Being organic runs deeper than not outlining first. It's a personality trait, not just a writing method. Organic living is about shaping your life to take advantage of the same native patterns and practices that make organic writing work for you.
The same way we need to write without being boxed in by an outline, organic writers also need to live our lives without dictating ahead of time everything we need to do.
The planner asks, "What do we want to do this afternoon?" so she can arrange her day to make it convenient and sensible to do that then.
The organic responds with, "Lets see where we are when the time comes and figure it out then."
Any internet search about how to manage various parts of your life tends to be flooded with the systematic approaches. There are endless recommendations to follow GTD patterns, make checklists, plans, schedules, and so on.
Planners love to arrange their days and their lives so what they decide to do will be doable on a schedule.
But for an organic writer, all those rigid productivity tools are the daily life version of outlining first.
Using those productivity tools is likely difficult for you in the same ways and for the same reasons outlining first is.
Fortunately, GTD and all the other productivity tools are not essential.
You don't have to live like a planner -- the same way you don't have to write like one.
You can live your life without dictating ahead of time how and when to do everything you want to do.
Your organic nature likely extends into every area of your life.
How you interact with family, friends and strangers, how you manage your finances, how you write a shopping list, how you decide what to do with your free time, your approach to health and fitness, and so on.
You'd happily choose an organic alternative over a plan in every instance, if you could.
Organics are more comfortable choosing what to do next as the opportunities arise. We respond to the state of our life in the moment rather than trying to make sure life bows to pre-conceived plans.
Amy opened her day planner. "Shopping first? Then the museum for the afternoon tour?" she asked, pen poised. She wanted Sue to put some effort into planning the day. It was the first day off together they'd had in a long while, and they both wanted to make it a good one.
Sue nodded, making eye contact so Amy knew she was engaged. "Shopping sounds great, but if we end up at Golly's, you know we'll spend hours in there. I don't want to have to cut it short to get to the museum on time. Let's just see where we are at lunchtime, then decide."
Amy suppressed a sigh. She hated just "ending up" somewhere. If they were going to Golly's at all, she wanted to know ahead of time so she could make sure they had that much time.
Rebuilding planner-dominated patterns into more organic versions can make life work better the same way writing organically makes writing work better.
Some things in life are not optional. For example, you have to get to work on time and do your real job while you're there. And such things are often bound by schedules and other requirements.
But there are lots of options along the way.
Organics can have ultimate goals in mind (just like planners do), but planner-style goal setting goes against the grain of an organic's nature.
Like outlining a story, planning our lives feels like cutting off all other possibilities. It feels like we have to force things to go to plan, no matter what.
We don't need to know exactly what the path toward those goals will look like -- and not knowing opens up our imagination so we can explore those options.
Then, you could...
And so on.
To realize our goals effectively and happily, organics need real time engagement with the process.
Instead of following a pre-built pattern, organics need to re-evaluate at every step. We want to be free take advantage of things we couldn't know ahead of time, to incorporate unforeseen developments and alter our trajectory through life on a dime.
So, instead of setting a schedule for what you're going to do with each moment of the day, just start the day with a general idea in mind.
Then check in with yourself at every transition point between tasks, every time you need to decide, "What's next?".
Organics work best when we to make such decisions in the moment, based on the state of things as they are at the time.
So, just take a moment to ask yourself about it.
Most of the time, the obvious next thing to do is the right thing to do next. You do your job, see to the kids, write in the evenings, etc.
But sometimes you'll find new answers to the "What's next?" question.
There might be alternative actions that could get you to your goals another way. You might need to change the order you do things, or how much time you spend on them. Or, you might even realize you're ready to revamp your goals and reach for something else instead.
Checking in often and listening to your own answers gives you the freedom to act on opportunities as they appear.
Organic living means letting your real life evolve much the same way you let your stories evolve.
Organically written stories run off to wherever, and it's great! Life blindsides your characters, generating exciting and perilous adventures that are a joy to write, and that keep your readers clamoring for more.
But you probably want your own life to behave a bit more predictably and pleasantly than that.
To achieve that, you do have to put in some control.
Even though off-the-cuff organic living patterns better suit our nature, the various planner-based practices out there shine at controlling the chaos life tends to throw around.
And so on.
We live in a planner-dominated world, so using planner-based patterns is almost a must -- especially in situations where we have to coordinate with other humans.
You're not going to be able to replace all planner practices outright -- short of dropping out and going to live in some remote off grid cave 1000 miles from anywhere.
But you can adapt planner patterns to better fit your organic nature. And you can offload a lot of the mechanical grunt work planner patterns inflict by using any of a burgeoning variety of apps.
It's all right to use organic techniques in every part of life, not just in writing.
You can and should do so.
Every planner based practice can be converted to a more organic form.
Maybe not completely, and maybe not without having to make a cascade of other adjustments in your life to do it.
But even small adaptations toward organic living are good. They will...
Organic living is about engaging with life's options in real time. It's not about giving up control or abandoning our dreams. It's about working with your life to reach them, using methods that take advantage of your natural skills.