Day 844: Dictation, day 34
My IBS was still bothering me today, but I still wanted to get some work done. I did some of my “frogs" in the morning and early afternoon, since I could do them even though I wasn't feeling well. So I got some marketing and my email done even though my IBS was bothering me.
By the time my IBS symptoms died down, it was already in the late afternoon and I was feeling really tired. However, I remember blogging yesterday about how it was hard to get myself to start work. In order to combat my tendency to procrastinate, I decided to try to do at least a little bit of dictation every day, even if it was only five minutes of writing to do the bare minimum in order to keep up my writing streak.
I decided to try something a little different today, and I did my dictation at my desk, using my podcast microphone. I wasn't sure how that would work out, especially because my podcast microphone is pretty heavy, and I don't have a boom mic stand to use with it. I will probably need to get some things so that I can use my podcast microphone without needing to hold it. But for now, I needed to hold it in my hand in order to do the recording.
I again struggled with procrastination before starting my dictation. Part of it was that I was feeling exhausted after battling the IBS discomfort this morning. I also developed a little bit of a sinus headache because of my allergies, so I really was not feeling 100%.
However, I was determined to try to get some dictation done today. If I can develop the discipline for it, I would like to try to do a little bit of dictation every day. Maybe then, I wouldn't have to struggle so much with procrastination before I start doing my work.
I don't really understand the procrastination. Because I have been doing my writing streak for so long, I never had problems starting writing. But I have noticed that I had to struggle more and more with procrastination since I started doing the dictation. It's probably because I need a lot of equipment in order to start the dictation. When I write with typing, I just sit at my desk and start work.
I have tried to do my best to make it easy for me to do my dictation. I have my blocking notes on my Kindle and I have my digital recorder and extra batteries all stashed in a small backpack which I take with me when I do dictation while walking. I can just grab the backpack even if I do dictation in the backyard. And when dictating at my computer, I already have the podcast microphone set up, so all I need to do is start a recording up and go.
Yet even though I've tried to make it as easy as possible for me to do the dictation, I'm still struggling with procrastination. I'm not entirely sure why I am procrastinating so much these days. I suppose it just goes to show that even if I have developed habits to try to battle the procrastination, it can still crop up again, especially if I make some small change in my writing routine.
Also, I noticed yesterday that dictation takes a lot more brain power since I have to focus while dictating. This might be because I have to remember what I’d dictated so that I don’t lose my place or forget what I’ve already said, or it could also be because I am focusing on dictating without stopping, or maybe it just takes more energy to have the writing go from my brain to my mouth instead of my hands because I’m not yet used to it. This increased energy requirement might be why it’s harder for me to just start dictating, and why I procrastinate.
Anyway, I did my dictation at my desk today. I was intending to only do five minutes, just the bare minimum, because I was tired and I still had a bit of a headache, but I ended up doing a little bit more work. However, I didn't want to dictate for too long, because I also wanted to have enough time to do the cleanup editing afterward before it was time to cook dinner. So I cut the dictation short at about 30 minutes.
I thought I was trying to dictate faster than yesterday, but it ended up being about the same words per hour speed, around 2500. And I ended up needing to do more work during the cleanup editing, so it ended up being about 900 words per hour when I included both the dictation and cleanup editing time.
It's not quite as much work done that I wanted, but it's better than nothing. It's also not bad considering I started off the day with bad IBS symptoms.
I hope eventually I can start feeling better and I can spend more time doing my work. Or at the very least, I won't be so tired in the afternoon.
But in the meantime, I want to try to work around my IBS symptoms. It was harder when the symptoms were exceptionally bad, but now that they are not quite as awful as they to be, I'm hoping to be able to arrange my daily writing schedule so that I can get my writing done despite my IBS.
Writing streak: 323 days
My takeaway for today: Keep trying to do dictation everyday to get more used to it and try to combat procrastination.
By the time my IBS symptoms died down, it was already in the late afternoon and I was feeling really tired. However, I remember blogging yesterday about how it was hard to get myself to start work. In order to combat my tendency to procrastinate, I decided to try to do at least a little bit of dictation every day, even if it was only five minutes of writing to do the bare minimum in order to keep up my writing streak.
I decided to try something a little different today, and I did my dictation at my desk, using my podcast microphone. I wasn't sure how that would work out, especially because my podcast microphone is pretty heavy, and I don't have a boom mic stand to use with it. I will probably need to get some things so that I can use my podcast microphone without needing to hold it. But for now, I needed to hold it in my hand in order to do the recording.
I again struggled with procrastination before starting my dictation. Part of it was that I was feeling exhausted after battling the IBS discomfort this morning. I also developed a little bit of a sinus headache because of my allergies, so I really was not feeling 100%.
However, I was determined to try to get some dictation done today. If I can develop the discipline for it, I would like to try to do a little bit of dictation every day. Maybe then, I wouldn't have to struggle so much with procrastination before I start doing my work.
I don't really understand the procrastination. Because I have been doing my writing streak for so long, I never had problems starting writing. But I have noticed that I had to struggle more and more with procrastination since I started doing the dictation. It's probably because I need a lot of equipment in order to start the dictation. When I write with typing, I just sit at my desk and start work.
I have tried to do my best to make it easy for me to do my dictation. I have my blocking notes on my Kindle and I have my digital recorder and extra batteries all stashed in a small backpack which I take with me when I do dictation while walking. I can just grab the backpack even if I do dictation in the backyard. And when dictating at my computer, I already have the podcast microphone set up, so all I need to do is start a recording up and go.
Yet even though I've tried to make it as easy as possible for me to do the dictation, I'm still struggling with procrastination. I'm not entirely sure why I am procrastinating so much these days. I suppose it just goes to show that even if I have developed habits to try to battle the procrastination, it can still crop up again, especially if I make some small change in my writing routine.
Also, I noticed yesterday that dictation takes a lot more brain power since I have to focus while dictating. This might be because I have to remember what I’d dictated so that I don’t lose my place or forget what I’ve already said, or it could also be because I am focusing on dictating without stopping, or maybe it just takes more energy to have the writing go from my brain to my mouth instead of my hands because I’m not yet used to it. This increased energy requirement might be why it’s harder for me to just start dictating, and why I procrastinate.
Anyway, I did my dictation at my desk today. I was intending to only do five minutes, just the bare minimum, because I was tired and I still had a bit of a headache, but I ended up doing a little bit more work. However, I didn't want to dictate for too long, because I also wanted to have enough time to do the cleanup editing afterward before it was time to cook dinner. So I cut the dictation short at about 30 minutes.
I thought I was trying to dictate faster than yesterday, but it ended up being about the same words per hour speed, around 2500. And I ended up needing to do more work during the cleanup editing, so it ended up being about 900 words per hour when I included both the dictation and cleanup editing time.
It's not quite as much work done that I wanted, but it's better than nothing. It's also not bad considering I started off the day with bad IBS symptoms.
I hope eventually I can start feeling better and I can spend more time doing my work. Or at the very least, I won't be so tired in the afternoon.
But in the meantime, I want to try to work around my IBS symptoms. It was harder when the symptoms were exceptionally bad, but now that they are not quite as awful as they to be, I'm hoping to be able to arrange my daily writing schedule so that I can get my writing done despite my IBS.
Writing streak: 323 days
My takeaway for today: Keep trying to do dictation everyday to get more used to it and try to combat procrastination.
Comments
Post a Comment