Frankly, Friday, I don't give a damn

There's really not much to report on for food today in my part of the world. I could list you all the food experiences in Myrtle Beach and Madison, but that would just be a list, really, and that's not all that interesting.

And I know enough about voice to realize if I think it's boring, it will come out boring.

I haven't done many reviews.

I haven't tried many new recipes. But my friend Jaleta Clegg has a good one for crock pot meatloaf I may appropriate for a meal next week.

I have a few things that require a little more research before I present, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

I did a Faery Friday last week, and had a wonderful release party that following Sunday. Yay!

And I had been thinking of doing a Feminist Friday post about working with people online and how gender and perceived gender attributes come into play when communicating, tutoring, and working with others. That may be coming in the future - like next week - but I simply haven't the brain power to give it the attention its due today.

I'm still stuck in that vortex of To-Dos that I was talking about on Wednesday.

In going through my email, I have a partial list of stuff that needs a-writing:

For the Broad Pod & Broad Universe:

General write up for the Broad Pod page for the new Broad Universe website.

Some Broad Pod press releases for upcoming epis

Benefits of Broad Universe Membership emails to our list

2011 Broad Pod planning email

Readercon Rapid Fire Reading emails

Dragon*Con Rapid Fire Reading emails

Bay State Equine Rescue Writing:

More sponsorship request emails

Interview questions for existing sponsors

Emails asking for updated adoptee stories

Writing I've Promised Others:

Writer Beware Guest Blog

3 Reviews: a graphic novel + 2 poetry books

List of elemental faeries

Writing for Writing Partnership with Christy:

Newsletter News

Newsletter article on genre

Newsletter serial mini-fic

Alec's speech for current scene we're working on

Writing for PAY:

Review for Worcester Magazine (requires trip out to a certain location today)

FICTION:

Synopsis for Starbard

More on android story

More on kelpie story

'Course, there's still phone calls I have to make, other emails awaiting answer, critiques for my correspondence writing group, and my paid tutoring/training time and several other obligations not listed.

My friend, Kelly A. Harmon, left a good comment & tip about unplugging from the web to get the writing done on my last blog post, which I probably need to do. I'll make my to-do list for the day over breakfast tomorrow… because I know I can't do all that in one day.

So, I suppose my fun alliteration for the day will have to be Frantic Friday. Wish me luck - and I always welcome more organizational tips in comments!!

Another Time Management for Writers Blog

Ok, really, it's a time management for me. In hopes you all will learn to do better per my mistakes and shortfallings.

And maybe be amused at my expense.

But I'm okay with that because I love you.

Or maybe I have just lost it.

The saying goes something like idleness being the Devil's playground. I suppose when you are used to severely looming DEADLINES OF DOOM, having several "little" deadlines, many of which are self-imposed, and few actually having a financial impact, is as close to idle as a writer can get. ('Cos those characters never friggen shut up - at least not for me.)

When you have a lot of little things that are about of equal importance, it's hard to prioritize, and that often leaves me getting next to nothing done besides scheduled hours and other "big" or "regular" projects (like tutoring and this blog). It's a combination of being overwhelmed (I really can't do a lot of these little things in a short time) and of also needing some down time (because between conventions and coming home to several deadlines, a release party, and a new semester schedule, I had a big STRESS time).

I know, rationally, it's not worth feeling guilty over. I also know, rationally, that I can tick some of these little things off if I just apply myself a little more, wake up a little earlier, … could just manage my time a little better.

Ok, maybe it's not so easily rational.

Let me throw this out to you all. What do you do when your energy is low and little projects are creeping up on you like rodent zombies? How do you chip away at the mountains of email and to-dos that aren't on email?

Share your tips!

(What am I doing now? Writing a very short blog post and hoping my readers help me out while I attack those to-dos and emails!)

A Thousand Little To-Dos

I know I'm not alone in this problem…

I totally overbook myself.

This is a constant challenge for most of us over-achiever, workaholics who love to write, aim high… and spend a good part of our lives living in fantastic fantasy worlds we've created.

In fact, much like the realm of Faerie (or Narnia or The Dreaming or any other fantastical land you might know), time passes differently when navigating between those worlds. This strange kind of time dilation, along with certain healthy god or goddess complexes many of us have, makes it difficult to organize our time.

Really difficult.

I start doing laundry or dishes, which requires next to no conscious thought, and let my mind wander to whatever world or story I'm plugging away on. In my awareness, the chore takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes tops, so I'm entirely stunned (after sorting 4-5 loads of laundry and starting the first load of the day) that about half an hour has passed. Same for an overflowing sink of dishes… which requires the dishwasher to be emptied first. Forty minutes? An hour? Really? Crap! With just those two chores alone, I've lost half an hour of more of the time I thought I'd have today.

(And don't even get me started on the friggen Wii Fit which takes no less than 45 minutes to accomplish 30 minutes of logged exercise - not counting the whole rearranging of the living room that must be done first!)

I know I can type at speeds of 80-100 words per minute, so a 1000 word blog post (my average), including research… aah, that should take me - what, an hour, hour and a half? Two or three hours later I'm fighting with LiveJournal, Blogger, and Twitter to finally post and promote said blog post…

We won't even get into days where we have scheduled out-of-house errands or, worse yet, emergencies come up that require our immediate attention for the next 20 minutes that really takes 90 minutes… (Such things tend to occur a few times a month for me).

We can try to multi-task, and to an extent, we can effectively schedule (accomplish stuff between loads of laundry/dishes), but as my friend Kelly Harmon noted in her guest blog post for Rowena Cherry, we can only multi-task so far (and it's not that far) before our quality and productivity actually goes down!

The real trick, I think, is to give ourselves realistic expectations of how much time we spend on various projects and chores. It's far too easy to minimize how much time we will spend on stuff - like laundry, dishes, blog posts, email (one of the WORST time suck offenders!).

So, this is my plan… barring further "emergencies" this week:

Time myself doing chores.

I do dishes every day. I seriously need to look at a clock before I start, write down the time, and then look again when I'm done, and write down the time. Same with laundry - which I also need to break down into "initial sorting and first load" and "changeover from washer to dryer" and "hanging and hamper sortage."

I know I need to give myself 2 hours for a blog post (I'm 49 minutes into it as I write now), or 3 for one with a lot of links and research. (Today is mainly shooting from the hip and hoping it's useful to y'all.) I need to record this time. And when I make my to-do list, I need to give myself time slots for each thing.

Why?

Because:
If I've got 5 hours of scheduled tutoring, I need to give myself 6 hours = 6 hours
If I've got dishes, I need to allow myself 40 min. (pending actual time) = 40 minutes
If I'm starting laundry, 40 minutes to sort (pending actual time) = 40 minutes
20 minutes for a changeover (pending act. time) = 20 minutes
20 minutes for hanging/hamper sorting (pend.) = 20 minutes
I average 4 loads of laundry a week… or 2- 3 in one day… = 80 minutes
If I've got dinner, it's really an hour average for all prep work = 1 hour
Email… I average 200 emails a day. If I average 1 min/email = 3 hours

That is 12 hours!

Look at that again: Twelve hours!

I might condense that down to maybe 10 hours because I can respond to any emails related to tutoring while on the tutoring clock.

But really, TEN FREAKING HOURS.

I don’t tutor every day… some days it's 3 hours, not 5 (or 4 as opposed to 6)… but that gets me down to 8 hours.

Wednesdays and Fridays, I don't cook. Thursday, my mother-in-law cleans for me and by then, laundry is done… so that cuts off some time. Friday, I don't have scheduled tutoring hours. I need to document this time and use it wisely!

My little chart didn't even include paid articles that require interviews and research, editing projects… stuff I get paid for. With deadlines. And it doesn't include blogging or errands (post office, grocery shopping, doctors' appointments, renewing my bloody registration, car repairs!), volunteering, exercise…

Can you see what else it doesn't include?

Writing. Fiction.

Fiction writing. Fiction editing. Fiction writing groups. Submitting fiction. Writing query letters. Writing synopses. Promoting fiction. Promoting myself as a fiction writer.

The stuff I WANT to do! (Yes, even the query writing).

Mind you, I am "writing from the hip" now… so I hope this has been as eye-opening for you as it has for me.

What do you need to do to properly balance your thousand-or-so little projects so you can fit in your dreams? How can you or how do you battle the time dilation or faerie time in your life?

I could really use some help here…

(And… 1 hour 16 minutes to write the blog post, not proofread or post.)

Time Management II

I maintained a week's worth of blog posts! And I have a plan!

Ok, yeah, I know that's nothing compared to great regular bloggers - for me, who has struggled with regular blog posts since 2006 on MySpace, it's big.

And I have this week all planned out, too.

I have topics and themes. My Monday posts are Manic Mondays, where I talk about how I try and organize my life & work - which, to me, is an important topic. When I interview other artistic entrepreneurs, their answers intrigue me because it's so hard to do. Oftentimes, I learn something useful. And, in all my chatting with other artistic entrepreneurs who are looking for a way to "quit their day job," organization and time management are key issues for staying on track with one's goals.

The trick/truth is: most people are still changing and adjusting their time management and organization tactics.

So, I'm sharing this particular journey with people because I do think it is helpful, and it is helpful to me.

Doing my annual blog about goals and achievements every New Year does wonders for an overall ability to achieve because I think of it throughout the year… and it is pure magic for my January productivity.

So, here are my current plans, goals, and accomplishments:

A Monday, Wednesday, Friday Blog:
Manic Monday (explained)
Writerly Wednesday - an article about writing business
Foodie Friday - I hardly ever talk about food writing - which is most of my income, so finally: I reveal MY secret ingredients!

Clean the effing upstairs!
One hour a day. It's exercise, and it's accomplishment. And seriously - you don't want to see my upstairs bedrooms/storerooms. The bathroom is ok - my Mother-in-Law cleans it once a week.

Clean the effing desk "area"!
I seriously have no idea how I can work with this much CRAP blocking my most immediate books & resources. & I have noticed that tidier desk = more productive Trish

Research 1 Short Market a day, M-F, and if there's a match for any of my available short stories/poems/etc., submit. If not, make notes and move onto something else.
Other than Broad Universe Mailing parties, this has been my most successive project yet, with 4 submissions in 2 weeks

1-2 Owed short critiques a day.
I am sooooooo behind on critiques that I owe people. I belong to several Writing Groups - one disbanded - but I feel horrible for not having returned critiques to people. If I keep this up, I WILL catch up.

Make adjustments for 1 Critique given to me.
I'm equally behind (if not moreso) in reviewing and implementing critiques from people, too. If I had all of these done, I'd have twice as many short stories ready for circulation. I have noted in my Market Research, at least, which stories would be good fit for these markets once they have been edited.

I have a few more, but they're more personal to projects or specific to household chores. But having the to-do list has been a great help.

Some of Next Week's specific projects include:

Setting up Broad Pod Preliminaries. (Don't know what the Broad Pod is? Are you a member of Broad Universe? ;) More later - stay tuned!)

Monday: Last minute restaurant review
Beer Blog Article from Beer & Wine Pairing notes
Start on MA Horse article
5+ Tutoring Hours - (oh crap, must contact friends)

Tuesday: Women's Networking Event in Worcester
Blog post on Spousal Support for the Working Writer
(because my "Tuesday" goes until 2AM)

Wednesday: Anniversary - yeah, we're both gone early until late. Yay weekend…
Chiropractor
Lunch Date + Food Review with Renée
Book Club Meeting
Tutoring Hours…

Thursday: Write Friday Blog
Catch up on everything else…

Friday: 3+ tutoring hours
Pack for Anniversary Plans
Catch up + stuff I haven't thought of yet. ;)
Oh - send out Novel Friends newsletter - so add that writing/editing M-Th
(though, may want to send that out Thurs PM for Fri…)


An overall set of goals would be to have a clean upstairs, a clean desk area, be caught up on my writing business, catch up on tutoring, and meet all of my deadlines. Very general, right now, but I'm carving them out. And the more I get done, the clearer and more detailed I can get these goals.

So far, I'm happy with the past few weeks of planning, organizing, and managing of my work & time.

I'll keep you posted of what's working - so maybe it can work for you, too!