Time

“What’s life without a dream?”

(my qoute–though I don’t doubt I heard it somewhere )

Time–I’ve run out of it! So I’ve been getting organized. I don’t know about you but I go in streaks. I get everything organized and then somehow immediately ‘forget’ to keep things that way and 3 or 4 months later am like…“Where am I??? Didn’t I just get all this nice neat and simple? Didn’t I just put a perfect time management plan in place? Where did it go? How’d I lose it?”

So I spend a few hours going through everything again and organizing again and getting my rear-end back in gear…again. Of course this particular time, my recent changes to what my goals are with life have really upset things and its been a matter of trying to find the right pattern, footing and so forth amidst it all. I think I’m finally getting there and as such this post is as much for you as it is for me. It’s not a list of goals but rather points all interconnecting.

• First up is I have a goal to have this book actually in the mail by April 30th. I’m NEVER gonna make it if things keep the way they have the past two weeks.

• Spring sports have started and my life craziness just went up a notch

• I have also added getting healthy to my daily routine–this is a MUST and not something I’m willing to back off on. But it eats up time all around–exercising, actually making food to eat, planning, logging…the list goes on but you get the idea. I NEED to do this for me or everything else isn’t as good.

• I AM going to have a garden this year - I miss it so much. It doesn’t have to be big, just something that grows and is edible. This will take time.

• I AM going to take photos, knit and take time at least once a week to cook a new recipe. This takes time.

• I AM going to teach my youngest his ABC’s before he starts school in the fall. This takes time.

• And then of course there are the usual…keep up with house chores, friends, family and so forth.

All of these things take time. Learning to manage ones self, ones time, ones choices efficiently is…a job in and of its self. I’m learning. Some days I do great, others…I’m reminded of my kids. I do better when things are organized around me, so that’s what I’ve been doing on that end of things. On where to spend my time, I spent a lot of time pondering things this week and believe I’ve come up with a viable plan. Not to say its not flexible, it has to be, but its a base and one that if I’m going to reach my goals has to be predominate.

One of the things on my time list is internet time…somehow this area can start off small and before you know it, its crept up to a HUGE amount of time. I can glance at the clock and think, ‘Ten more minutes and that’s all’, and then the next time I glance…45 minutes have gone by and I have to run! So now I’m setting a timer(done this before and it works great).

Another one of the things on this list is my posting time allowance. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to blog. Its soothing to me. A release of sorts. Fun. A way to connect. A way to collect my thoughts. A way to share. It’s writing! And obviously I love to write. I personally like to be consistent and as such I’ve tried to make sure I am posting on a regular basis. (this obviously has not been a chore ) But this time of year things always get crazy and with my goals I have decided I NEED to make sure I don’t spend more than a certain amount of time in this area.

I’ve gone through all kinds of ideas from say only working on a post for 15 minutes a day(like that will EVER happen! Once I start I won’t stop until I’m done writing whatever it is I’m working on.), to posting once a week, to not at all until my book is done. I did not like that last option at all. Remember, I LOVE to blog.

But I am determined to make my self-imposed deadline and spending two hours uploading pictures and/or writing first on my health blog(which is a must) and then on my writing blog(which is a fun toy) I am never going to make it because quite frankly, that’s all the time I have the entire day that is free time to write! Especially now with the added time taken away to make sure I exercise and eat something healthy. And that scares me cause I WANT to write and get published. That goal is equal to being healthy. Posting doesn’t even hit the goal list.

• So I’ve combined my ideas–I’m only allowing myself to post once a week, Wednesdays(on my writing blog-here) until my book is in the mail. And I’m not allowing myself to spend more than half an hour writing it. Should be quicker yet but sometimes if I’m uploading pictures that can really eat up time. And I can only write it up in the evening(not writing time).

• And on my health blog I’m posting daily–I have to–I need to–BUT I’m restricting my time–in other words, no long winded posts(like this one) Mostly I’m going to get on it just once a day, in the evenings to log what I’ve eaten and my thoughts - half an hour - that’s it. And since evenings are not when I can ever write in the first place its not going to cut into that time.

This was a hard decision for me–I LOVE to post. But there is only so much time in a day. I suppose this shouldn’t be such a hard thing, I see other writers do this all the time to make deadlines…but it is I guess because I love to do it. I do love writing my stories more though and thus they’ve won out. This isn’t anything permanent, just something to help me succeed where I want to most.

Now to go do it! Have a good one and see you next Wednesday!

Cole