything has its season and I've found this a helpful way to balance my own conflict with wanting to work and needing to get things in order -- you could also make up your own schedule for this if astrology is not your thing!
I love astrology and yesterday as I was having a terribly difficult time posting this newsletter (which never happens) I wondered if Mercury Retrograde had started. (My difficulties posting are why the word COPY appeared before the title.) And what a perfect time to get cleaned up and ready for the next cycle--2025. Thanks for the encouragement!
Charlotte, I understand this problem! I often focus on writing to the exclusion of everything else. But I think it's essential to get organized. So the question is, how can you do that in a way that works for you and doesn't rob big chunks of time from your WIP? R.S. suggested doing one small thing a day. What would work for you? And do you need a second brain that's not all the bits and pieces mixed up in a journal? I use notion for my notes on Buddhism, which works great for me in that respect, although it doesn't work for my daily, weekly, and monthly planning. There are lots of YouTube videos that offer options for a second brain. Notion, Evernote, and Obsidian are a few choices. So maybe find a system like that and decide whether to transfer in small bits or in one big go from your journal. Good luck with this!
Yes, that's exactly it. I prioritize my writing, and then that's all I want to do. And also yes, I really need to get organized and I like your idea of applying the "one small thing a day" to that project. Because I tend to easily get overwhelmed with it and then not accomplish anything. I'm experimenting with an app called Craft that seems to be pretty good for me, but thank you for those other suggestions. I'll check them out if this one doesn't pan out. Thanks, Sandra!
I hear you, Charlotte--I get super overwhelmed these days and definitely get the info overload. What has helped me over the last year or so is to (1) limit the time I give myself to be exposed to all this info. (I had to do that with the news, big time.) It might be that I allow myself an hour, a half hour, whatever--to scroll, do research on something, browse Insta, etc. Sometimes I do that while I take a break between projects, or have my morning coffee, or have a snack--doing another action like that also has the benefit of putting a timer on it. :) (2) I set priorities, like 1-3 things in a day, 1-3 bigger things for the week, and I try really hard to do those things BEFORE I let myself scroll. Like Reta said here, even doing one small thing a day helps. Sometimes I just do an hour of writing/revising in a day, but if I did that one thing that was important to me, then I feel like I'm still on course. I still have a doxen things I want to do in a day, but sometimes looking at the bigger picture of what I want to accomplish in a week really helps with that.
I really like the reminder to set 1-3 things I want to get done in a week, and then 1-3 in a day and THEN scroll. Since the election, I've surprised myself by getting good at not looking at the news and following every twist and turn so much. But Instagram can still ensnare me way too easily. I need to remember to use it as a reward after I've done my priorities. Thank you!
Astrologically, Mercury retrograde is a great time to get things reorganized, to reset, review, reorder, revise, rework, revisit, refresh, revamp etc and not so much pushing forward with new work. Mercury retrograde happens three to four times a year for about three weeks at a time. It's happening right now Nov 25-Dec 15 -- I find that these times give permission to clean things up and get set up for the next work cycle-- everything has its season and I've found this a helpful way to balance my own conflict with wanting to work and needing to get things in order -- you could also make up your own schedule for this if astrology is not your thing!
I love astrology and yesterday as I was having a terribly difficult time posting this newsletter (which never happens) I wondered if Mercury Retrograde had started. (My difficulties posting are why the word COPY appeared before the title.) And what a perfect time to get cleaned up and ready for the next cycle--2025. Thanks for the encouragement!
Do one small thing a day. Do a new small thing every day for a week. That usually breaks my cycle of unproductive chaos.
Ooh, I like the idea of doing one new small thing every day for a week. I'm going to try that!Thanks, Reta.
Charlotte, I understand this problem! I often focus on writing to the exclusion of everything else. But I think it's essential to get organized. So the question is, how can you do that in a way that works for you and doesn't rob big chunks of time from your WIP? R.S. suggested doing one small thing a day. What would work for you? And do you need a second brain that's not all the bits and pieces mixed up in a journal? I use notion for my notes on Buddhism, which works great for me in that respect, although it doesn't work for my daily, weekly, and monthly planning. There are lots of YouTube videos that offer options for a second brain. Notion, Evernote, and Obsidian are a few choices. So maybe find a system like that and decide whether to transfer in small bits or in one big go from your journal. Good luck with this!
Yes, that's exactly it. I prioritize my writing, and then that's all I want to do. And also yes, I really need to get organized and I like your idea of applying the "one small thing a day" to that project. Because I tend to easily get overwhelmed with it and then not accomplish anything. I'm experimenting with an app called Craft that seems to be pretty good for me, but thank you for those other suggestions. I'll check them out if this one doesn't pan out. Thanks, Sandra!
I hear you, Charlotte--I get super overwhelmed these days and definitely get the info overload. What has helped me over the last year or so is to (1) limit the time I give myself to be exposed to all this info. (I had to do that with the news, big time.) It might be that I allow myself an hour, a half hour, whatever--to scroll, do research on something, browse Insta, etc. Sometimes I do that while I take a break between projects, or have my morning coffee, or have a snack--doing another action like that also has the benefit of putting a timer on it. :) (2) I set priorities, like 1-3 things in a day, 1-3 bigger things for the week, and I try really hard to do those things BEFORE I let myself scroll. Like Reta said here, even doing one small thing a day helps. Sometimes I just do an hour of writing/revising in a day, but if I did that one thing that was important to me, then I feel like I'm still on course. I still have a doxen things I want to do in a day, but sometimes looking at the bigger picture of what I want to accomplish in a week really helps with that.
I really like the reminder to set 1-3 things I want to get done in a week, and then 1-3 in a day and THEN scroll. Since the election, I've surprised myself by getting good at not looking at the news and following every twist and turn so much. But Instagram can still ensnare me way too easily. I need to remember to use it as a reward after I've done my priorities. Thank you!