Day 632: Motivation and accountability

I haven’t blogged recently even though I probably should have, for accountability. But honestly, not much has happened. My IBS is better although not entirely under control—I still get some bouts of discomfort and pain at random moments during the day. However, they’re mild enough that some medication can clear them up within about 30 minutes, and I’ve been able to get some writing done every day. Most days I get about 2-3 hours, although there were a few days where I only did the bare minimum.

I’ve realized that trying to work while battling this IBS has forced me to be patient and flexible. If I’m not feeling well at the moment I sit down to work, I try to remember just to take some medication and wait a little while before trying again.

Granted, there were some days I was so unhappy that I just threw in the towel and did the bare minimum for the day, and then didn’t look at my computer for the rest of the day. That happened about 25% of the time.

But the other 75% of the time, I’d try to get some work done that day, whether in the morning or at least later in the day. It was hardest to go back to the computer an hour or two later when I felt better, and sometimes I really had to force myself.

But the writing streak really helped, because I didn’t want to keep the streak by just doing 10 minutes of work each day.

What also helped were small rewards I gave to myself when I did my work, such as a special Japanese snack that I only eat after I’ve done my 500 words of writing and started on doing the blocking for the day. It worked so well that I decided to try to find other special snacks I could use to motivate myself, even if they’re expensive.

Honestly, it’s really frustrating that I have to try to motivate myself to write on some days. I love writing, so I feel like I should be eager and hopping to go when I wake up. It could be because the novel is so long, so doing a little each day seems like a bit of a slog.

The IBS also probably contributes to my lack of motivation, because I’m not at 100% in terms of health. The IBS is not only uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful, it also saps my energy and there are times when my concentration is shot because I’m so physically and mentally exhausted. The IBS is better these days, but I still feel tired after only a couple hours of work.

However, I have noticed that I have more energy as the IBS gets better, so I’m hopeful that eventually I’ll get back to a 4-6 hour workday. Until then, I’ll take the 2-3 hours I can work most days. I’m also working 6 days a week rather than just weekdays.

My pace is slow going, but at least I’m still working and doing house chores despite the IBS. I just need to be patient with myself and not get too frustrated that I can’t do the amount of work that I’m used to doing.

Lately, I haven’t done any work on my Hawaii Contemporary series. Part of that is due to feeling sick, but I think I could have done some work on it on a few days this past week if I’d pushed myself a little harder. I think that’s where this public blog comes in, because it’s accountability. If I have to post how much work I didn’t get done, I will usually force myself to do a little bit more.

I’ve been feeling a bit lazy lately about posting to my blog, but I think I should just do it anyway in order to help motivate myself to work harder.

Regency series:

Editing: Time spent: 45 minutes

Writing: Time spent: 12 minutes

Writing: Total number of words: 584 words (includes words added during editing)

Writing streak: 111 days

Blocking: time spent: 1 hour, 16 minutes

Blocking streak: 105 days

Hawaii series:

Outlining: time spent: 0

Time spent doing other writing-related business: 0

My takeaway for today: I’ve been lazy about posting to my blog, but I need the accountability to push myself to work a little harder when I’m able.