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"multitask "

I�m gonna try to start doing morning pages again.

Basically, its just writing for a set period of time in the morning first thing.

The goal is to get the creative juices flowing�before the �shoulds� and net surfing patterns start destroying my flow.

This means NOT checking my email first thing in the morning. Last night I set a loose schedule for myself. It says "9am check email [NOT BEFORE]"

Easier written than done.

It was so hard for me to not check my email this morning. Talking to myself, I sounded like a junkie. �Gee, my mail program is already open. I�ll just check it one last time, then close it.�I�ll get serious about this morning paper thing tomorrow.�

I can hear a Jane�s Addiction song in my head, ��she�s gonna kick tomorrow!�

Luckily, in the net addict�s equivalent of flushing the junk down the toilet, I canceled my Outlook mid-check.

I told myself no mail until 9am.

One hour at a time.

This would be funny if it weren�t real.

Part of it is my frantic avoidance of dead time. As soon as I hit a lull, I go into multi-task mode and click on another window.

Waiting for a website to load? Click to see if I have any new mail.

Pausing to find the right word for an email response? Click to see if Metafilter has been updated. Or a new post on another message Boards.

Nothing new? Maybe there is an Instant Message waiting for me on CitizenX?

JUST NOW, as I came to a pause in this very writing, my instinct was to look into my computer�s task bar and see what else I could click around to.

I need to slow down and let the pauses happen.

Sit in them.

Howard stern one time talked about not fearing the silence. Quality is more important than constant output.

I need to know that reading one post at a time�by checking a site 20 times during a day�is not necessarily better than checking it twice a day and catching up in large chuncks.

Same is true with email.

I need to stay on a single task for long enough to get in a groove. Without a groove, I can do this net bouncing for an entire day. I can be click click clicking all day long and have nothing at the end of the day to show for it.

It is now 8:56am. I haven�t yet checked my email. Looks like I made it. Today.


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