#lack of structure

[simonoliverseville]

“I feel like my cognitive processing speed takes a hit every summer.”

“It probably doesn’t. The heat and the lack of structure just combine to make my mental faculties feel like soup.”

“Jeanette has proposed a fun idea of working on a Nature Guide while camping and that sounds like just what I need to scratch the intellectual itch.” 🤩

[writeodome]

Prompt - 6/27/19

Write a piece in which a character suffers from a lack of structure.

[sunshine6ixty]

Today is a 'Writing Day.'

And holy shit, is it hard to get started. I keep trying to find a way to get into the 'writing mindset' while ignoring the painfully obvious fix of just sitting down and writing. 

That sort of self-determination is really hard for me to do. I think in a much more structured way than that-- I have to have some sort of division between the "sitting around in my underwear/browsing Reddit" mode and the "being productive/trying to advance my life" mode.

Like, for a while I had the rule that I didn't have to do anything in the morning until I finished my coffee. That was my yard-stick for measuring the day-- I used coffee as a task to complete before I could do anything else, and I pursued it pretty single-mindedly. But then I started to take longer and longer to finish my coffee, and the responsible part of my brain would be all, "It's noon, you should put on pants probably." Then the irresponsible part of my brain would be all, "BITCH MY COFFEE ISN'T FINISHED."

I think one of my problems is that I always find these compromises and loopholes in the rules that I make for myself. I've tried countless times to establish a set of rules to make some sort of productive order out of the aimless muddling around to which I'm prone, but each time I try I end up saying something to myself like "Oh, no-- it's all right to play a few hours of Minecraft instead of doing something with my life. I'll just end up playing the game later anyway, right? So I can just get it out of the way now if I promise that I'll start contributing to society tomorrow."

It's like I have a problem with authority that has gotten so bad, I even have trouble telling myself what to do. A big part of that is, whenever I "have" to do something, I fight against it. Like, I say I "have" to write something or I "must" work out, and then I immediately stop doing whatever it is I say I should be doing. 

The only way I've found around this is by telling myself that I don't have to do anything. I can sit on my ass and play Minecraft until I die of starvation, if that's what I want. But--I tell myself--I don't want that. What I want to do is write. I want to become a better writer, and I want to get to the point wherein I support myself by telling stories. 

Long story short, I don't have to get off the computer and go better myself. But I'm going to, because that's what I want.

PS-- I just realized that this post really switched gears about halfway through. If you're reading this, I apologize. For closure's sake, I'm going to go take a shower, which should provide the division between pantslessness and productivity that I was looking for. But--for future reference--if you're looking for tumblr posts with structure then you can suck it up and go read something that John Green wrote.

PPS-- I don't actually know if John Green has a tumblr, or if he writes particularly structured posts. He's a good author, though, so you should read his stuff anyway.

[metaphorforametaphor-blog]

What's really on your mind...

If you're bored, you're boring. There are too many distractions. When are you Really yourself at your most selfyest? I can't breathe in this mask :( Unguided, I read about who I would become in tacky glossy mags. I learnt the methods of changing my face... MY face! I bought into a light hearted, totes cute stereo type. And this cycle is relentless... I have to swim really hard to get back to shore.