A few changes

So, after coming back from residency I have a fresh outlook on my memoir project. To meet my deadline, I pretty much have to be dedicated to write two hours or more per day. To do this, I must 1: sacrifice sleep and 2: social networking time.

1. SLEEP
I've always been a wake-up-with-exactly-as-much-time-as-I-need-to-get-ready-for-work kind of girl and then to hibernate all weekend, except at night when there are things happening. Some of you know about me sleeping disorder, for which I am no longer taking medication for since Health Care in America Sucks. So, waking is tough for me.

Since I am really dedicated to my full-time job and often work late, my mentor suggested the best thing for me to do would be to get up early and write for two hours. Getting to work at 9am is a contstant, as opposed to what time I get home each night. Since I moved, I am less than two miles to work, so I actually do not have to get up that too entirely early. Maybe 6:30 until 8:30 so I can still have time for last minute stuff before I head out the door. This will take some adjusting, but the most important thing I was missing last semester, aside from support at home, is self-discipline (which kind of was detered anyway without the support: I almost gave up).

So, to keep on a schedule and make this work, I must get up early. I did yesterday and today. However, yesterday I had to write a freelance piece for the Ebiz Insider and then this morning Dave stopped over to pick someting up and we got to talking, and then I finished a few chapters in The Glass Castle and now am writing this, so while I've been up two hours earlier, I haven't written on the memoir in this time slot yet. I worked on some pages last night, however. Practice makes perfect is what the trite saying says. If my body can adjust to this change, then I am set. Plus, I won't feel as rushed going into work- I'll be relaxed.

2. SOCIAL NETWORKING
I can't help it. I get home from work, check my email, check MySpace, check Facebook and then somehow two hours pass and I've beat my high score on every word game on Facebook. I play Word Twist, Word Challenge, Bubble Words, WordScraper, Text Twist, and my favorite, Scramble. I am an addict to these word games and I HAVE to stop. I am wasting way too much time. It goes back to the self-discipline. I already do not have a TV and have been reading more. I don't think I am going to get a TV for a while. The only reason I really want one is for when I am bored (which I shouldn't ever be because I have so much work to do) and in case I to want to invite someone over to watch a movie, but I could always go to someone else's house. (And besides, we all know what "coming over to watch a movie" really means anyway.) And, I have to keep the Internet closed when I am writing so when I hit I lull I don't repeat my Word Game downfall in mid-paragraph. Maybe I will hook up my old desktop as a Wilkes faculty suggested a January panel- great advice- have one computer with ZERO internet access so you can just write.

So those are my issues. I need less sleep and less time online and then the writing will get done. I live alone now, I have no TV. I have the motivation of my mentor and classmates and no DEmotivation of someone who does not understand the creative writing life. I CAN do this.