“Short Time, Many Times”

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

I’ve begun following the teachings of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He has a wonderfully clear and approachable teaching style, with a gentle sense of humor.  

His teaching on meditation practice is simply, “short time, many times.” We might think true meditation is about sitting for hours, but in reality a) few of us have those long periods to practice; b) we’re probably not prepared to focus for that long anyway; and c) we have to learn to meditate “anytime, anywhere” - to bring meditation into daily life, not just keep our practice on the cushion. 

So, he counsels us to train ourselves to meditate not just in formal practice, but throughout the day, using whatever time we have to become aware in the present moment. We might use a particular cue – sitting at a stoplight, entering a room, setting a gentle alarm every so often – to bring us back to the moment. Eventually, more and more of our day is spent in awareness.  

What does this have to do with writing?  

A lot, actually.  

The same three things apply to writing: We don’t usually have large swathes of time to write, even if we want to. We may not be able to focus for those long periods anyway – we could freeze at the thought (leading to procrastination), or squander our time in distractions. Although longer periods of time to write are great, we have to learn to write in whatever time we have. And we can make surprising progress in short amounts of time. 

In other words, consistency is better than an occasional binge-writing session. Over time, we’ll get more done. And we also won’t be too disturbed if one writing session doesn’t go well. We know there will be plenty of other opportunities to practice.  

We also train our brains to a more consistent flow of creativity. We don’t build it up as some big special thing. We just do it. It keeps our projects percolating, not forgotten in some dusty corner of the mind where we have to haul them out and try to remember what we were thinking last time we sat down to write. We’re building those neural networks! 

How do we do this?  

We can still use cues to let us know when it’s time to write. We can decide how long, when, and where to write. Unlike meditation, maybe we don’t do it several times a day. But we commit to the time we decide to do. Maybe it’s 15 minutes a day, every day. Or 30 minutes Monday-Friday. Or ten minutes. Whatever you can commit to.  

Write it down – Writing your commitment makes it more likely you will follow it. 

Use a cue – an alarm (make it a nice sound!) or immediately after a particular activity (“after I brush my teeth, I will sit down for 15 minutes and write”). Light a candle, or put on a particular piece of music.  

Make it easy – keep a notebook and pen, or your computer, to hand. If on a computer, resist the temptation to “just check email” or social media.   

“But it takes my brain a while to get back into my story.“ 

Yep, I get it. Recognize that this is a story you are telling yourself. You may need to sit for a moment before beginning writing. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Tell yourself it’s time to write. Call up an image or phrase from your story. Settle your mind on it.  

Know that it will get easier as your brain learns the cues, especially if you sit down to work at the same time every day. 

Also, understand that resistance is real – but it is also just another product of your mind. In Buddhism, we’re taught that our experience of anything is a mental perception. So, you will experience resistance, but you can also just recognize it as another cloud passing through the sky of your mind. “Oh, there it is again.” Wave hello.  

Don’t resist your resistance. Don’t try to shove it down. If it’s persistent, try asking it what it wants to tell you. What is behind it? Once you are aware of the fears or issues, they have far less power over you. Your aim isn’t to get rid of resistance permanently, but to be aware of it and the subtle ways it tries to exert power over you. Over time, awareness itself will start to lessen the resistance.  

The key is to be open to whatever your experience is, without judgment. Any day when some writing happens is a good day, but any day when writing doesn’t happen is also a good day. We’re aiming for consistent presence, not perfection. When we approach writing time without expectation, we can focus on appreciation. We can appreciate that we have this time. We can appreciate whatever comes up.  

We might even look forward to our writing time, as a time when unexpected treasure may emerge. Or not. Some days you get gold nuggets, other days you get dirt.  

Either way, we only make progress when we show up.  

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