Writing is the best tool to organize your thoughts. Many authors and leaders advice to daily writing as a way to master clear thinking. They are right, but writing constantly is not that easy, then thinking clearly is more difficult. Sometimes you lack time, ideas or both. In my case, there’s a lot I want to say, but I haven’t been able to organize my thought in clear way to express myself.
Lately I’ve been having a lot of trouble to write my thoughts to publish on my blog. I don’t think it is the famous “writer’s block” but more of a general total thought blackout. I’ve been having trouble focusing because when I’m trying to gather an idea or work on a project, in the middle of it something else pops up and I get nothing done. I’ve been reading a several books that inspire me to write something but I can’t get myself to figure out what that something is. I feel like the world demands me, as I’ve reached my 30s, to do something or be someone and lately I don’t want to feel pushed to any of it. Things like: “Fix this bug”, “answer the phone”, “exercise”, “do business”, “figure out what to eat today”, even “go out with friends”…and the list goes on, feel annoying.
Recently it’s gotten worse: every time the phone rings with a notification, message, email or even calls, a small amount of anger rushes through my body. I feel there’s a lot of noise out there telling me what can or can’t I do and very little input from my part on what I want. The real problem is that I can’t figure out what is it that I want with all the annoyances. What I really want, although impossible, is to stop the noise, maybe even stop the world and time, so I can think.
Today I’m writing about wanting to write. And I want to write because I want to organize my thoughts. I don’t want to be annoyed and I can’t stop time, but as I write things down, I might be able to figure out what I want. Einstein said that “Nothing happens until something moves” and this post is my way to use writing as a tool to get out of the mental block and a passive attitude.
All this reminds me of a scene in Mad Men, where the main character, Don Draper, after a series of personal troubles starts writing in his journal to get his thoughts organized.