April 8th, 2021 – 925

~ Sam Shuttleworth

What did, what did I tell you? Thursday. Thurday. THURSDAY.

tHuRsDaY.

Seriously why does this day have NO CHILL. It’s 20 to midnight, I’m barely lucid, typos all over the shop and running on the memory of fumes. When I think that 1K started on a Thursday it baffles me. How?? How did I make the most significant change of my entire life on a Thursday? When I’m working in an office it’s not so bad. Yes I’m knackered but I draw energy from other people, I go for a quick walk, I pick up the phone to return a call or two. And yes I know I can do the latter here, but that’s the thing: I’m so over tired that calls are not a source of comfort. Unless they’re to family or close friends, which I should try next time.

Ok blaming the abstract concept of a day of the week is a bit unfair. Only a bit, but I know full well there are other factors. One is I’m overworking myself. I do extra hours at my day job, I do 2+ hours every other day on UpWork, and as much as 1K isn’t work, it’s not like the energy is free. Granted, 1K is never the problem because I don’t feel drained after I hit target. Even on late target days I feel a sense of burning achievement and satisfaction. So what can I do short of a convoluted scheme to become Secretary General of the UN and declaring Thursday a human rights violation? And is that a short story idea? Maybe not, I don’t want to cheapen the idea of human rights, not the way the world is going…

Well, one positive change would be to just WRITE EARLY ON THURSDAYS. Putting that in all caps makes it sound like it’s the obvious fix, and to be fair, it is, but it’s hardly a fix to a problem to say ‘be less bad, be more good’. I could pour boiling coffee over my head at the start of the day. I mean, it doesn’t fix the problem but it’s less painful than Thursday. For real, who invented this stupid day. I will fight them 1v1. Oh wait it’s named after Thor isn’t it? Yeah, Imma just retract that, that’s the worst fix idea so far. Which, is saying something. But all memery aside, I do have one idea that might, might work.

I’ve been avoiding morning showers because I don’t like the time constraint. In the evening I can relax and I don’t have to rush to be anywhere. The downsides are twofold: first, spray on conditioner is expensive, and I’m sick of having bad hair on webcam; second, showers are great for writers. Fun fact, it was a shower that led me to realise Unreachable’s title. It’s almost like a water massage treatment might be good for mental health, who knew! Me, for, years now. But morning showers are such a faff. Well, why not just make an exception for the one day that’s already maximum faff anyway? It’s worth a shot.

Published by Sam Shuttleworth

I’m Sam, and I live to write. I spent most of the first 8 years of my adulthood trying to balance writing with a large amount of crap in my personal life, until towards the end of 2018 I threw everything out and started afresh with just my writing. I built the new me around one goal: I have to write at least 1,000 words a day. I called this goal 1K, and it changed my life. So long as I write a thousand words a day, the day is a success, and atop that I've managed over time to build the life I wanted all those years. My greatest flaws as a writer is I still use too many adjectives, adverbs, connectives as openers, accidental passive voice and I don't force my work down people's throats enough on pain of extreme and unusual torture. My greatest strength is I know my greatest flaws and I'm working on them.