What’s Your Process?

Hola!

As I was getting ready to sit down and write my weekly musing, I got up, ate a snack, watered the plants, and loaded the dishwasher. Whenever it’s time to sit down, I feel the need to get up.

I remember in school, just before I needed to write a paper, I would clean my house. I needed my place to be tidy before sitting down so as not to be distracted by clutter.

I spoke with two other writers this week. One of them gets up first thing in the morning to write so as not to get distracted by all the things. The other one tidies up their space before they sit down.

Some of us have rituals we perform, conscious or not, before doing another task. The question I was asking myself today – as I was preparing to write by doing household chores, am I procrastinating, or am I preparing myself to write?

**rit·u·al:** a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. (Oxford Dictionary)

It is rare that I just sit down and write. I seem to need to do busy work before writing.

I’m also reflecting on what I do before I teach a class – how I come up with my theme and peak pose. I usually start thinking about these two questions about 45 minutes before I’m due to teach. This means I’m getting ready to leave for the studio or walking. So I’m also doing busy work as I chew on what I want to offer.

In both writing and teaching, I seem to be doing mundane tasks as I come up with my ideas.

Where do you seem to come up with your ideas? Do you perform particular tasks or rituals to put yourself in the “right” frame of mind?

Tell me about your process.

Clara