Recently, since finishing college, I’ve had a lot of spare
time. With spare time inevitably comes, at least in my case, boredom. I have
absolutely no idea what to do with my time off work, and so in a desperate
attempt to boost my social interaction efforts, I’ve decided to talk about what
I like to do in my spare time, so that I can try and push myself out of the
house more.
Namely, the first thing I fall back on is Netflix and YouTube.
However, as most of you know, this isn’t a very social thing to do and I don’t necessarily
always enjoy spending my life plugged in online – especially if I’m on my laptop
most of the day anyway when writing and editing. Recently, I’ve noticed that Netflix,
and especially YouTube, tends to drain my motivation. Watching other people have
a successful and somewhat more ‘fun’ experience with life than I do makes me
feel like a useless blob (as mentioned in previous Instagram posts – You can find
me @emilybrownauthor). As a result, I’m trying to gradually pull away from this
cushion of social avoidance, and instead do something productive with my time,
such as increased planning (and actually making breakfast in the morning).
However, as most of you know, this isn’t a very social thing to do and I don’t necessarily
always enjoy spending my life plugged in online – especially if I’m on my laptop
most of the day anyway when writing and editing. Recently, I’ve noticed that Netflix,
and especially YouTube, tends to drain my motivation. Watching other people have
a successful and somewhat more ‘fun’ experience with life than I do makes me
feel like a useless blob (as mentioned in previous Instagram posts – You can find
me @emilybrownauthor). As a result, I’m trying to gradually pull away from this
cushion of social avoidance, and instead do something productive with my time,
such as increased planning (and actually making breakfast in the morning).
Pulling away from Netflix and YouTube means I need to find
other activities to do with my free time. On account of the fact I have very
few friends (and bad social confidence), this mostly falls back to writing (hang
in there, readers, Detonation is on its way).
Currently, I’m suffering slightly from writer’s block, and so editing is
actually very difficult for me to do. As a result, I’m trying instead to do
more planning and journaling. Thanks to my Nana’s amazing skills, I now have a handmade
journal (which I’m very thankful for) where I can shove all my planning,
especially my blog planning, and trackers. (This makes me sound super organised,
but I promise it’s a façade, I really am not that organised).
other activities to do with my free time. On account of the fact I have very
few friends (and bad social confidence), this mostly falls back to writing (hang
in there, readers, Detonation is on its way).
Currently, I’m suffering slightly from writer’s block, and so editing is
actually very difficult for me to do. As a result, I’m trying instead to do
more planning and journaling. Thanks to my Nana’s amazing skills, I now have a handmade
journal (which I’m very thankful for) where I can shove all my planning,
especially my blog planning, and trackers. (This makes me sound super organised,
but I promise it’s a façade, I really am not that organised).
Spending my time planning, or mostly staring at an empty
page wishing I could come up with ideas to plan, is as equally satisfying as it
is frustrating. I try to keep it neat, but I’m starting to throw my
perfectionist stance on life out the window because, after all, life is never
going to be as perfect, nor as black and white, as I always hoped it would be.
So, my scrawled notes and endless Post-It notes (which no doubt only make sense
to myself), are stored happily in my journal.
page wishing I could come up with ideas to plan, is as equally satisfying as it
is frustrating. I try to keep it neat, but I’m starting to throw my
perfectionist stance on life out the window because, after all, life is never
going to be as perfect, nor as black and white, as I always hoped it would be.
So, my scrawled notes and endless Post-It notes (which no doubt only make sense
to myself), are stored happily in my journal.
Doing this keeps me busy, and fools me into thinking I’m
doing something productive, which slightly drowns out the feeling of being a
useless blob.
doing something productive, which slightly drowns out the feeling of being a
useless blob.
Along with planning, is the draining of editing. I spend way
less time than I should editing, and currently am editing at the most a few
chapters a week. With my current mindset, I just want it done, and so to avoid
rushing it and publishing work which I’m not happy with the quality of, I’ve
taken a step back. Therefore, editing is taking a backseat for a while as I try
to figure out the rest of my life, especially concerning writing.
less time than I should editing, and currently am editing at the most a few
chapters a week. With my current mindset, I just want it done, and so to avoid
rushing it and publishing work which I’m not happy with the quality of, I’ve
taken a step back. Therefore, editing is taking a backseat for a while as I try
to figure out the rest of my life, especially concerning writing.
This ‘rest of my life, especially concerning writing’, predominantly
feature these blogs (hi). I wish I could say I was at least productive writing
these, but my general negative outlook on my life, and my progression, is
holding me back and turning my work into something downgrading – and borderline
offensive towards myself – as well as also adding to the growing files in my ‘currently
working on’ folder. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy writing these blogs, but when I’m
struggling with writer’s block and motivation issues, it’s difficult to get the
blog posts written and published by Wednesday and before a ridiculous time in
the evening. (Hi, it’s currently 17:44 on Wednesday and I’m stressed).
feature these blogs (hi). I wish I could say I was at least productive writing
these, but my general negative outlook on my life, and my progression, is
holding me back and turning my work into something downgrading – and borderline
offensive towards myself – as well as also adding to the growing files in my ‘currently
working on’ folder. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy writing these blogs, but when I’m
struggling with writer’s block and motivation issues, it’s difficult to get the
blog posts written and published by Wednesday and before a ridiculous time in
the evening. (Hi, it’s currently 17:44 on Wednesday and I’m stressed).
So, writing is currently less successful than I’d like it to
be. My entire being wants to turn Netflix on, and watch a YouTube video I’ve
been putting off for about an hour now. But, to combat this urge, I’m instead trying
to pick up reading again. After a slump which has lasted literal months, out of
stress from my exams and possible confusion over my set texts in English class,
I’m finally getting back into reading books I enjoy and want to read. My
current read is Cold, by my all-time favourite author Mr Robert J. Crane (who
is a legend – and an amazing writer) and I’m slowly making my way through the book.
be. My entire being wants to turn Netflix on, and watch a YouTube video I’ve
been putting off for about an hour now. But, to combat this urge, I’m instead trying
to pick up reading again. After a slump which has lasted literal months, out of
stress from my exams and possible confusion over my set texts in English class,
I’m finally getting back into reading books I enjoy and want to read. My
current read is Cold, by my all-time favourite author Mr Robert J. Crane (who
is a legend – and an amazing writer) and I’m slowly making my way through the book.
I’m also trying to organise my future reads list, and the thought that I will
probably have to re-read a bunch of series I abandoned halfway through is kind
of upsetting but necessary in order to understand them. Lately, I’ve also tried
to widen my reading scope (if it’s called that) and slowly edge out, no doubt
like a startled deer, into different genres of reading. This includes reading more
blog posts from other bloggers, as well as picking up some non-fiction books
(which I’m primarily going to use as research for my new and developing series,
along with the Dimensions series).
However, despite how much I talk about it, reading and
writing isn’t my entire life. I also have hobbies and aspirations I want to
pick up in the next few years. These hobbies include crochet (I’ve almost finished
a blanket, and I’m actually super excited), and designing which I’d definitely
like to do more of (like designing new book covers; being more artistically
creative with drawing and photography – both of which I desperately suck at).
Along with these hobbies, I also want to pick up new aspirations. I’ve always
wanted to learn to play the guitar, probably since I was very young and small(er).
It looks fun, but also blows my mind because it looks so complex. As well as
this, I’d also like to be a better cook. Surprisingly, I actually really enjoy cooking,
even though I’m not the best at it, and – for some reason – I think I have the
talent to alter recipes after I’ve even tried them once (which mostly has made them taste better, but I might be biased).
writing isn’t my entire life. I also have hobbies and aspirations I want to
pick up in the next few years. These hobbies include crochet (I’ve almost finished
a blanket, and I’m actually super excited), and designing which I’d definitely
like to do more of (like designing new book covers; being more artistically
creative with drawing and photography – both of which I desperately suck at).
Along with these hobbies, I also want to pick up new aspirations. I’ve always
wanted to learn to play the guitar, probably since I was very young and small(er).
It looks fun, but also blows my mind because it looks so complex. As well as
this, I’d also like to be a better cook. Surprisingly, I actually really enjoy cooking,
even though I’m not the best at it, and – for some reason – I think I have the
talent to alter recipes after I’ve even tried them once (which mostly has made them taste better, but I might be biased).
These aspirations seem a little far off at the minute, but
this is mostly negative and grouchy Emily speaking (because she’s currently procrastinating
big time – yes, this is Shrek Swamp Emily, for those of you who get the reference
from my previous blog post ‘The Importance of Coffee’). Hopefully, in the next
few months, I’ll be able to find my feet instead of worrying about the world rushing
past me and, in turn, stop holding back my life.
this is mostly negative and grouchy Emily speaking (because she’s currently procrastinating
big time – yes, this is Shrek Swamp Emily, for those of you who get the reference
from my previous blog post ‘The Importance of Coffee’). Hopefully, in the next
few months, I’ll be able to find my feet instead of worrying about the world rushing
past me and, in turn, stop holding back my life.
There you have it, another blog post. This is what I do when
I have spare time. Arguably, it’s not much. But then, I’m not that social of a person.
I’d prefer to stay at home watching movies all day than going out (unless it’s to go to the cinema to watch, preferably, a Marvel film (don’t even think about spoiling Spider-Man Far From Home, that is a warning)).
I have spare time. Arguably, it’s not much. But then, I’m not that social of a person.
I’d prefer to stay at home watching movies all day than going out (unless it’s to go to the cinema to watch, preferably, a Marvel film (don’t even think about spoiling Spider-Man Far From Home, that is a warning)).
—
I’ve also got a Spotify playlist, you can find that below as
well.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rfakaE1iuqx5aMgL259L0?si=DkJ0gNYkRT2Rt_xg2g1czA
well.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rfakaE1iuqx5aMgL259L0?si=DkJ0gNYkRT2Rt_xg2g1czA