You’re busy.
Yeah, you are.
I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry.
Your life isn’t going slow down for you to write. Your kids aren’t going to give you a month off of raising them. Your boss isn’t going to come into your office and tell you to take the month to work on something you’ve always wanted to work on and give yourself a break from the priorities of the office. Your health isn’t going to cooperate; it’s cold and flu season, so count on a sinus infection or two.
Oh, and if you live in America, there’s Thanksgiving, which means that you can throw a couple days out the window while you travel and stuff yourself with turkey and Aunt Edna’s mediocre stuffing (no one ever told her that Stove Top was better, and no one ever will).
But I’m here to tell you that you’re looking at your busyness the wrong way. When it comes to NaNoWriMo, the busyness happens to be a blessing.
I decided to begin NaNoWriMo this year knowing that this is the busiest I’ve ever been. I’m going to give you several things I have on my plate (but I am sure you’re busy too, I’m not undermining you, I’m simply telling you this is the busiest I’ve ever been in my life).
- I just finished up a nonfiction book proposal and am in the process of querying agents to try to sell it (completely unrelated to NaNoWriMo).
- I am in the process of preaching the biggest and most involved series at my church that I’ve ever done (including 21 days of video content released on a daily basis).
- I am editing the videos for an upcoming church service that’s video-based (minimum of 20-25 hours of work).
- We are preparing the site for a $10M sanctuary and as of right now, I’m the lead on the project. I have some gifted people I’m working with, but I’m still the point person.
- I am facilitating two Dale Carnegie Courses on two different evenings. Each session is 3 and 1/2 hours not including prep or administration time.
- I started this blog and committed to writing it for 30 days.
- I have two kids under two years old.
So, when I put it in writing, I feel pretty overwhelmed just typing it. But, believe it or not, if I wasn’t busy, I wold have trouble participating in NaNoWriMo. This is also a theory offered by Chris Baty in his book, No Plot, No Problem. He’s the creator of NaNoWriMo. He knows why it works.
With all that being said, can I tell you why busyness works to your advantage.
1) Prioritization becomes a matter of survival. I have to set my day according what is most important, and next to my time in prayer in the morning, those words I’ve been laying on paper have become my highest priority.
2) Elimination becomes easier. When you’re busy and you’re trying to knock out 1,667 words per day, you say “no” to a lot. In another post, I’m going to tell you what I’m giving up right now.
3) Revelation of what’s going on in your heart surfaces. If this is important to you, busyness won’t keep you from it. And I’ve found that on the things that I’ve given up to do this, my heart wasn’t as serious about those things as it is about the writing. Next to my ministry work and my time with my family, the words are my thriving passion.
So, you’ve read enough. Now get busy! I mean, cut through your busyness and slay some pages.