Sunday Salon and the secret of life

I think, 43 years in, I've discovered the secret to living well.... Maybe that's excessive. I've discovered a secret to getting things done. It's obvious, and yet I hadn't applied it previously. The trick is to introduce things that need doing into your life in such a way that doing them on a daily basis becomes an unquestioned habit. This has now been working for me in two areas with incredible success. It could (theoretically) be applied to anything you need to get done: writing something, cleaning the house, flossing, exercise. For myself, I've been working on a book since April 21st, a little bit every day, and despite that I really don't have time for this--so I'd been telling myself for years, what with the kids and the errands and the "real" work--it's getting written, quite steadily.

More recently, in fact, 17 days ago, I started exercising regularly: one hour a day on the exercise bike, and I've stuck with it, so it's beginning to feel like not doing it is unthinkable. I can see that I may falter in this: if I get sick or really don't have time one day, I can imagine slipping, but this is as good as I've ever gone before, exercise-wise.

Now, the happy byproduct of this exercise is that for an hour a day I'm also reading. And after racking up an unimpressive number of books read in 2008 prior to August, I am of a sudden reading an enormous number of them. In fact, in addition to doing more regular exercise than ever before, this is the most prolific reading period of my life.

So, in August I have read (with links to my reviews):

Linda Greenlaw, Fisherman's Bend
Will Thomas, The Black Hand
Jennifer Anne Kogler, The Otherworldies
Matt Richtel, Hooked
Judith Guest, The Tarnished Eye
David Grene, Of Farming & Classics
Josh Lanyon, The Hell You Say
George Rabasa, The Wonder Singer
G.M. Malliet, Death of a Cozy Writer
Melanie Wells, When the Day of Evil Comes
Beth Lisick, Helping Me Help Myself (review forthcoming)
Rupert Thomson, Death of a Murderer (review forthcoming; 20 pages from finishing)

It's incredible to me, really, that relatively simple changes--carving out a bit of time for something structured--can have such noticeable results.

Comments

[Julie]

1.

Wow -- I'm impressed! I am not doing so well in the exercise department. I think I need to figure out a way to incorporate reading into the routine. :-)

[unfinishedperson]

2.

Deb: Congratulations on keeping to the commitment. I'm working on getting up early each morning (M-F) myself to run. Tomorrow will be the beginning of my second week, so I sort of know from where you're coming.

[Ann (Table Talk)]

3.

I'm totally with you on this Deb. If I hadn't adopted the same policy some years ago I would never have managed when I was holding down a full time job, looking after my home and being my Mom's main carer.

When I was writing my doctorate I would do 300 words a day before I went to work. In a half term I had a chapter. It all adds up.

[Debra Hamel]

4.

Thanks for the responses, guys! Julie, the reading definitely helps. Sure, you can also watch TV, but that's not a big draw for me. So being able to read at the same time feels like I'm doubling my time--getting double the good done in the same period of time.

Unfinished: you've got me beat. Running and getting up early at the same time! Too much for me.

Ann, it's really amazing. I continue to be astounded at how I'm managing to write. Even if it's just a sentence a day--and it's usually more--the thing is moving forward. I'd always assumed I needed a good swath of uninterrupted time available during the day. I'd had that previously, after all. But you really can squeeze it into small moments.

[dshep]

5.

Great to hear. Rock on, Debra!

[Debra Hamel]

6.

21 days in a row today!

[Manda]

7.

Your post remind me of Jane's Methodist cousin in Jane Eyre - she explains that the secret of happiness is to divide your waking day into hours, and to each hour allocate a task. Jane didn't think much to it, but I can see the pleasures of such a life.

[Debra Hamel]

8.

Interesting! And your comment reminded me of Nick Hornby's About a Boy--though I haven't read the book, just seen the movie--wherein he divides his days into half-hour increments that have to be filled.