(This is a stream-of-thought post to keep the streak alive. Apologies in advance!)
I had a horrendous morning. I had a previously difficult client on my case. However, I got that work completed ahead of schedule.
What didn’t work out so great is that a project I’ve been working on (for myself) for a couple of weeks has hit a technical snag. It’s something that was bound to happen (because nothing ever goes completely right first time) but it’s something that I wasted hours getting irritated about.
Without boring anyone, the issue is that I have a pretty big site. Managing the pages has become a chore because there are a lot of them. So I got a plugin called WP CSV which allows you to upload a CSV file (or, spreadsheet) with all your data so you can work on your site and make meta-changes (think keywords, URL’s and the like,) without having to go and change every page.
At least that’s how it works in theory.
Excel (not the plugin) has been a pain this morning. I’d like to think I’m somewhat tech-savvy, but for some reason, Excel just simply wouldn’t do what I wanted. The amount of data I was copy-pasting seemed to be too much for it. It would crash at the slightest opportunity.
All in all, it was stressful. Logically though, I’ll find a work around.
Another benefit is this article, which is received wisdom.
When You’re Writing And You Get Into A Knot, Stop
This is another rambling post because this project is doing my head in and so I’m not doing so much on the “pure writing” front. That’s a cause for stress.
Earlier on today, I was convinced I would never get this site launched, which was stressful.
I was chastising myself for wasting weeks on the project. That was stressful.
Suddenly, a pit of despair and “you’ll never succeed” came over me.
At that point, I stopped.
Insert Metaphor
Many years ago, I did a lifeguard and ‘personal survival in the water’ training course.
One of the first things we had to do was jump into a pool and then get undressed, to simulate falling in a river and having your clothing caught. I wasn’t a natural at this – when I first started, I couldn’t even get wet clothes off on dry land. The reason was because there’s an order you have to go in. Boots off first (otherwise you’ll drown,) then jeans/trousers, then – and here’s the crucial thing I didn’t get – before you try and take anything off over your head, you need to get your arms out first. Your free arms can help you pull something over your head (in the event that you need to having freed your arms anyway.)
It seems simple and logical when you think about it, but when you’re running out of air and you’ve never thought about it in your life before and you’re freezing cold, you might not make the best decisions.
There’s a metaphor here for when you’re stuck on writing, business or other projects.
Tangent Over
When you’re trying to get out of wet clothes underwater, your biological devices cause you to panic. When something is going wrong, your body takes over. Adrenaline and all kinds of other chemicals I don’t understand get dumped into your blood stream. This impairs your thinking and causes you to get stuck in a knot. This is how snare traps work; a rabbit walks into the snare, realises it’s caught, panics and tightens the snare in its struggle.
Whilst it’s not a life and death matter, when you’re struggling with a problem like a misbehaving spreadsheet, the same thing happens on a lesser scale.
You can’t solve a problem. A few hormones get released. You try some more to do the things that have gotten you into trouble, and before you know it, you’re in a psychological snare.
If you carry on struggling, your rational and calm self gets lost in the struggle. Before you know it, you’re like I was this morning: dooming yourself to perpetual failure because of a wasted two hours (which should have been ten minutes or so.)
Instead…
I had to take a break to go out later on in the day. In a not-so-surprising conclusion, when I got back I was a whole lot less stressed.
A great thing about writing is that your writing is still there when you get back. All the content and whatnot for this project remains entirely unaffected by the trials and tribulations of the day.
If you’re stuck on a piece of writing and no matter what you do the problem seems to get worse and never better, then leave it and come back. The same is true of any other project.
It doesn’t matter whether you literally step away or you simply switch to a different writing topic or something for another hour or so, the point is that you need to get it out of your head and allow yourself a chance to reset.
When you come back, the problem will be easier to solve in almost all instances.