Momentum of the Muse

Welcome to post #3 in the Effective and Efficient Posting Series: Link Love.

Link love is a great way to tip readers onto helpful, informative, useful or simply hilarious information elsewhere. It is also a good posting strategy for when you’re lazy/efficient/effective/riding on someone else’s work/dedication/coat tails. So what if you don’t want to put in the leg work to achieve results that keep people coming back for more? Someone else does! Make them feel appreciated by pointing people their way.

Now, I’m going to send out some link love to Millionaire Mommy Next Door. I don’t know what my deal with Mommy blogs is; I’m in my 20’s and haven’t trusted children since my brief stint as a waitress at Red Robins, and a four year term coaching 5 to 11 year olds in ice hockey. Millionaire Mommy Next Door is more about Millionaire than Mommy, and lately I have been reading really insightful posts over there. The post I am referring to specifically today is How to Find Your Zingers. It’s a writing exercise which involves making lists of 100. I like making lists, and if you do too, I encourage you to make lists of 1000, or even 10 000.

Hmmm. If I’m so lazy, why and how can I make lists of 1000?

Well, maybe you should just listen to Jen Smith and try the exercise as she describes it.

Be sure to check out the rest of the series:

• Post #1: Quote Compilations Will Save You Time (And Effort Too!)
• Post #2: Using Holidays to Maximum Advantage

I love, love, love feedback.

Working from home, writing, there’s very little feedback throughout the day. It’s mostly me, myself and I, without no one else to cheer me on, motivate, complicate, criticize or aid. Sometimes I’ll chore away at all this business for six hours, eight hours, even ten hours straight, and then I’ll feel deflated. Why deflated? Why not accomplished, since I’ve accomplished so much?

With this type of work, nothing is ever truly done. There is always some other string to tie, or untie and tie again tighter. There also isn’t someone telling you what to do next, what a good job you’ve done and what you can improve on for next time. So, to keep up morale in the company, Ive started doing that for myself.

The process goes as follows;

1. Once any task is completed, I get up and walk around. Do a non-work related task, like make a hot chocolate, put on my grad dress, finish off my four daily push-ups. Anything to break up the rhythym and remove myself from the prior mindset.
2. Sit back down. Congratulate myself for having finished. Now, I objectively (as possible) map out what I did well, and what I can improve on the next time.
3. I make whatever revisions that apply, and only now do I check it off my list.
4. After a period of a day to a couple days elapses, I return to the work and review it once more. Then I cross it off the list entirely.

By actively checking and crossing items off the list, I feel that sense of accomplishment that motivates me to complete the tasks I least like. By giving myself moments to relax or switch trains of thought, I feel less drained. Instead of being my own worst critic, I try to also be my own best cheerleader, because balance is important. If I’m not going to compliment me, who is?

What do you do to stay motivated and clear-headed?