Reframing, Part III: Practicing the Reframing Process

I've been writing about the process of reframing: redirecting your attention to the motivational and enlivening aspects of what you’re planning on doing, and defining problems you encounter as incidental challenges rather than barriers.

So how do I put this reframing idea to work? I’m going to use the process of writing blog posts to practice it.

I'm reframing my writing process to make it less stressful

So here we go: While I’m intrigued by the big ideas in this blog and even by the actual posts once they’re up, I still don’t have a rhythm around the writing process. I worry about having good posting ideas. I have plenty of anxious moments about the writing and wonder if I can get it done. I procrastinate. I write a little, then I wonder some more.

Here’s my reframing. There is something about writing this blog that has made my life noticeably more enjoyable. I’m more curious and engaged. When I’m observing things with the idea of doing a blog post, I have fewer conscious anxieties. I may even be more willing to try things outside of my comfort zone—like driving straight into the jaws of a blizzard. So these motivating factors are where I’m going to attempt to refocus my attention. The goal is to make the writing process a little more fluid and a little less stressful. Eventually I hope to think of the difficulties—finding ideas for posts, crafting the entries in my limited free time, and so forth—as incidental challenges rather than barriers.

My first test was a) to begin to notice when the old anxieties and worries come up related to writing the blog and b) just a few times, to substitute some of the new refocused thoughts. (Nothing too radical the first time through.) I worked through this process while writing Part II of this series of posts, as well as Part III (this post). I had some promising initial results. The posts took two hours from start to finish even with multiple starts, stops, and breaks in between; that’s far faster than some of my other entries have come together. There was a little less anxiety about whether the angles for the posts were going to work; I just assumed I’d get something down and I would massage it until it worked. The issue now is whether I can keep up this work so that the reframing becomes a more natural, unconscious process.... I’ll keep trying and post on this topic again.

[Photo courtesy of Ronny Andre at www.flickr.com/photos/21706038@N00/2495928504/]