As a 73-year-old woman, I’ve recognized the need to develop many systems for health, finances, and socializing.
As a lifelong writer and writing teacher, I’ve been
developing systems for those careers since I began them.
From early on, I realized that my “night owl” proclivity
worked well for my jobs. Put the kids to bed, give last feedings to animals,
lock up the house, turn off lights, prepare the kitchen for use in the morning.
Then, spend some time with my husband…talking or whatever we please. 😊
Once everyone else has nodded off, I go to my office and take advantage of the
reality that my most prolific writing time is from 10pm to 3am. In my youth, I
often did “all-nighters,” including whole book edits, whole chapter writes. I
still do those, less frequently, but I know this is my best time for creating
new curriculums, articles, poems, or book ideas.
For students, clients, friends who are “morning birds,” I
recommend rising before others by an hour or two or waiting until they leave
for school and work. Or, like I did at the height of parenthood, just getting
used to a backdrop of repeated teen songs and/or squabbling. For a time after
my nest emptied, I found myself leaving on music or television while I worked,
as I’d become so accustomed to background noise.
It was amusing and satisfying when I awoke to the reality
that I could stop doing that and return to my methods of having undisturbed
work time.
In my late fifties, I welcomed a system I’ve called “slenderizing”
which worked like this: I’d become aware that I was feeling too busy. At the
point where the joy in my work started to sap, I’d look carefully at all my job
commitments and select one or more to delete or just to give less time to. This
also has become a continuing practice.
At 72, my attention was drawn to not having every word I
wanted just as I wanted it. Quel dommage! (Translated by some as meaning “What
a pity.” I like the image of “What a damage!”)
My system for this was to write those words and phrases,
first on a small piece of paper on my monitor stand. When that was filled with
“Ashram,” “filial duties,” “automat,” “Vagus nerve,” “vicarious,” and a few
others, I put a grocery shopping-sized slip of paper on the side of the
refrigerator, where it slowly but surely added “peccadillos,” the all important
and oft-used “Freitag’s Pyramid,” “vaudeville,” and “burlesque,” as well as
some others. About a year later, I went with a 3.5 by 8.5 magnetized back of a
notepad. It contains some favorite words I find I need more now as a senior,
like “patronize.” I look frequently enough at these sheets that I’m convinced
I’ll never forget what is on them, no matter what else I don’t recall.
There are many other smaller systems like how I save my
published pieces (in notebooks filled with plastic sheet holders or file
drawers) or find information for articles (interviews and reliable sources) or
research for my fiction (find more than one source to fill out
story-contemporary setting, plot, characterization, philosophical, or dialogue
issues), or put a rolled pillow in the middle of my back while I work, and so
forth.
Doing this column has been educative. I’ve continued using
all of these systems once they were begun. And, I think, have generated new
ones as they’ve been needed. I’m congratulating myself on doing this work-necessary
filtering of what I decide is the best for me and my career.
I’d love to have you join me in an online or ZOOM class
sometime. Contact me at 50shadesofgraying@gmail.com
to request a class flyer. I have Wednesday and Thursday and Friday ZOOM groups.
