Trade-offs (February 16th - 21st )

This week I made trade-offs.

I went to bed earlier, I was selective about what I agreed to, I cut things I wanted to do, in favor of the things I had to get done.

Here's what I got in return:

• Wrote for 9h45m

• Studied writing for 3h45m

• Worked on music for 6h30m

• Limited busy-work to 2h

All while working a full-time job.

When I decided this year to make writing the center of the creative livelihood I want to build, I had to subtract. It's difficult for me. It has taken years of spreading myself too thin to finally learn that I can't do it all.

Two things are helping me stay on track: 

I pre-fill my calendar every Sunday, designing the week so my time matches my priorities. And I'm waking up thirty minutes earlier. 4:30am was brutal at first. I doubted I could do it. But I reminded myself:

I've gotten up this early for jobs before. If I can do it for someone else, why can't I do it for myself?

Every night I log my time and rate my day. I've noticed that on the days I sacrifice the most comfort, I feel the most fulfilled.

The trade-offs are worth it.

In Chicago, we just started second winter.