On Finishing…
Some people are born finishers. They sew together the sweater pieces they’ve knitted, send their edited articles into magazines, and actually take their packages to the post office. Yes, some people are finishers.
But we don’t have to like them.
Thankfully this last creativity challenge got me moving and I finished some projects. I finished my second embroidered kid’s jacket, and for the first time I knitted something for myself – this pretty lacey scarf made out of Kid-Lin.
In spite of these finishes, the last few days have been slow and frustrating for me. I had four days of bad migraines, followed by one blissful pain-free day which left me in a state of mania as I tried to get a backlog of stuff done. Then the migraine came back so badly that I had to take every med in my arsenal and curl up in the fetal position so I wouldn’t start vomiting and end up in the ER. (Nothing keeps you from getting sick like the idea of spending the wee hours of the night in the ER.) Today Paul and I are both sick with head colds, and tomorrow I’ll spend most of the day freezing my scalp muscles at the neurologist. Then we leave mid-week for Texas and when we return the kids get out of school at noon for ten days. Sigh. On weeks like this I feel like I never finish anything. How’s a person supposed to work?
That’s when it’s helpful for Paul to sit me down and tell me everything I actually got done. This week’s list included cleaning most of the house, folding five baskets of laundry, making it to the post office, buying the dog his special food and shampoo, and making up some shrine kits for etsy. I also pulled apart the hat I finished knitting because it didn’t fit, and I’ve got it about half way knit again.
Because of the migraines, I didn’t get the next chapter of my manuscript written, which is my biggest disappointment. Nor did I clean out the kid’s room for the move, which is stressing me out considerably. Still, not bad for a ‘sick’ week.
What do you do when your time seems to get sucked away by “other “ stuff? What do you decide to finish..and how do you talk to yourself about your accomplishments–or lack thereof? Advice for the poor of finishing, please!
Entries
November 1st, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Your finished orange scarf is beautiful. I just looked at the Flickr photo. The yarn texture looks lovely. So soft.
Now, to your questions:
I don’t like to suggest anything I haven’t tried myself, but this morning, I read Leo Babauta’s post at Zen Habits and decided I would focus on three research/writing projects for my nutrition blog this month. Link: http://zenhabits.net/2007/11/haiku-productivity-limit-your-projects-to-achieve-completion/
This number seems manageable to me. Perhaps this strategy that Leo calls Haiku Productivity would help with your creative projects. I will certainly let you know at the end of November if it worked for me.
Anytime you need a boost to help you get through a project or remind you of your accomplishments, I think you should come to your blog readers. After all, you gave us the Creativity Challenge which helped us complete knitting, sewing, and gardening projects. Yes, it worked for me — it helped me decide what to finish and by when.
And what you do in a “sick” week would take me at least a “well” month to accomplish.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Oh, I love the scarf! Just gorgeous!
I’ve never learned to knit, though I did try crocheting for awhile. Everything came out crooked, though, so I set that aside.
I haven’t suffered from migraines in a long time, thank goodness, but I deal with panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. On those days (or weeks) when I can scarcely keep my head above water, much less feel truly productive, it helps to make a list of the things I am proud of myself for. It’s a bit like a “To Do List” in reverse. I’ll add even the simplest accomplishments, for example, “I made a good meal for my family,” or “I read stories to my kids.”
At the end of the day, I read the list, and I feel better about myself and my day. Then on those days when everything seems to be falling to pieces, I can pull out previous lists and be reminded that good days do come back around.
Best wishes!
Mary