A project a day
I know some people have become incredibly proficient in their projects since they've been forced to shelter in place. Since writing Joy of Pandemic Cooking last week, I've decided to focus on one project a day and do it well, rather than knock everything out. The reason being, we don't know how much longer we're going to be here. Let's say the Easter deadline passes and we're looking at April 31st as being the true end date. I'd rather have one project each day to occupy the time than be stuck twiddling my thumbs for a few weeks.
Yesterday I cleaned up our balcony "garden," trimming the cat grass, watering an pruning the plants. I also planted a potato that had started sprouting as well as Meyer lemons seeds, the remains of the fruit I bought at what I suspect will be the last farmer's market visit for quite a while. If I'm lucky it will grow fruit in a few years.
Today I've started formatting one of the stories from A-Sides and B-Sides that I will make available as a standalone story. I need my trusted designer to bust out a cover, but they are busy at the moment. It can wait.
Tomorrow I'll clean all shoes with the stuff I bought from Sneaker Lab. All of the shoes. The next day, if the plumbing snake arrives, I'll fix our slow-moving bathroom drain. On Sunday, I'll try a new recipe with some of the meat I ordered that should be arriving soon. The day after that I'll send out some query letters to agents to see if anyone is interested in reading the latest novel. At some point next, week I'll dip a toe back into a rough sketch draft of a novel that I managed 53,000 words before life got in the way. It will need some retooling, and I think this time around writing an outline is the way to go.
Obviously, I'm not talking about laying around inert in between tasks. But there is an art to letting one's attention focus on a single project a day, no matter how simple it might be. It's causing me to rethink a lot of things, and approach life differently.
The weird result of this is that the time is flying by. I get up at six-thirty, go about my business, and next thing I know it is already dinner time. I would have thought this new way of living would be more akin to counting seconds, but it's been the exact opposite.
Then again, it's still early days.