Always Searching For A Way To Improve My Writing Process

I caught up on a little magazine reading Saturday night.

I skimmed an article that briefly mentioned what it called the "four management functions for success"--identify, plan, organize, and control. I thought, Wow. That sounds like something I could use somehow in my work. Identify the project, plan it, organize...something...and control myself, as in stay on task. Maybe I just need to apply these concepts to my writing process, and I'll start cranking out work like nobody's business.

Later that some evening I was reading another article that included the following, "The samurai, who lived their lives at the edge of a sword and could die at any moment, were taught to concentrate on and immerse themselves in the here and now in order to connect with the fundamental core of their being. It helped them develop the powers of concentration, self-control, awareness and tranquility." In a flash of profound insight, I realized that I didn't need to identify, plan, organize and control in order to work harder and more efficiently. I needed to develop my powers of concentration, self-control, awareness, and tranquility by concentrating on and immersing myself in the here and now.

An hour later, I was asleep on the couch.