{"id":3798,"date":"2017-07-13T10:39:09","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T14:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/?p=3798"},"modified":"2018-11-08T21:30:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T02:30:27","slug":"productive-by-design-the-struggle-is-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/productive-by-design-the-struggle-is-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Productive By Design: The Struggle is Real"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of my great challenges in life has always been focus and productivity.\u00a0 <\/span>I have always had grand illusions of grand accomplishments – deep, persuasive or important articles or books that stirred people to be better than they were before reading what I wrote.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m sure that there is at least a spoonful of pride in there\u2026maybe a large dose, even (which is a subject for another post!).\u00a0 <\/span>Still, I\u2019ve always wanted to be a difference-maker; always wanted to contribute, to encourage, and to motivate.<\/p>\n People have told me from through the years, \u201cYou\u2019ve got a book in you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Even plagued by years of self-doubt, I started to believe them.\u00a0 <\/span>Several years ago, I actually started the process of writing one.\u00a0 <\/span>One summer, I even dedicated an entire month to little more than writing it.\u00a0 <\/span>I got almost eight chapters written out of a desired ten\u2026then the summer ended and so did my focus on the book.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s been the same length now for two more summers.<\/p>\n Recently, I\u2019ve had the desire to pick it up again and finish it with a brand new chapter in mind.\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, the problem I now face is having to essentially start over in the process of reviewing what I\u2019ve written and getting back to the place that I know where I\u2019m going because I know where I\u2019ve been.\u00a0 <\/span>Hours later, I find myself exhausted from rehashing chapters written long ago, struggling to get to where I can finally write the new material I was earlier so excited to write.<\/p>\n This sums up my struggle pretty well.\u00a0 <\/span>It has been the pattern too much of my life has followed.\u00a0 <\/span>Because I have always been good at \u201ccramming,\u201d I relied on that rather than methodically following a well-crafted plan over the course of days or weeks.\u00a0 <\/span>I had the ability to write an adequately resourced, twenty page paper in less than 24 hours and get as good of a grade as those who had been working for weeks (truth be told, if really pushed I could do it in eight!).\u00a0 <\/span>That may sound impressive at first glance, but they learned something more valuable than I ever did: the ability to develop a plan, implement a strategy, and carry it out over the course of time.\u00a0 <\/span>As a result, I struggle even today.<\/p>\n Understanding that about myself, I have tried to develop systems of disciplines to aid my climb towards balance and productivity.\u00a0 <\/span>I have desired to best steward my God-given time, but have so often failed.<\/p>\n