Stop Chasing Flow and Find Pockets of Time Instead

It is the only option you have if you are a busy person

There is very little hope for a day when, at 6:15, someone you love screams in your face at the top of their lungs, kicks you in the balls, and punches you in the stomach.

There is no better adjective to describe such mornings than 'shit." Sure, the adjective is shitty, but in this case, 'shit' better describes it. And this morning was one of those mornings that was shit.

Even though I religiously wake up at five to work on my writing, not all mornings are good. As a matter of fact, most of my writing mornings are deeply unsatisfying.

It's not all my kids' fault. I live in an area where allergies are bad for transplants. Last night, I struggled to breathe, and I woke up to use my albuterol inhaler, only to find out it wasn't working. This, in turn, made me look for my cortisone inhaler, which I hate. I don't feel all that good after using it. Sure, the respiratory symptoms subside, but at a price. The next morning my throat tastes like I spent the previous night at a dive bar bumming Marlboros. It hurts, too, the way I'm sure it hurts for all those cowboys turned Marlboro Man.

At 5:50, my two-year-old shouts, "The heater is not working!" I walk into her room, and her heater is working, but her blanket is off, so the statement is only partly inaccurate.

At 6:15, my oldest daughter wakes up and announces she is done sleeping. I try to help her back into her bed, and she proceeds to have a nuclear meltdown. And that's where you found me at the beginning of this story.

My wife steps in so I can get a break from the kicking, and I walk over to my computer and shut down its screen, knowing I still have forty minutes to complete the piece I'm working on and resigning to the fact that it won't happen this morning.

I had only written 40 words in the new piece for a feature I owe the newspaper I write for, and I was still missing a good ending for my daily newsletter.

Performance gurus, influencers, and teachers will have you believe that the only way to create art is to achieve flow. If I could only write in flow, I would not have written one single word in my life. I don't remember the last time I was in flow. I probably experience it once a month, but I'm likely being generous as I don't even remember it.

I like to think of my writing and storytelling as 'chunked focus.' Chunked focus lets me accept that even though my life is chaotic because of my job, or because I'm raising two little ones, or because I have to travel often, I can still find little moments through a single day to write a few words. Over time, those words become 30 to 40,000 publishable words a month, close to 500,000 words a year, close to... okay, you get the idea.

I bet you are busy like me. I don't even know that I have met a person in my life who is not a busy person. So that means you are probably a busy person, too. You can use chunked focus as well. Chunked focus allows your writing to become a game of math and accumulation.

One minute of writing can yield between 40 and 70 words, but, more importantly, it can help you overcome resistance. It will get your juices flowing.

It will signal to your brain that this story that you are writing is important, so your brain will start adding anecdotes and ideas to it when you are going about your day. When you sit for the next few minutes while you are cooking those healthy turkey burgers your kids won't eat, you will know exactly where you are going. 

Before you know it, in a day or two, you have a stand-alone story or essay.

It is probably close to impossible for you to find 45 minutes in your day.

But I can bet anything you can find a minute or two of disposable time here and there, maybe while you go to the bathroom, maybe while you are standing in line waiting for your oat milk flat white, or while you wait in the car for your spouse. 

The hardest part of any story is having a first draft. Once a story is created, it is easier to edit for tone and grammar. That's what chunked focus will allow you to do; it will allow you to create a draft from which you can work.

I have to tell you this: if you are a busy adult, and your primary job is not writing or telling stories, then you will never experience flow or a high from your writing, and that's okay.

Even though you will never feel high from your writing, when you look back on what you have accomplished through the accumulation of time and effort, you will feel a sense of pride.

Chunked focus is sustainable if you have the right habits, whereas flow is unsustainable, especially on those days when you have shitty shit shit mornings.