Parts-n-Pieces has chimed in with A Little Honest Self-Evaluation (about writing spaces). This entry is apparently part of a larger meme, one that I had missed so far.

Be brutally honest with yourself about your work habits.

I've been trying to find the right mix for myself so I can get this work done. I've tried it all, though: writing late at night, writing in the early morning, writing between other activities, writing at home, writing elsewhere, and at various times, none of it has worked well. I've always had to find the time and energy to write when there weren't other things to do. It's not as if I've ever (ever) been able to let the writing be the most important thing I was doing. When I was an undergrad and when I was in grad school, the Bundle was in elementary school and junior high school. I had a job, I was in school, but I also had to cook dinner and help with homework and do laundry and take care of the yard.... and then I had to find time to write. Typically, then, I wrote when the Bundle went to bed, but I'd be so tired... yet I had to crank out the work anyway. As she got older, I was able to write earlier in the day (while I was still mostly awake), but I still had the job . . . now, I'm finding that I need a specific environment to help me write. (As a quick aside: blog writing I can do anytime, anywhere. It's short and easy. Too bad the diss can't be that kind of writing.) But back to the point:

• I need it quiet (or at least not jarringly noisy) as I'm so easily distracted. It helps greatly to not be a home when I have to get the bulk of something done. I can edit at home, but the hard work of getting it all down and semiorganized, I can't be home or in my office. There are just too many distractions.
• I need my hair pulled back off my face.
• I need to be wearing comfortable clothes (these days, yoga pants and a long sleeved t-shirt, thick short socks, no shoes)
• I need to be drinking something cold. (I have no idea why I need this, but it could be 19 degrees outside, and I'd want iced tea or a frappuchino.)
• If I have to be at home, the house needs to be clean. (Really. There can't be dirty dishes in the sink or piles of dirty clothes in the closet.)
• The windows shades can be open, but the overhead lights have to be turned off. A corner lamp is OK. (Actually, I hate overhead lights anytime.)
• It has to be slightly cool in the room.

Here are mine that I know now, I expect to have more during my seclusion:

• It has to be quiet. I can play music but it has to be either instrumental or with soft lyrics in a language I don't understand, Native American and Celtic genres work really well. If I'm really having trouble concentrating, especially in the winter when the house is closed up against the elements, I play environmental sounds. Though sometimes this makes the cats crazy. They think the birds or frogs are actually in the house.
• I need to be wearing comfortable clothes - My working uniform tends to run to loose sweats and baggy t-shirts or leggings and loose denim workshirts. Fleece slippers in the winter no socks and barefeet in the summer.
• I can't work if my workspace is either too clean or to messy, which throws lots of things off. Basically I am a clutter girl but it has to be managed clutter. At the moment my study is currently on the edge of too messy, which means I will shortly have to take time to put stuff away so I can work again. As for the rest of the house, well it depends on how much I am into what I am working on. If I'm into it then the general cleanliness level of the house can be whatever it is. If I'm not into what I'm writing then those dust bunnies behind the fridge will drive me nutz. Hey when was the last time I vac'ed under the bed? (Our bed sits really low to the ground and has to be dismantled so you can get the vacuum under it to sweep.) Why do women revert to cleaning as a form of avoidance? Yes I know I so not alone in this practice.
• Lots of natural light with a peaceful view, if I can get it. The year I actually tired to write in my department's PhD student lounge I almost lost my mind. Thank the gods for wi-fi. Now I can work in the well lite spaces and leave that dark enclosed place behind. p.s. My study window is great for the peaceful view part. I look out on to the west side of the yard which has a tree and lots of shrubs. Beyond are fields, right now they are covered in snow.
• I need to know that the references I require are handy. This is a weird psychological thing that sometimes gets in the way. Should be interesting when I go to Colorado.
• I need a glass of water and tissues at hand.
• I need to have eaten something filling. I keep lots of cheese around when I am writing so I can make cheese sandwiches on the fly. This morning it is almond butter on Ezekiel bread (lots of sprouted grains but no wheat). If I can have a full meal before I start writing it is best...no it doesn't make me sleepy it energizes me.
• Finally I am an afternoon writer. At home I do my "morning bits" first - read and answer email, check on the blogs, read RSS feeds, and maybe do a post (or a few) based on what I read in email and feeds. I can do quantitative data processing in the morning but not qualitative work. All of the texted based stuff works best in the afternoon and into the evening.

Oh god I don't need any more this is way to many exclusionary vibs. LOL Looks like I need to work on it a bit. I've been, probably half-heartedly, trying to learn to work in 15-minute segments. Maybe that only works if you are less OCD about all of it. *sigh*

I agree with Professional Confessions, "In many ways, really understanding how I work best was the most valuable thing I learned during the dissertation process." We have to know what makes it easy for us to work and what gets in the way of writing, since this is going to be a lifelong activity.

Posted by prolurkr at March 22, 2006 09:43 AM

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