There is something special about marking off tasks on my To Do List.
I mean, I’m not dancing in the streets, popping champagne, and wearing a party hat to celebrate, but at the end of the day, I do get a kick out of striking through each done chore. Which is why it often takes me a while to realize that my busyness isn’t necessarily productive.
If I’m being perfectly honest, I can be quite busy and simultaneously lazy. Because I sometimes use busyness to keep from doing the things I oughta. Stuff like getting my hair cut and colored or cleaning up the spilled engine oil in the basement (and how did that engine oil spill, anyway? Or even end up in my basement, dripping down a shelf and into every nook and cranny on its way to the floor?)…I simply don’t have time to deal with those chores when I have bills to pay or an icemaker that’s on the fritz or a book that’s a corkin’ good mystery due in two days.
(Sidebar: The mystery is Bats in the Belfry, written by E. C. R. Lorac; it’s a London mystery, from the 1930’s, and the dialogue is fascinating and downright obscure. Which explains why I just said “on the fritz” and “corking.” Expressions which may or may not be in the book. But I’ll tell you what is in the book: a confoundedly twisted mystery that, with just a few chapters left, I still have not figured out. What the deuce?)
But there’s another kind of busy that I’m occasionally afflicted with and that’s the kind that keeps me distracted when I don’t want to deal with something…like when I hired the workers to rebuild the deck, fix the basement hole-in-the-wall, and put wood floors in Mister Man’s office–all within a couple months after the man died.
And now, I’m exceedingly busy (see above re: bills, icemaker, and mystery) and I’m thinking that possibly, just possibly, I’m trying to distract myself from dealing with my writing malaise.
Well, you can read all about it over at The Muffin in The Busy Trap. Because I suspect that I’m not the only writer who goes through something like this every once in a while. And I also suspect that once I figure it out–and that blasted jolly good mystery isn’t keeping me awake at night!–I’ll find my way to whatever I decide is next and then I’ll be busy writing.
Oh! And then I’ll have “writing” to mark off on my To Do List. I’ll probably fit in a couple more tasks to mark off, too, because one really needs a handful of chores if one is going to get that giddy feeling of accomplishment. But I am not cleaning up that engine oil.
Cathy C. Hall Writes 
I hear you, girl!
Oh, yes, I resemble these remarks! And I will have to check out this book now, so thanks! 🙂
I completely understand. A littel cat litter might soak up that oil, then again, you’ll have another mess.
This is so true about busyness. I have a garage that needs cleaning out, closets to organize, and lots of office stuff to file. But at the same time, Mom is in rehab and I go there every day, my daughter’s wedding is in a couple weeks, and I have editing projects due. So my writing sits, metaphorically, in a little drawer that is rarely opened. I do think we get tired out by these other things pulling at us, and so we tend to zone out in-between or at end of day when we might be writing. We know it takes a lot of creative energy to do it, so the drawer remains closed. Maybe if we take a chance on rediscovering the joy in it, we’ll get back to it. Because, as we also know, there is, indeed, joy to be found in writing. I think I’ll take a chance again… right after that Sept. 21 wedding.