Using the January Blahs

I think I've figured out one of the reasons for my extreme difficulty in getting out of bed at this time of year. My bedroom window faces east, and most of the year, I don't need to set an alarm because at around the time I need to get up on most days, the sun will hit that window full-on, so that a beam of sunlight sneaks past the blinds and hits me in the face. At this time of year, though, the sun must be at an angle where I don't ever get that direct light in my bedroom, and even at ten in the morning the light has a kind of pre-dawn quality about it. If I didn't have a clock, I would think it's about six in the morning instead of ten. It doesn't help that when it's cold I tend to sleep with the comforter almost entirely over my head, so even a direct blast of light might not hit me unless it bounced off the wall over my head first.

The combination of the groundskeepers and my neighbor's dog (who apparently doesn't like the groundskeepers) served to wake me up this morning, but I've still been dragging all day. The soreness from returning to ballet Tuesday night hit with a vengeance this morning, and that may not have been helped by doing kindergarden choir last night, with lots of movement activities with the kids. I do now have two boys in the group, which helps balance the pink unicorn-ness of the rest of the choir (the girls are really, really girly and, yes, one did bring her pink unicorn toy last night).

Anyway, I started putting all my research to use yesterday and was reminded that changing one thing does have a ripple effect, so I had to keep going back and forth to change everything affected by the research-driven changes. Today I may actually get to new writing. Well, new re-writing. It's another take on a scene I've already written, but at least I'm beyond the tinkering and fixing of small details. It is a challenge to get focused enough to start writing, though.

I think if I got to set my ideal working schedule, I'd plan my year to wrap up whatever I was last working on before the holidays, and then January would be a big creative retreat. I wouldn't worry about production but instead would focus on the thinking and daydreaming that are essential to creativity. Then it would be good for me to spend a lot of time lying in bed and daydreaming, or reading or watching movies. I could throw in some research, as well, and end the month with the specific plotting and outlining so that in February I'd be ready to jump into the new project. When I'm supposed to be productive with words in January, it tends to turn into an exercise in frustration because I can never do as much as I think I should be doing.

This year, though, I must produce words. Maybe next year I can adjust my schedule accordingly and see how it goes.