As some of you may know, me and a few of my pals are knee-deep in Round 2 of the 40 Days of Dating Your Passion Project. I’m been really getting into my fiction writing that I haven’t been updating this blog as much (apologies, dear Cheapsters)! For those new to the challenge, here’s a checklist to get you up to speed.
One part of the challenge is to go on a weekend getaway with your project, meaning an entire weekend dedicated solely to what you love to do:
Create a Schedule and Structure:
A few questions to ask yourself:
-When are you going on your weekend getaway?
-Where are you taking it? Are you going to mix it up and get your work done at a few different sites?
-What will you be working on?
Plan out when you are taking your weekend getaway well ahead of time. You can either do a 4 + 4 + 8 break down like my gal pal Crystal of SophisticatedSpender.com did (i.e., 4 hours on Friday, 4 hours on Saturday, and 8 hours on Sunday) or an 8 + 8 break down (Saturday and Sunday). During the last challenge, I attempted to do 8 hours on Saturday and 8 on Sunday, which was super challenging for me. I think I may do a 4 + 4+ 8 for Round 2. These are merely suggestions and a starting point, of course. Figure out what works best with your schedule. You can work in your Creation Cave or at a coffee shop or chill out spot. The last go-round I scheduled it while catsitting for my friend.
Treat it Like a Vacation:
Would you double-book if you were going out of town? This is probably the hardest part of the getaway, but you’ve got one of your friends was throwing a rager and you were out of town, you wouldn’t commit to attending, would you?
Take Breaks: The weekend getaway can feel like a marathon if you’re working on mentally or physically rigorous projects such as writing a book or getting into a new team sport, so be sure to take breaks or reward yourself. You can use a productivity timer such as Focus Booster or Internet blocker such as Freedom, or you can jot down what you’ll get to do when you complete X or make Y amount of progress. Reward yourself every so often, too. 🙂
Explore: Take time to try something new, go in a different direction, or spend a little extra time working on something you’ve been stuck on. It’s an opportunity to dig a little deeper on an aspect of your project.
Sticking to it is the most important thing. Just remember: process over progress. Have fun!
photo credit: fantasy via photopin (license)
