Eigenmumbles

It takes me more than five minutes to write the typical email, anything beyond a one-line response that says that I can meet or that my office hours have been moved. Writing anything more technical, I move at a glacial pace. This is not a good thing, and I know it.

One of the ways that I try to keep myself from overthinking things is by writing with a pen. I type faster than I can think through my sentences at times, so I’m always stuck hitting backspace from time to time when I use the computer. But I write more slowly, which paradoxically means that I often end up producing more writing per unit of time with a pen than with a keyboard, only because I throw less of it away. And this feels a little silly. It’s the product of habits that I should be able to revise or work around.

So let’s work on revising or working around those habits. This is my experiment: the five minute masterpiece. I sit and type for five minutes, and whatever is done at the end of that time, I post. It could be me writing about something technical or something absurd; the only rule is that it must be done quickly, with a minimum of fretting over revision. Also, ideally, it should involve only very brief seconds where I stare off into space and try to marshal my thoughts into words, rather than periods of a minute or two.

At the moment, I have a sleeping baby sitting in front of me, and she is starting to stir. That’ll keep me honest for today. What will I do to manage this more generally? I don’t know, but I imagine I’ll figure something out!