"There is no more miserable human being than one that nothing is habitual but indecision" - William James, Philosopher and Psychologist.

The name William James may not be familiar to you, as it was not to me. But, upon hearing a few of his quotes and excerpts from his personal diaries on the subjects of organization I was intrigued by the wisdom of these statements. That quote is actually an excerpt from a lecture made to teachers and the surrounding sentences are as follows:

"The more details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work. There is no more miserable human being than one that nothing is habitual but indecision. And for whom the lighting of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, and the beginning of every work are subjects of express indecision."

James was a teacher, psychologist, and philosopher who lived from 1848 to 1910. Some of his choice of words and manner of phrasing are a bit hard to decipher upon first reading. In modern speak he is saying that creating structures and schedules frees up our minds to focus on the tasks we need to get done and the projects at which we hope to direct our creativity. Wondering when, how, and in what order uses up both creative energy and time in which we could be working on our art and work.

So, I have directed these concepts to my February bullet journaling practice.

As an artist and writer it can be easy to think that lack of schedule = freedom, that an absence of order leads to free flowing creativity. But actually, I have found that this is far from the truth. A balance must be struck. Personally I have found that creativity needs structure for the process to truly flow.

For example, in previous years I kept one bullet journal for all of my tasks. Personal desires, needs, goals, deadlines, and chores were all muddled together. Seeing my never ending to-do list alongside my goals for my business with notes on ideas for a novel all jumbled together left me feeling confused on where to start. What projects were most important and how could I possibly have time for art with all of my other obligations were questions of constant pondering.

Ultimately I landed on a solution that has led to more and more clarity. Instead of a single journal I now have several. Here I have two of my daily bullet journals. One is for home and garden chores and has a section for each day of the year. In this book I jot down my to-do lists and mark off what did get done.

The other is for writing projects and isn't set up like a calendar. This book is much more free-flowing and changes with my inspiration. Here I take time to write out titles for potential articles in bold letters and add interest with water colors. Each article has a page or two of space left blank under which I jot out notes, inspired sentences, and ideas whenever they appear in my mind.

But, I still found myself lacking a designated time and place for my writing. After the dishes were cleaned? Between garden chores? During la siesta? Each day I tried to carve out random moments to write my posts for HIVE and many days I just didn't find the time to.

Inspired by William James I decided to try another way. Instead of letting each day "flow" as it pleased and trying to juggle all my obligations and goals, I set up a daily schedule to follow:

Years ago I was so adverse to scheduling days. Now that these years have passed I have gotten to know myself much better and see that no schedule might be good on the weekends but, if I want to live in a clean home, eat healthy meals, get my work done AND have time for my art, some sort of schedule must created.

Unlike the hours set in school, this schedule has no specified time constraints. Knowing that a hot cup of coffee and an hour or so of creative time are my reward, waking up early(ish) isn't too hard. As my partner tends to wake up around 8:30, that gives me an hour all to myself. And then, instead of wondering when I will have time to dedicate to writing I get to that first thing in the morning.

I tried out this schedule for a few days. And then made it official by giving the tasks a bit of color:

Planned throughout the day are blocks of time dedicated to necessary tasks like cooking, cleaning, and meal prep. Other blocks are more open for inspiration. Some mornings I may spend my "me time" jotting down notes for a future piece of fiction, writing letters to pen pals, or planning out my weekly posts on HIVE.

This is only a part of my day, for after my home chores and nap we tend to go to our land and spend a few hours working there before returning for the evening. I also have other cards for other aspects of my life to set to pen as well. For now these other aspects are simply penciled in as I trial and error the perfect balance of structure and creativity.

Now, I must continue on with my tasks of the day, a pile of dishes await my attention, then I have my allotted nap and rest time before heading off to excavate some stones at the land. Once upon a time listing off all these tasks seemed daunting. But, now I know that I must simply do each one by one, a step at a time and in the order I have set out for myself.

I leave you all with, possibly, the most famous quote by William James that I think sums up my experience with this way of ordering my life: