I was nominated by Dneika over at Grieving is Healing for a free style writing challenge. Never having done a writing exercise (I have dark memories of the drudgery of high school writing exercises), I was skeptical, but this turned out to be a quick and fun way to write a post. I always was taken aback with where my brain took me. It appears I suffer from slight inattention and anxiety at work…

Here are Rules I had to follow:

1. Open an MS Word document
2. Set a stop watch or your mobile to 5 minutes or 10 minutes whichever challenge you think you can beat.
3. You topic is at the foot of this post BUT DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO SEE IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY WITH A TIMER.
4. Fill the word doc with as many words as you want. Once you began writing do not stop even to turn.
5. Do not cheat by going back and correcting spellings and grammar with spell check in MS WORD (it is only meant for you to reflect on your own control of sensible thought flow and for you to reflect on your ability to write the right spelling and stick to grammar rules)
6. You may or may not pay attention to punctuation and CAPITALS. However if you do, it would be best.
7. At the end of your post write down ‘No. Of words =_____’ so that we would have an idea of how much you can write within the time frame.
8. Do not forget to copy paste the entire passage on your blog post with a new Topic for your nominees and copy paste these rules with your nominations (at least 5 bloggers).

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I chose the 5 minute word challenge, and the word chosen for me by Dneika was: TODAY.

Today. To do. 

SO much to do. What to do. Get out of bed. Cuddle under covers.

Shower.

Be productive, I am productive. I am POSITIVE. Today. Work work work. 

Chat, smile. Make a grocery list. FOCUS. Right. Working. 

(Look at me. I am working!)

Lunch. Oye, now I really have to be productive, today. Look at what is left to do tomorrow! No wait, deal with today, and leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. What is it my mother used to say? Each day is a new day. Today is a new day. Except its not because it is already 3pm and WHERE HAS THE DAY GONE.

Focus. Today is Monday, I have all week to get my to do list done. I will be FINE, even if I didn’t get everything I wanted done today. Oh wait, FOCUS.

I am focused. I just scratched 1.5 things off my to do list! I AM AWESOME. High five to me. Time for some chocolate. Chocolate is good for the brain, no really!

Oh my today is almost done! God, how many emails are in my inbox? Wait, I received HOW MANY emails today? Why am I even on this email chain? 

Today is done. Tomorrow will be better. 

Word count: 206. The alarm went off as I was midway through my last sentence: “Tomorrow will be better.” I decided to keep it in, but I suspect that a harsh application of the rules would require that I leave it out. I also found it extremely hard to stay in a state of stream of consciousness. No matter how hard I tried, I kept a slight distance from my writing, which allowed me to slightly self-edit as I wrote. Pity. I would be interested in doing more of these challenges.

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My nominees are the following blogs – y’all should go check them out. All are funny, all are different:

• Only Bad Chi
• Fisticuffs and Shenanigans
• Notes from the UK
• Behind the White Coat
• Go Jules Go

Your word challenge is: GINGERBREAD or GINGER. (One of the bloggers found gingerbread too restrictive).

Good luck!