Saving Time with Wastewater writing
Original entry here.
The wastewater writing technique is a simple one, and it does not ask much of you. All it requires is something to write on, and something to write with. I’m a stationery fiend, and I have a lot of notebooks and pens I can purpose for this, but I find having a dedicated scrapbook (literally meant to be thrown away) helps a lot.
So, what is the wastewater writing technique?
The wastewater writing technique is basically simply stream-of-consciousness writing. The difference between Tony Stubblebine’s daily writing in public exercise and Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages is that this can be done anytime, any place. All you need is just focus for a few minutes.
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I find it the most useful when I’m transitioning between tasks or if I’m having trouble getting started. I sit down, take out a pen and the scrapbook I’m using, pen in today’s date (optional, I just like dating things), and I start writing.
Sometimes I’ll write the title as “Wastewater writing”, sometimes I’ll give it another random title. Anyway, I don’t think much on it. I just get started writing.
Sometimes I’ll start by saying “I should get started on this” and then write what I feel, think, or any misgivings that come to mind. The idea is to understand the motivation of what’s blocking you, and then you can start thinking about how to fix it.
Sometimes that blockage is an unrelated task you haven’t been able to complete. Well, if that’s the case, my question is, is it something you can complete now? Otherwise, add it to your calendar and set a reminder. Sometimes my blockage is because I don’t have enough information to go on, and I have an idea but I haven’t organised how to go about it yet.
The only “rule” I unconsciously have is that it cannot be more than three pages long. That usually means to me that I have a much deeper worry and it is turning into another form of procrastination. My wastewater writing usually comes out to about one A5 page in a Kokuyo Campus notebook, sometimes more, sometimes a bit less. Usually just about.
And that’s it. Thank you for reading.
