The Sunday Update

I would sure like to know how other writers handle everything.  Not only has Murphy (from Murphy’s Law fame) become a close and personal friend of mine since the first of the year, I seem to be turning into the kind of person who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

Okay, so I can walk and chew gum at the same time.  I can’t, however, seem to figure out how to fit writing, social media and life in general into a schedule that works for me.  If I’m writing or editing, I’m neglecting Twitter and blog reading.  If I spend time on Twitter and reading other blogs, I neglect the writing and editing.

How do you organized people do it all???!!!

Definitely feeling like I’m over my head at the moment!

I’ve been so bad this week I’m not even posting my link at ROW80.  I have, however, gotten four more chapters edited since Thursday morning, a miracle given the ongoing sleep deprivation.  Which isn’t going to be ending any time in the near future.  And the nine chapters that are left are the ones that will require the most work.  Yikes!

And I blew an almost five week streak of using my powdered greens every day when I forgot it on Thursday.

I need a do-over for this week…

Oops!  I can’t believe I almost forgot this!

I got an email earlier this week from a woman who has read three of my books and enjoyed them enough that she decided to tell me.  I’ve been enjoying chatting with her (via email) for several days now.  Then I found a very lovely review for The Daddy Pact on Amazon this afternoon.  It’s just amazing what things like that can do for you when you hit a place where the writing or editing is making you crazy!

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16 Responses to The Sunday Update

  1. after a couple of weeks away, i’m in the same boat Kristy. I need to find a way to do it all – and have a life. i look forward to find out what you learn – maybe i can apply it as well.

    • That’s been part of my problem, Louise. Dealing with computer viruses in December, than being sicker than a dog for a couple of weeks in January. It’s hard to get back into any sort of schedule when you have interruptions like that.

      But if you want to know the truth, I don’t think there is a way to do it all. At least not ‘all’ as we’re understanding it. I’m getting to the place where I’m ready to say enough. I have a dozen or so blogs I follow regularly…and I think I’m leaving it at that. At least for now. And maybe get on Twitter a couple of times a day for ten or fifteen minutes each time.

      Because, like you, I have a life…and I’d like to start living it again. And spending more time on my writing. If I keep adding more and more blogs to my schedule, it’s going to get overwhelming again. I don’t like feeling like I have a four-hundred pound monkey on my back.

      I really want to support my fellow bloggers…but I can’t do it for 100+ people. Well, I suppose I COULD. I’d just have to make sure scheduled regular nervous breakdowns to help offset the stress, lol. 🙂

  2. Shelly Immel says:

    Kristy, I love the idea of 40″ insulation between you and distractions!

    I suggest that you take focusing on one thing at a time up to another level. Consider using focus areas for longer chunks of time. If you need to focus on editing for a month, let social media go down to once a week, guilt-free. Next month, jump back on social media as a primary focus and let writing take a back seat. And so on.

    Rotating focus gives me a real boost in interest and energy, and I come to each area fresh and ready to go instead of slogging overburdened through a daily grind. (It is a good idea to tell people if you’re going to drop out of sight on social media or on your blog so they don’t worry.)

    Congrats on your fan mail!!

    • LOL…a bunch of insulation sounded like a more doable option than moving to a deserted island…and I probably couldn’t get internet access there anyway. 🙂

      I like the idea of changing my focus, although I don’t think I want to ever let writing take a backseat to anything but family. But I may do something along the lines of what you suggest. Focus more on social media a couple of days a week and just not worry about writing or editing then. Make the writing my weekday job and blogs/Twitter the fun stuff again (though it’s going to take a miracle for Twitter to get to the place where I think it’s fun).

      Guess I’ll keep playing around with different things until I find something that works. LOL…gotta find more time for sleep!

      And yes…notifying people when you drop out of sight for a month is a good idea…right, Shelly? 😉

      Thank you very much…this has been a great week in the fan/review department.

  3. Kristy, congratulations on the lovely review and on the fan mail. Wow, that’s guaranteed to make a tough week great, isn’t it? 🙂

    I’ve been playing with my scheduling, trying to find something that works. The one thing I know I have to do is write first thing in the morning, otherwise it never gets done.

    Here’s to a better, more organized week for us all. 🙂

    • Hi, Sheila…Thank you. I’ve been jumping for joy over the review and email this week. It’s so motivating to get them, and they do seem to make the whole writing process easier when it feels like you’re drowning in the whole ‘too much to do, too little time to get it all done’ thing.

      I need to play a little more with my schedule because I need to be reading more blogs and spending more time on Twitter (I’m running away from home today!).

      And yes…a more organized, productive week for all of us is going to start at midnight tonight. 🙂

  4. This “too much to do, too little time” is a problem that plagues me, too, Kristi. For years and years, people have remarked about how “organized” I am and how much I accomplish — and in some ways, they’re right. Staying well organized is the only thing I can do to keep everything going that needs to be done. Yet, I still felt I was way behind too often. What really helped me recently was reading new research about “multi-tasking,” something I previously thought I was really great at. The research proves what we all knew already — it is truly impossible to FOCUS on more than ONE THING AT A TIME. This was an epiphany for me. We can have several things going at once, but we can only do one thing at at a time. Now, I truly focus on getting the clothes in the washer instead of trying to talk on the phone at the same time and pay attention to the family simultaneously, so that no one task is getting my full attention (and often all three end up poorly executed). Now, being organized frees up my mental energy because I organize differently — I schedule everything and then focus on one thing at a time. Most of the time, I’m more productive that way, even though it means many things I used to feel were essential no longer make the list.

    • I read some of that same research, Diane. And I agree with it 100%. But I’m so used to trying to do more than one thing at a time I tend to forget. So maybe it’s time to make a better effort to remember…because I NEED more mental energy. Thanks for the reminder. I need to post a big sign on my desk…FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME!!! 🙂

  5. JennyBean says:

    Kristi, if you figure it out, please let me know! I’m a disorganized wreck!

    Good reviews and fans: yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. Managing our time and tasks sure isn’t simple, Kristy. Many of us have several full-time gigs: full-time marketer, writer, the list goes on. I find that prioritizing is really key, as is creating distraction-free work space. I’ve learned to say “no” to tasks I’m not that into, or feel I simply “should” do… And I let the house get messy when I have to. LOL More on this soon. It’s such an important topic! Keep doing your best – it’s all any of us can do.

    • I think I’ve got all of that down pretty good, August…except for one important thing. The distraction-free work space. Two kids + two dogs + five cats + televisions + computers + music + an office that’s really just a very large alcove (meaning there is no fourth wall and much needed door) = a whole lot of chaos in my house.

      That’s probably the biggest key for me. So I suppose it’s time to rope my partner-in-crime (daughter) into helping me build a wall and install a door. And about 40″ of insulation. 🙂

  7. Debra Kristi says:

    Congratulations on the review and lovely email Kristy! Those are what fuel us and make it all worth it, right? As for making it all fit, I don’t have the answer for you. I am in the same boat. Some writers seem to be skilled and juggling it all. I am not one of those. I disappear from the social media when I am trying to write or do something with the family. I can’t do it all. I get torn in too many directions and nothing is completed to my satisfaction. I hope you find your answer though.

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