Whew, folks, I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the end of the year. December has been the craziest, busiest month for Paper Raven Editing to date. I sat down yesterday to write this week’s post, and I don’t think I blinked for like 30 seconds. I might have fallen asleep with my eyes open.
I tend to operate in sprints. I can be laser focused on something for a short period of time, one day or one week, depending on the task. And, yes, sometimes I surprise myself at how far I can run in one sprint. Holy smokes, though, after three weeks I am tired. I'm not quite finished with my major editing projects, so I have to find a way to press on.
What do you do when you feel like you've been sprinting, but you're just not quite finished yet?
I'm going to suggest a new coping mechanism: gratitude.
When I've been working as much as I have been this month, I start feeling crabby, miserly, and downright grinchy. I start to get frustrated with my work, my family, my own writing, everything that I actually value in life. Negative feelings decrease productivity like you wouldn't believe.
I've found that the best way to kick myself out of negativity is to list things that I'm grateful for, even the things that are stressing me out. Let me give an example list from my own life:
1. I'm grateful for my clients, who trust me to edit not only their words, but to help shape the way they communicate to their audience. I have such amazing and gracious clients.
2. I'm grateful for my kids, who are the reason my business exists. I never would have had the courage to step out on my own if it weren't for my overwhelming desire to create a life that feeds my creativity and leaves time to take my kids to soccer practice and Chick Fil A.
3. I'm grateful for my husband, who is a little clueless about how to load the dishwasher but is extremely supportive of his ambitious wife.
4. I'm grateful for my laptop, the only tool I need to influence the world in more ways than I could have ever imagined. Every time I get an email from a new subscriber to the newsletter, I still feel a rush of excitement, knowing that the PRE community grows every day.
5. I'm grateful for books and podcasts that inspire me to pursue editing, writing, and entrepreneurship.
6. I'm grateful for our modern life of grocery stores, washers and dryers, and microwaves, which make it easy to streamline the necessities so we can funnel our efforts into meaningful projects. (I'd so much rather be editing a manuscript than harvesting wheat so I can make bread for family meals!)
Wow, I feel better already. Those negative feelings just wash away from the soul, like inconsequential dust on a window.
If you're just ready for this year to be over but not quite finished with that project, make a list of 5-10 things you're grateful for. Allow the goodness of it all to seep in, then return your attention to the sprint.
You're almost done.
But before you go, tell me one thing you're grateful for, just to jump start your list. I'd love to hear from you. Just drop a comment below.