Recently, I've felt really productive in my life but especially in one area that I've struggled with.
My writing.
I started writing fiction about six years ago. I've taken a few online classes and I've sold some short stories but I really want to write Christian romance novels. So I started working on my first novel last year. I got through the first draft, some 68,000 words. This year, I got off to a rocky start for personal reasons but I'm back on track. In fact, of late, I've been pretty productive so I started thinking about what I was doing differently.
Aside from creating this blog, one of the things I've done is ignore my television.
Not an easy thing to do at Casa Woodside. Seems like there's always at least one TV on in our house.
And my family watches a wide range of stuff, from The Gospel Channel to movies, cartoons to home & garden shows, not to mention all the news channels. Always something to grab one's attention.
But even quality television watching takes time. Time away from other things, things I keep saying are important to me. Like playing with my children or reading to them. Like talking with Hubby about something other than sports, church organization, or politics. Like exercising. Like Bible study.
Like writing.
TV is a huge time stealer. That's probably not news to anyone reading this.
Even though I'm one of those people who frequently does other things while watching television, like cook, pay bills, make lists, or read a book, the fact is that I give too much of my time to the little black box.
So I've gotta work on reducing the time spent TV watching and shifting that time to other things.
Notice I didn't say give up TV. Why? Because, just as with food, anytime I tell myself I'm going to completely stop doing something, I set myself up for an epic battle that I'm unlikely to win. Plus I really do enjoy certain shows and watching TV helps me to relax.
I don't do well with extremes.
But I will commit to only watch the shows I really want to see, as opposed to turning the TV on and channel-surfing to find the best of the not-so-great show options. Turning the set off at the end of a show will be a big behavior change.
Is there a particular thing that steals your time? Could be TV for you too. Or maybe the Internet. Or socializing when you have other things to do. Or simply procrastinating. (another one of my major challenges)
Whatever it is, I challenge you to go on this journey with me to make a significant reduction in your time-stealer, not by trying to stop all in one fell swoop but, by making a conscious choice each time you realize your time is being stolen to stop right then and do something else. Something more productive, more important.
Life is all about moderation, or so my 87-year old mother always says.
And she's a pretty smart lady.
Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
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