I keep having to remind myself that I am allowed to take my time with things, that I can be gentle with myself instead of beating myself up for not managing to be 'Extremely Productive' every single day.
You are allowed to have off days. Everyone does. I have enough autoimmune issues that I probably have more off days then excellent ones. I am allowed to take a day off exercising if my back is screaming, so why can't my brain accept that I will have off writing days as well?
Most of the days I would consider unproductive I probably actually did a lot if I counted up every single minute of the day. I was informed that my lists were not specific enough and charting out every minute of your work day makes you realize exactly how much you actually get done each day.
As part of my work from home experience I have to chart out what I accomplished each week. In my brain the tasks are minimal (A big ball called Maintenance) but when you add them up I actually got a ton done between multiple daily meetings, phone calls, and the other hundreds of things I do a day on the job.
Writing is much the same. I may have a tiny word count this week but I figured out a major plot point in one story, fixed the annoying openning scene in another, and overall got an amazing amount of progress done that wasn't word count.
I am trying to be more open about my process so there will be more posts in the coming weeks. If you want a more day by day check in, find me on Twitter.
Writing accomplished this last month:
Edited An Unkindness of Magic, needs one more read through before going back to Beta Readers.
Added several pages to Burdock and Rue. Wrote notes on magic systems in that world.
Worked on Sherlock and the Fae story. Plot Bunny, it is now on paper and out of my brain so I can ignore it a bit.
Worked on Mask story, outlined pages of notes. This one is going to be massive.
Emailed Cover Artist about Paperback Cover for Unkindness.
Submitted Novel to PageTurner Awards.
Set up a page on Reedsy Discovery for A Mage's Daughter.
To Do's For March:
Complete edits on An Unkindness of Magic, send to Beta Readers for final review. Then I need to decide on Publication date and set up ads.
Work on scenes for Burdock and Rue
Edit Triad.
Work on Scenes for Harbinger, debating a time jump.