Don't skip weeks

📝 "Never miss twice" is bad advice; "Given the smallest excuse, one will not work at all"; not feeding the gremlins.

Why can’t you just skip one week?

Last week, I was pretty distracted on Saturday evening. I was on vacation in a beautiful destination. The sun was setting, the waves were breaking and I wasn’t seeing any of it; as I was entering the second hour of tweaking a newsletter post about to go out.

A friend asked: You’re on vacation. Why can’t you just skip one week?

It’s fine, just don’t miss twice

Why not take a break? That is a very good question. It’s not like there isn’t enough to read on the Internet already.

Even the #1 bestseller airport book about habit formation says you cannot hit the mark every time:

Summary: Not a big deal if you miss one week, just don’t miss twice.

I think it’s terrible advice.

It’s always easier not to write

Every week, there is some reason not to write.

It’s raining and I feel down. Or it’s sunny and I’d rather be outside. I have too much work. I’m on vacation. I’m tired, I’m distracted, I don’t feel like it.

John Steinbeck put it best:

One never feels like awaking day after day. In fact, given the smallest excuse, one will not work at all.

The surprising benefit of sticking with the schedule is that it removes the agonizing anxiety: should I write, or should I give up?

When giving up is not an option, I just get down to it and start writing.

Conclusion

I write because I love to do it, I’ve always wanted to do it, and it brings me joy to do it.

And because it’s important to me, I choose to do it every week.

In theory, I could do it on a less regular schedule, skipping some weeks here and there. But I don’t think I could pull it off in practice. Once I tell myself I can skip some weeks, the gremlins of apathy (I don’t feel like it) and fear (it’s not good enough) rear their heads and jump on my desk.

Whenever I see those gremlins, I think of this haunting quote:

I know dozens of aspiring writers. They think of themselves as writers, they introduce themselves as writers at parties, they know that deep inside, they have the heart of a writer. The only thing they're missing is that minor final step, where they actually fucking write things.

… and I get to it.

Postcard from Lombok

On Lombok I was getting around on a cute tiny automatic-gear motorbike. Very fun and easy to learn! (PS never leave your motorbike unattended around monkeys)

Keep doing what’s important to you,
– Przemek