Things I do and things I don't

I imagine most creative types would recognize this loop to some extent:

• Get inspired to do something and start doing it
• Get a boost of confidence as one starts making progress in that something
• Get inspired by some other thing
• Figure out one can take advantage of the current momentum and some spare energy to do that, too
• Repeat a few times until one has a bunch of things going on
• Crash and burn (out)
• A brief hiatus of rest
• GOTO 1

And even though we recognize the pattern, we are often helpless to do anything about it. Or are we? If we went through an endless loop without changing anything, little (or nothing) would ever be achieved. But luckily (or, perhaps, unluckily?) we are human beings. This is a strange situation. On one hand, we have the intellect and self awareness to stop and look at ourselves and try to correct things. We may repeat a loop but each tame try to adjust things so that the loop doesn't end up in frustration and unfinished projects each time. Perhaps pick something up where it was left in the last iteration, perhaps overlap some loops so that a period of rest on some endeavour becomes one of activity in some other.

However, as humans, we also see many other fellow humans repeat loops endlessly without ever doing anything different. We are tossed in a very tricky condition, such as is the human condition.

Anyway, here are some of the things I do, don't, want to do, probably won't do, might do, would do, could do.

• Drawing
• Journaling
• Tarot
• Programming
• Writing
• Reaching out to people online
• Starting a proper blog
• Gardening
• Building
• Exercising
• Reaching out to local politics and social groups
• Reading about X, Y, Z, or many other different topics
• Learning a number of different languages, current and ancient

In no particular order. I won't disclose which ones I am doing, plan to do, do on occasion, or don't. Ideally, these should all get done. Ideally.

That's too much, isn't it?

If I decided I will do every one of these things every day for at least 20 minutes, I would be quickly overwhelmed. That's why I referred to the "burnout loop" at the start of this diatribe. Of course, there are things I can and do daily, there are others which I am only starting to do, there are ones that require minimum effort and may even be done to unwind, while there are others that cannot possibly be done daily, or that are completely new and unfamiliar to me (and thus, uncomfortable!), that it would require me to gather all my energies in order to go ahead and take a first step.

I guess the trap of making a TO-DO list of daily habits, and try to acquire 10 habits at once, even at 20-minute intervals, is doomed to failure. I've heard you need to do something for 21 days in order for it to become a habit. I think that's misleading. I can make it a habit so long as I don't forget about it, even if I forget to do them for days. There are things, of course, that are best done regularly, if not daily.

So, which is which? I am still figuring this out. In the meantime, these are all things I figure I'd like to start doing eventually. If I don't give up, I'll get up to speed at some point.

The current dominant culture of hyperproductivity would want us to think that Time is our Enemy. I think we would do a lot better if we took the opposite attitude, that Time is our Ally.

That's why I am going to take a nap, and then, we'll see.