Teacher Brain vs. Writer Brain

I spent the weekend at an intensive workshop in developing classroom materials. I came away with a lot of ideas for a slew of situations, and I also came away with a story idea. I don't know if it was something specific at the workshop that stimulated this, but what I do know is I was frustrated having to pay attention and participate and not whip out a notebook and go into my own world.

This has been a bit a of an internal Cerebral Death Match for me the past year. I care about my students (when I have them), I want to pay attention, but the intellectual stimulation sends me off on mental tangents that seem to fall through the cracks because I can't always stop what I'm doing to write an idea down. And then when I do sit down to write on my own time, lesson planning or curriculum development or school ideas start nattering away. (Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch.)

I wonder if I'd gone into another field (like my failed attempt at bartending) if I'd have more time to think about writing and actually write, or if I'd be stimulated less and thus have less ideas.