This is How We Do It: Where Does the Time Go?
Each month in This Is How We Do It, writer Cortney Matz mines her own frustrations to explore issues of productivity, coming away with (more or less) helpful thoughts on finishing that pesky screenplay, short film, or whatever else may be vexing the artistic mind. Warning: this is not an advice column.
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The question posed in this month’s blog title is usually a rhetorical—we’re not really supposed to know where the time goes. We’re just supposed to think about it. To rue its passing with a sigh and a knowing toss of the hands.
But we are creative people, and isn’t it kind of a hallmark of creative people to go against the norm? A prerogative, even? So the answer I suggest for this impossible question is quite possibly only specific to the types of people who quit day jobs, move to big cities and make it their mission to tell stories.
Quite simply, we get things done by doing them the way we want.
The purpose of this column is to explore the many different ways we maximize our time, fulfill our commitments to our art and expand our empires of friends and co-laborers while somehow managing to still enjoy our lives in the process.
So today, let’s talk about the surprising benefits of being rude.
Some of where I’m coming from:
My dad is a retired naval officer who loves organizational systems. As a professional project manager for various humongous government contractors, he has a plan for everything he wants to get done, whether it be commissioning a submarine or taking a vacation. And he’ll be happy to explain it to you if there is a white board and a set of quality dry erase markers handy (maybe not the submarine thing, depending on your clearance level). My mom, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to bring herself to keep a journal. She shops with a grocery list and cooks from a recipe card, but otherwise she pretty much wings it. Only recently as her business has taken off has she gotten into keeping a calendar so she doesn’t double-book clients.
And both of them are nice. They are very, very nice.
On the scale of attitudes about systems, I’m somewhere in-between Mom and Dad. I love writing, I love lists, I love feeling organized. But boy, have I struggled with the format for getting it all done (and the feelings that go along with not doing so). Franklin Covey, David Allen, various productivity bloggers and career coaches have all tried to get me sorted. But I’m telling you, it’s an uphill battle. One I’m still waging.
I’m also nice.
What does being nice have to do with anything? Well, being nice contradicts the presupposition that in order to get anything done, you might have to tell the occasional well-intentioned antagonist to get lost.
In this context of balancing life with productive creativity, it relates to priorities. There is a glittering array of valuable uses for my time, and no end of people telling me what they think I should do with it. What am I really committed to getting done today? Once I know what that is, it’s up to me to protect it.
Now, in case I didn’t do a good job of explaining this earlier, I am no expert when it comes to setting and sticking to priorities. Full disclosure, I was late to an appointment this morning because I was suddenly inspired to post on Instagram. So don’t listen to me. Listen to this other person…
You may remember A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson’s popular response to a young writer who asked him to read his script (bottom line: he will not effing do it).
As Josh explains, this is not about him being a killjoy. It is a mandate of his integrity.
“I have two piles next to my bed. One is scripts from good friends, and the other is manuscripts and books and scripts my agents have sent to me that I have to read for work. Every time I pick up a friend’s script, I feel guilty that I’m ignoring work. Every time I pick something up from the other pile, I feel guilty that I’m ignoring my friends. If I read yours before any of that, I’d be an awful person.”
Josh gets it. He is a human of very specific, finite proportions. He can’t read every script. He has stuff to do, places to be, and a life. He has to draw a line. And sometimes that line hurts your feelings. Which begs a question: am I willing to hurt someone’s feelings in order to not be an awful person? Hmmm. Let’s envision a few different imaginary scenarios and see:
IMAGINARY SCENARIO 1:
Cortney is writing a blog post, which is due today. A person she likes very much pokes her head in the room.
PERSON: Oh, there you are! Can I ask a quick question?
Cortney drags her eyes away from the screen.
CORTNEY (VO): Maybe the question really is quick. I was right in the middle of a thought, but it’s gone now anyway so let’s just go with it. I don’t want to be rude. Keep typing and act busy.
CORTNEY: What’s up?
PERSON: Well, I was thinking about our meeting next week and I thought maybe I should blah-blah—oh, that reminds me, I saw the cutest thing on the internet…
Cortney kisses her plans goodbye because she is screwed.
IMAGINARY SCENARIO 2:
Cortney is writing a blog post, which is due today. A person she likes very much pokes her head in the room.
PERSON: Oh, there you are! Can I ask a quick question?
Cortney keeps eyes fixed on screen in a show of busyness and keeps typing even though it now looks like this: zxpoiwet[iuss [[f[sdad;lk
PERSON: It’s just that I was thinking about next week and Blah blah blah…
Cortney’s brow furrows. On screen: as;[woiir]pww w[owow;aw !!!!!!osah afaf Gaaaaaaaaah all my goals dieeeeeeeee
IMAGINARY SCENARIO 3:
Cortney is writing a blog post, which is due today. A person she likes very much pokes her head in the room.
PERSON: Oh, there you are! Can I ask a quick question?
CORTNEY: No, I’m writing, GET OUT!
[insert unbearable ending here]
Conclusion:
Clearly there is no way around it—either you compromise your dreams or you get a little rude. We cannot be both productive and well liked.
(Obviously, there is probably some middle-of-the-road option that protects my writing time without actually yelling at the person threatening it, but I didn’t feel like creating that scenario so I’ll just let you make up your own.)
But if you could only pick one, which would you pick?
Feel free to comment with your own priority clashes, moral dilemmas and personal mandates of integrity. It’s fun.
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