Reading, verse, writing

I write, sometimes for myself. My biggest issue with writing is my attachment to what I’ve said. As an emotional and moody person, I have many ups and downs in short periods of time. When I write in these, whatever I’ve said fits exactly how I feel. Come the next day, and those feelings I had harnessed seem foreign to me. I am embarrassed by my work. I wrote a thing feeling clever, and I read it feeling drole. It is a glaring inconstancy between my writing skills and my reading critically.
How am I supposed to bridge that gap? How can I write something I am proud of? Do I need to work on it for a long time, over years of rewriting, or should I just leave things as their written, as I sometimes do when drawing?
Up to now, some of my best work has come from a five minute study. I suppose I should just keep a journal and practice. If I had time… I never have time for anything that seems “to be for my own benefit.” Ohh well, maybe I’ll just play out a day of “academic life.” It can’t be that hard, can it?