Check out my first post here to read more about the namesake of this newsletter and make a copy of the input/output tracking sheet if you so desire.
Happy Monday, all!
This week, I'm going to try something new—I hereby declare it "focus week" and I'm consciously limiting information/sensory intake in several ways while I power through a bunch of words in my current draft.
Here are my action steps I started last night:
Silenced notifications on my phone
Stopped reading DM's on social media
Created focus blocks (more on how you can join me for some below!) for work in my calendar
Said goodbye to my children, also known as all my open and unread tabs that I currently have gathered in five. different. windows!! I am ill!!
Put up an email away message that tells people I'm going heads down on a project, but if we already have a call or meeting scheduled, it's on my calendar and I'll be there prepared (goal of this is to have no new obligations come into the week to disturb my focus blocks)
Personally, why am I doing this? Because I need to look at my current novel draft that I pulled apart to make it better and really devote hours and hours a day to restructuring and connecting all the scenes. I can generate words and scenes in smaller chunks of time, but there comes a critical point where I need to put on blinders and consider at a high level what I have and how it can be elevated. That's where I'm at in this project right now.
I also feel like in recent weeks the world has come alive again, with requests, invitations, and fun social things. While I love that (I'm not a hermit, I swear!) I feel like I need to make this restructuring push now to set me up to enjoy some of those activities down the line guilt-free.
The impetus for action: A week ago, I taught my new class "Write Like an Athlete" for the first time. As always, putting together a class reminded me of my most aspirational self—and I knew I wanted to make some changes.
One section of my lecture focused on "training cycles" and how builds need to be paired with periods of rest for breakthroughs.
Here is the part of my slide that inspired focus week:
Seven Kinds of Rest:
Physical Rest (sleep, breathing, easy movement)
Mental Rest (screen/notification breaks, self-talk, deadline break)
Social Rest (spend time with people you are your true self around)
Creative Rest (input new things; visual art; switch modes)
Emotional Rest (cease comparison, limit contact with *haters*)
Spiritual Rest (anchoring to values, grounding practices)
Sensory Rest (limit sounds, lower lights, playlists, noice-cancelling)
The areas I'm going to be focusing on, and how I'm going to do it, are:
Mental Rest (this is where not looking at my inbox, scheduling, DM's, or notifications for a week comes in)
Creative Rest (I’m planning to read several new books that I've been putting off until I "can read them the way I want to," aka, with my full attention, pulling out lessons from them and not letting myself skim like I do when I read online. I really liked this issue of called "Reading is Important to Me and I Will Prove It" on the topic)
Sensory rest (phone in other room on silent while I'm working, noise canceling headphones on to drown out construction in my apartment, dimmer lights in my office and bedroom, candles, soft clothes)
I feel a sense of relief putting these guidelines in place for myself. Making choices all day, whether it’s which section to work on, which email to answer, when to schedule a meeting, which job to take (I’m a freelancer), can be a real mental drain that makes it hard to do the big, hard work. To know for a week that I have my parameters clearly defined feels very good. I’ve been feeling recently like an overstimulated child (see above: five windows with hundreds of tabs open).
The social piece! If you'd like to join me in deep focus this week, I've scheduled two co-working Zooms:
How to join: Just come into the Zoom at any point during those two hours, put in the chat what you're working on, and feel free to either leave your camera on for accountability, or turn it off for privacy. All mics will be off except at the very beginning, when we'll say hi. Please don’t come in and then mess around on your phone on camera! Respect the focus zone.
I did a session like this with my dear friend who lives in Australia last week. I found it very useful for morphing into my best writing self since I didn’t want to be a distracted slob in front of her. I want to pay it forward a bit this week.
Let me know in the comments which type of rest you think you need right now (you can read more about types of rest here, and take a quiz here) and if you think you might join one of the Zoom focus sessions. I don't care if I'm there alone the whole time, just knowing someone might show up will keep me going!
Have a great, focused week,
Caitlin
PROUD FRIEND ALERT: Tomorrow is the day that a work of genius officially enters our world: A Guide to Midwestern Conversation is finally here! Written by my friend, the icon TAYLOR KAY PHILLIPS (and, oh yeah, she has an Emmy because she’s a writer for Last Week Tonight, but her being my friend is more important, honestly), the book sprang from a series of viral and hilarious McSweeney’s pieces.
Do yourself a favor and pre-order this baby today so you can get it this week like the rest of us—and if you have friends or family in the Midwest, just order them a copy too, huh? [insert Midwesternism here]
What type of rest are you craving? Are you going to try to hit the focus zone with me?
ABOUT ME: My name is Caitlin Kunkel and I’m a comedy writer, long-time teacher, and creator of The Second City’s Online Satire Writing Program. I currently teach classes and consult on gift book proposals, modern adaptation, satire, and comedic literature. I co-founded The Belladonna Comedy and the Satire and Humor Festival, and I co-wrote the satirical gift book New Erotica for Feminists: Satirical Fantasies of Love, Lust, and Equal Pay, named one of the Top 10 Comedy Books of 2018 by Vulture.
Hi Caitlin, I have a weird obsession about understanding other people's schedules so this was interesting to me!
I've been reading a novel lately, which has been really enjoyable. Eve better than trash tv. I always told myself I "didn't have time" before that.
Have you heard of Focusmate? It's similar to the coworking you're planning this week, but it's two people in a video room for either 20 or 50 minutes. And you get a few sessions for free each week. Good luck with your goals this week!
So rad to get focused with you! Please count me in for future focus fun!