Going Full Tilt

Ducks in a row are not the same as ducks on the go.

Ok... sure, sometimes the work requires a level of organization that warrants extra setup, formatting, and admin stuff. I, personally, love getting organized like that. That's also exactly why I have to remind myself so frequently that all of that *jazz* is, regrettably, not the kind of stuff that makes progress on the work itself.

I'm sitting at a table in the back corner of the cafe (shocker) and I feel my eyes straining while staring at my laptop screen. It was raining earlier but it stopped. And it got warmer, too, yet I'm still wearing my hoodie even though I keep telling myself I'll take it off in a minute. That thought loop started a while ago, and I actually have no idea how long it's been going now. Cracking my knuckles absentmindedly, I cannot for the life of me figure out why the conditional formatting rules I've set up in this spreadsheet won't trigger like they're supposed to.

I've been wanting to pitch my writing to more editors for a while now. Same with submitting to open pitch-calls from publications I admire, too. While I've sent some, I haven't had any acceptances recently. If I'm honest, my overall effort there has been a little half-hearted because I've felt like... I don't know, like I wasn't good enough or something. Or, like I didn't know how to go about properly pitching these dream publications I want to go after.

It's been a fair bit since I've had something published at a brand I didn't work for, or where my relationship with an editor didn't come by way of introduction through a mutual connection or something. Not to mention, I've pretty much pivoted industries since then. Wanting to land a guest essay byline at The New Yorker, The Atlantic, or Granta is a bit different than writing about snowboarding... Which is exactly why I went full tilt into research mode on things like up-to-date format guidelines, cover letter standards, and mastheads. I pulled together a spreadsheet with links to submission portals and everything.

I'm squinting and chewing my lip when, out of the corner of my eye, I see an arm waving. No, wait... two arms. Looking up from my laptop, Isobel walks into view with a big smile on her face. I'm happy to see her, and I'm also appreciative of her timing. Because had she not intervened, it's entirely possible I'd have spent the rest of the day troubleshooting that dumb conditional formatting rule in excel.

Instead, I actually took my ducks-in-a-row and started to go.

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Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
294/365

Are you a procrastiplanner? What helps you get to the other side?

onward.

For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.