Feel the Space

I've had a strange feeling this week. Since I completed my massive tidy up I've been experiencing a feeling of space in my house.

When there were piles of papers in every room and carrier bags of stuff in the hallway and on the landing, the house felt claustrophobic. Now, after my reorganisation, I can once again see the dining room table, the sitting room cabinet, the hall carpet. My living space seems bigger and I feel less hemmed in.

When you think about it, most people like space. When people go to buy a house, they usually want it to feel spacious and they are often put off a particular property if it is cramped or cluttered.

It's the same when you're faced with a page of print. A sheet of paper covered edge to edge with words, with no white space, is not inviting to the reader. It's far more comfortable to read something that has a larger percentage of white space - in other words, emptiness.

Most of us will be familiar with the discomfort of having to squash ourselves into a bus or a train that is jam-packed with too many people. We endure it if we have to, but isn't it so much nicer to be on one where there is plenty of room, a choice of seats, a bit of space between you and the next person?

Having our lives too crowded with appointments and demands can be very stressful. That feeling of wall-to-wall activity makes us feel we have no breathing space, no time to sit back and take stock. No time to simply enjoy our life.

How are you at the moment? Take a look at the room you're sitting in. Is it a space that you can breathe in? Do you find it conducive to working in or relaxing in?

Get out your diary and have a look at how your week pans out. Do you have space to think or are you trying to cram in so many activities that you've no time to think?

Take a look out of your window. Is there space for you to relax and roam freely? If there isn't, maybe you'd benefit from a weekend in the country or by the sea.

Give yourself a mini Space Break right now. Stand up and let yourself spread out as much as you can. Lift up your arms, stand on your tiptoes, have a good stretch and a yawn. Feeling better?

The Creative Process - the Joy of Procrastination

How many of us have great pieces we are planning to write, but we just haven't got round to doing them yet? Procrastination, the 'thief of time', affects writers just as much as it affects the rest of the population. Perhaps more so for those of us who have to set our own agenda rather than following a schedule determined for us by an employer or an editor.

Procrastination is generally seen as a bad thing, as something which gets between us and our creativity and minimises our output. Would we not have a great body of published work behind us, a list of top ten books, or a world-wide reputation if only we didn't put off doing all the things we needed to do and intended to do?

Yes, it's a great excuse, isn't it? I'd be successful if only......

But is procrastination really such a bad thing? Let's look at it from another angle and ask what benefits it can bring us.

Another, more positive, name for procrastination might be thinking time. Time to mull over ideas and plans in our mind and come to a more informed decision about them. Time to let an idea seep into our bones or our bones seep into our idea. Would you prefer an end product that had been simmered for hours in the flesh and bones of real life or one that had been given the quick 'stock cube' fix of instant decisions?

Can you taste the difference, feel the higher quality or does a longer thinking time and more careful writing only make a minimal difference? Indeed, could it take away some of the freshness and immediacy of the writing?

On the other hand, does procrastination not sometimes save us from hasty, ill-considered actions, badly chosen words, unwise choices?

What's your opinion? Would you prefer to jump right in with both feet while you still have the impetus and the enthusiasm to complete a project? Or would you rather take your time and make sure everything about it is just right and your work is the very best it could be?

I'm sure a case can be made for both sides, but I'd love to know how what sort of impact procrastinating or not procrastinating has had on you?