March Writing Prompt: Curses! Curses! Foiled Again!

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March's Prompt: Name the excuses that keep you from reaching your goal(s), and name the strategies you'll use (tried and true, or new) to combat the things that interfere.

(From Chris Brogan's 100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write)

I'm afraid my list of goal-blocking hurdles (Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, E-mail, FaithWriter's Forum, Paint.net, and on, and on) is so long it'd take a few blog pages to list them all. So, if we cut to the quick and I get honest with you, there are really only a handful of real things that keep me from working on my goals. I'm not even talking about accomplishing the goals- I'm talking about the step before that, which is working on them. And trust me, I can procrastinate in that step a good long while, too, but that's for another post.

My biggees (now remember, this is a confession, please don't judge too harshly, unless you're sure your eyes are plank-free):

1. Lack of Motivation-- but I don't feel like working on it. It's going to take so much work and I'd rather do the fun part. Can't I just give this to someone else to work out all the mess, while I spend my time on more important things like...finding the perfect background for my blog?

Oh, the drudgery. If I had a nickel for everytime I said to my son, "there are a lot of things in life we have to do, even though we don't feel like it", well? I'd be a rich hypocrite.

There's a website out there called: The Brat Factor and when I started reading Pam Young's stuff, it made me laugh, but it called me out on my own bratty ways, too.

I think it's all some kind of left-over rebellion from being the oldest child and having to be the good example all the time, but that's an excuse and not a way to live.

So, how to cope?
Give the brat her chance to rant, whine, beat her fists and kick her feet- for a designated amount of time, maybe 15 minutes, and soothe her with some dark chocolate (medicinal purposes), and then remind her that the words won't write themselves, that she's got a knack for whipping them into beautiful prose, and that she's not alone. She's got friends who will help her and a very creative Holy Spirit's assistance.

This usually works, though I have to say, it's worse if I'm short on sleep.

2. IN--diana, decision, conceivable--TER--rain, rible, rorists--RUPT--ured appendix--IONS. Phew. Yes, my life, at least during daylight hours, is full of them. And anyone trying to complete a task can get at the least irritated, and at the most, put off track. This is only complicated by the fact that I stink at mulit-tasking. My brain was not wired for it. I try, but often, it just ends in a lot of loose, frazzled ends.

So, how to cope?
If anyone has any brilliant solutions for keeping toddlers from interrupting me, let me know. In the meantime, I've got a new game plan. [hold on, inner brat is grumbling already. excuse us a minute.] The new game plan is to make the [shh...big girl Lynn is talking] housework a priority during daylight hours [it'll be fine, I promise. here, have some chocolate]. That way, when the opportunities for solid, quiet chunks of time pop-up- I'll be ready. The dishes will already be done and put away. The laundry will be caught up and folded and put away. And in addition to making my husband a giddy guy, I'll have a more serene environment for writing.

I have to tell you, my inner brat is screaming pretty loud. She has strong opinions about people telling her what to do, even if it is me. But I think when she sees the system working, she'll get on board with it.

I'm also hoping this will lead to more sleep, which will quiet her up, too.

Mr. Perfect, available on Amazon

3. Perfectionism. My brat's evil twin sister (please note, as a mother of twins I in no way support the notion that one twin will always be evil, but in a literary way, it's useful here). Little Miss Perfect would love to give my brat a good kick in the backside (no you're remembering right- perfect was a man in the Hargreaves series). She sees everything that's wrong, everywhere (maybe she sould be called Little Miss Judgmental?) and can't believe the amount of time the brat wastes in a day.

So, when those chunks of time come around, rare though they be, she insists there is a certain order in which things must be done. And those things must be done in order to have the perfect situation in which to write. Because it's impossible to write well when the counters haven't been wiped off, or when the laundry is still unfolded, or with all that clutter on the desk.

So, how to cope?
Gratefully, the mechanisms for both 1 and 2 will work here, too. First, we get that housework tackled in daylight. [Miss P wants you to know she thinks that's fantastic.] Second, shut her up with chocolate and then keep reminding her how writing is our top priority (not dishes, not laundry), and that beside loving God and loving the family, this is what counts and it's where the energy has to go. So, this might [she's shuddering] mean some sloppiness. It might mean the dishes are loaded and washing but that there are still sticky spots on the counter. It might mean, dimming the lights so the staggering mass of toys on the living room floor isn't as visible.

It'll work for Miss Perfect eventually, but her judgment will be hard to deal with. She's quick with the jabs about how inept I am. But we'll fix that with some solid doses of God's Word and God's grace.

So what about you? What are the major obstacles that keep you from working at your goals? Do you have any insights on how I can work at mine?

In the meantime, remember this, most goal-blockers can be resolved with small doses of chocolate. It shouldn't be cheap chocolate. Dark chocolate works best.