Deadlines and Deluges

Rain, rain go away, come again some other day. I guess I should be thankful for the rain, since without it there wouldn't be spring. And then there is this problem of flooding. Thank God our home has never been damaged, but many in our area have lost everything. The problem is where they choose to live is low lying or too close to a major body of water. Some neighborhoods do not have adequate drainage systems to accommodate the deluge of 5 and 6 inches of rain within a few hours. Yet, these people always rebuild in the same exact place only to suffer through the lose of everything again and again. One would think a lightbulb would come on, and the individuals might figure out they need to move to higher ground. 

Higher ground is an interesting concept. Higher ground represents a safe place. With spring right around the corner, I am looking forward to seeing the trees bloom and flowers budding. My garden is a mess and desperately in need of grooming. The hummers aren't coming until April this year as opposed to mid-March. so I do have a little time yet. Funny how those little birds seem to know the perfect time to take flight and migrate. They seem to  have an intuitive, built-in warning system. Inclement weather requires a warning system to let people know when to take shelter from Tornadoes or to evacuate and move to higher ground, a safe place. The bad weather also sometimes ruins fresh blooms, tearing delicate petals away, which lay like blankets on the ground. 

Deadlines are like bad weather warnings. They help keep us focused on the task at hand. The closer a deadline looms, the faster we must move to higher ground, a higher way of thinking, a better train of thought to save our manuscript and book contract. If we are constantly missing deadline and not changing our habits in order to be more efficient with our time in the future, then we are being just like the people who rebuild a house in the same exact place the house was destroyed by a flood in the first place. That's just not smart, because invariably the house will get flooded again, and possibly within a short amount of time, depending on the weather. 

Strategic goal setting can help us make the deadline on a project. Strategy is wisdom to move forward in a way that will benefit you and not destroy your creative germ over and over again. So create a goal setting chart for yourself. You can simply write a certain number of words daily or pages daily. And then set weekly and monthly word count or page number goals. Decide how many days a week you can actually write, realistically, and consider the number of hours as well. Setting realistic goals will help you stay on task and meet those deadlines. 

Busy-ness is like a storm brewing on the horizon. If you let other things take priority over your writing goals, then you will end up in a flood zone up to your neck in high water with the heavy burden of trying to get too much done too fast. A deluge of overload will suddenly overwhelm you, and you won't write a manuscript worthy of your creative genius. Prioritizing your time and managing your writing goals will help you get the work done and on time. 

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