I went to a workshop a few years ago when the instructor talked about ‘sharpening the saw’. She said that woodcutters often take an afternoon a week just to work on their tools, justifying the time spent with the time saved. You see, it’s much quicker to cut a log with a clean saw with sharp blades than a dull one. This is also one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 

So I’m sharpening my saw. Taking the phrase literally, I’m making sure that all the real tools I am using are as clean and efficient as possible – ready to do their work.

Virgos are supposed to be organized. I’m better at creating chaos for a while and then taking a day to put it all back together. So part of my weekend was spent in de-cluttering my home office. Now I’ve got 5 stacks of old magazines to take to the recycler (I’m not about to tell you how old some of them are), a couple trash cans full of ‘burnable’ trash, and a couple bags to put out with the garbage. A cleaner work space will make it so much easier to concentrate on the current project.

As a long-range goal, I plan on getting my computer files in order - cleaning out all the duplicated things, and making sure everything is in the proper folder under the proper label, so I can find them easily. I have quite a few flash drives that I plan on storing most of the writing on – one for poetry, one for short stories, etc…..

But remember, the mind is your best tool.  Another part of the sharpening process is simply refreshing and re-energizing the mind and spirit. I’ve rejoined the gym, and have my iPod ready so I can listen to audio downloads while I’m getting my mind and body into shape, as well as relaxing and letting my thoughts gather.

Some of this sounds time consuming - and it is. Maybe if I take the time to sharpen the saw, I will turn into one of those magically efficient people who has everything at her fingertips. It will take work, but will be SO worth it.  The goal is to get excited about the actual writing process again.   It will be just me and the computer…and the world.