January 14th, 2009 by Chris Eng

If I could spend all day fucking around, surfing the ‘net and reading, I would. This isn’t an exaggeration—I’m a world-class procrastinator. If there’s something that needs to be finished in a timely fashion, it can wait until I’ve finished the next Castlevania level or get caught up on Battlestar Galactica. I’ve tried various methods over the years to motivate myself and get things done early, but none of them have ever worked. As a result, I remained an undisciplined slacker past the point I thought it possible to get away with.

But the winds of change might finally be blowing. Over the past month or so, two things have occurred to shift the balance of power toward motivation. The first is simply the will to change. I’m tired of the way I’ve been living and I want to get more done. Continuing the way I have been isn’t going to give me the time I need in order to complete everything I need to work on and learn, so obviously a change is in order. Which is fine as far as it goes, but wishing for change isn’t gonna do jack unless there’s a plan to back it up—luckily I’ve got one.

Half of you may start rolling your eyes when you read this, but here’s my simple plan (which has worked so far, I might add): get up at 7:30am. “Chris,” you say, “you want to grow and raise your own food. That’s what a farmer does. If you were a farmer you’d have to get up a hell of a lot earlier than that.” This is true. The crucial difference is I’m not a farmer; I’m a freelance writer and comic shop employee at the moment, and getting up early doesn’t automatically mesh itself with those lines of work. But I’m taking care of the dishes and laundry on a daily basis, as well as studying and getting my writing done—all of which can be accomplished by noon if I get up at 7:30. On the days when I’m at the comic shop it means I can have everything done by the time I have to leave for my shift. On the days I don’t, my afternoons are free to do chores or whatever other projects I have going on. Which is pretty awesome.

It feels good too. I have more energy since I started my new schedule and I’m genuinely getting more done. It’s not like the urge to screw around isn’t there anymore, but I’m able to put it in its place thanks to a positive routine. And sure, some days it takes me until afternoon to get everything done I wanted to, but I figure that happens to everyone sometimes. I’m getting a lot done aside from that; the bar is leaning much more heavily toward productivity than it was last summer.

Do I feel slightly smug about my newfound drive? I think I’m entitled to a little of that. But in the interests of politeness, I’ll just keep it to myself. If you need me, I’ll be over by the sink, drying dishes and chuckling quietly with self-satisfaction.

*heh heh* Awesome.