Three Things

Okay, so I've got a personal theory about how much any one person can do before everything they're trying to do suffers. It's a trend that I've noticed in my own life over the course of the last few years.

I think we can do three things really well. When we try to add a fourth or a fifth thing to our list, everything we're trying to do suffers. We can't be great moms (or dads), and great writers, and great co-workers, and great critique partners, and great friends, and great wives (or husbands), and great service-givers all at the same time.

It's impossible.

I believe there are constants that we should implant into the first couple of slots, and then constantly rotate the third spot to what needs to get done.

For example, my first two slots are 1. Family, and 2. Work. I need to be on top of things at home. I need to sign homework slips, and make dinner, and schedule appointments, get cars fixed, drive kids to activities, etc. That always comes first.

I need to be a good teacher. I need to be dedicated to work during work hours, and I need to feel value in what I do at school.

Those two cannot budge. If I take work out of the rotation and fill it with something else, that's bad--and not only for me. Same goes with my family.

So there's one more slot. What do I fill it with? What do I dedicate my non-working, non-family-devoted hours to?

For several months, it's been going to the gym. Exercising takes a lot of time and mental energy for me. I don't have much left to give at the end of the day when it's filled with family, work, and healthy eating/exercising.

Which has been great, considering that I haven't needed to focus on anything else--including writing. I feel like my routine is more settled now, and that I could occasionally swap out that third thing -- the gym -- with writing.

I can compartmentalize my hours much better now, having realized that I can't do All The Things all the time.

So my days now look something like this:
1. Family
2. Work
3. Gym until 6:00 PM
3.1. Writing until exhausted

That's not really four things, lest some of you think it is. I cannot focus on going to the gym if I'm worried about not having enough time to write. I can't write if I don't first dedicate the time needed to go to the gym.

They're swappable, not coinciding. I hope that makes sense.

So I'm constantly swapping out the third thing, sometimes even on a daily basis.

What do you think? Can you do more than three things simultaneously -- and do them well?

The Energy We Spend

Okay, so I've been thinking a lot about where I spend my energy. My time. My brain cells. See, my time is getting more and more pressed, and I have to be very careful about using too much of it on the wrong things.

And I have decided that the "wrong things" are anything that brings negativity into my life. There are better things I can devote my energy to. That's why I write only positive reviews on Bookanista Thursday. That's why I leave as many encouraging comments on as many blogs as I can. That's why when people ask for help, I give it if I can. To anyone. Agented or unagented. Published or unpublished. Homeless or Homeful. It matters not to me.

I just think there's enough negativity, enough tearing down, enough scorning and scoffing to bring even the most optimistic person into a downward spiral of depression.

I refuse to add my voice to that.

I choose to spend my energy on those things that are uplifting. For me, for my family, for those around me, for my interactions on the Internet.

Just because there are screens between people doesn't make the words we say to one another any less hurtful.

The Internet is a public place. You can have your opinions; I have mine. I choose to only make the positive opinions public. The negative ones my husband hears all about. *wink*

What do you think? Where are you spending your energy, and what do you think people take away from what you say and do?

Also, the winner of a book of their choice from #IHeartIndies day is Theresa Milstein! Email me, T.

Things I Care About

I've been putting this post off for a couple of weeks now. Well, not this post exactly, but what this post used to be titled. I changed it and will probably just ramble today. But you know you like that, so whatever, whatever.

Today, I'm bringing you sort of a different post than I normally do. I don't know why, but it's the first day of school today (*SOBS*) and I'm actually at work for 8.5 hours today. I might die. If you don't see me on twitter or facebook later, send in the paramedics, okay? Okay.

So things I care about this week:

1. The YA contemps. I simply adore this idea, this blog, and this genre. I love love love reading (and writing) YA contemporary. I'm hoping one day I'll be able to be an author on their blog. *fingers crossed*

Go. Follow. Take the challenge. Read.

2. Charity Blogging Event for CJ Redwine. Again, I don't normally do stuff like this, but I'm feeling all nostalgic about adoption. My SIL adopted a baby in February, and I've witnessed the miracle first-hand. So basically CJ is trying to adopt a child from China, and to raise money, she's asked you to give up your morning coffee (or whatever) and donate the $5 for that.

Go. Do your good deed. Pay It Forward.

3. My garden. I live in a tiny townhome, with a tiny backyard. My grass is like, four feet long because I never mow it. But about a block away, there's some common ground where a bunch of us have garden plots. I *heart* mine. I harvested 15 cucumbers, 3 mini-pumpkins, a handful of cherry tomatoes and strawberries, and well, okay. I ripped out 4 pumpkin vines, and let me tell you, my arms are scratched up. But dude! Pumpkins can really spread out...

4. Time management. Like I said, school started up again today. I'm going to have to figure out how to fit my 6-hour-a-day job into my life. And let me tell you, dragging my sorry carcass out of bed at 9 AM has come to a screeching halt.

So there. Things I care about today. What do you care about?

Time-Bound

So I'm a teacher. We set goals and stuff for the progress of our students. I'm a huge goal-setter. I've blogged about setting goals for your blog, your audience, etc.

Today, we're going to add something to that goal. A time limit.

In teaching, all of our goals are time-bound (it's what the T stands for in S.M.A.R.T. goals). So you should have a time limit on your goals as well -- real-life or writing.

For example, I made a goal to get published. I set a time limit of 5 years. Now I'm not saying that if you've been trying longer than 5 years, you should quit. But you should set a limit and work toward it. Readjust if necessary.

The same goes for blogging and social networking. Set a time frame, and then let go of the guilt.

Let me repeat that: Set a time frame and then let go of the guilt.

For me, I've decided that it's nigh to impossible that I can get to everyone's blog every time they post. It just isn't happening. So what have I done? Spiraled into summering, not reading anything. Then what happens?

Guilt.

So, here's my solution to that. If you're struggling with this, please join me.

I'm setting a time limit. I will devote 1 or 2 hours a day (depending on my schedule) to social networking. This includes reading blogs, commenting on facebook status, and updating twitter.

That's it. Once my time is up, I'm done.

And I refuse to feel guilty about it. If I miss you one day, I'll try to get you the next.

So who's with me? If you feel like you'll never get it done, you're right. You won't. But set a goal to do as much as you can for that one hour. And then let the guilt go.

Are you ready? How much time will you devote to social networking this summer? And how will you push that guilt away? I definitely need some tips for that.

Where to Spend Your Blogging Time

Ah, time. My fickle friend. I want you to slow when I sleep. And speed up when I'm at work. And pause when I write. But accelerate when I clean.

There is never enough of you.

Today, I'm going to opinionate on where you should spend your time to build your online presence. I'm going to do the author branding thing on Thursday.

I think you should have a goal for your social networking. What are you using Facebook for? Twitter? Your blog?

Once you know that, then you know how much time to devote to each one. Let me break it down. This is all for me, so you'll have to adjust your goals accordingly.

1. Facebook. Mine is a mish-mash of writing friends, family, publishing professionals and old friends from high school. Therefore, my goal is not to make every post about writing. This is the place I live my life.

I virtually farm. I virtually cook. I post about movies and going to dinner and yes, writing. It's the "real Elana." I don't update my status very often, but that doesn't bother me. It's not my main platform for networking. It's more for pleasure. More personalized.

Therefore, I probably spend about 15 minutes/day reading through status updates and liking and commented. That's it.

2. Twitter. This is all writing, all the time. I connect to writing pals here. I don't have friends on twitter. Well, I do, but not like real-life-I-went-to-high-school friends. I keep my posts about my WiP or my writing or reading life.

I don't spend much time on twitter because, well, I don't like it. (Remember that post?) I probably spend 15 - 30/minutes each night on twitter. When there are chats, I spend about an hour (Tuesday and Wednesday night).

The end. So I'm up to 45 minutes/day on social networking.

Which leads me to blogging.

3. Blogging. You have to decide where to spend your bloggy time. When I first entered the publishing world, I read literary agent and publishing blogs like they were crack. I couldn't get enough. I'd skip meals and arrive late to work, just soaking up everything I could from the pros.

Once I realized I'd read most of what they were saying, and knew most of it, I gravitated away from those blogs. And now? Dirty little secret... I don't read them at all anymore. Every once in a while, when big news breaks, like the eBook thing with Amazon. That's it.

That's not where I spend my time.

I spend it with other aspiring authors. Rarely do I read a blog of a published author. I know that sounds bad, but it's usually just about their signing schedule or if their novel sold in Spain. Which I like to hear, but yeah. Not really the best bang for my blogging minute, you know?

So I spend all of my time reading and commenting on the blogs of those who are like me. So I think you have to evaluate where you are in your progression, and spend your time in the right places.

Just starting out authors might spend more time on GLA and QT and Nathan Bransford. Further along, you might switch to agented/sold authors with books that aren't quite out (to make online connections), and book bloggers and craft blogs (like The Blood Red Pencil or QT or YA Highway).

Once you're agented/presold/sold, you might continue your friendships with other pre-agented, pre-pubbed authors, or you might move more into book bloggers (who will be reviewing your book--squee!), other debut authors, or get this: READERS.

So I think where you spend your time blogging depends on where you are in the publishing journey. Right now, I'm frequenting book blogs, aspiring authors both agented/sold-but-not-out, agented/pre-sold, and pre-agented.

Why?

To make friends, author connections, and bring like-minded people back to my blog. (And believe me when I say that I read and commented on 90+ blogs on Friday. And that's on the low end of what I do each weekday. I refuse to read and comment on blogs on the weekend. That's how I preserve my sanity.)

I go to a very few publishing/agent blogs and even fewer already-published author blogs. It's just not where I am at the moment.

So you must decide first where you are, and what you need to learn. That will help you establish your goal, which will help you spend your bloggy minutes in the right places.

So you tell me: Where are you right now? What kind of blogs are you reading? Are you learning what you need to to advance to the next level? If not, maybe you should be reading different blogs...

Thoughts?

Say It With Me

"Today is Friday, August 14, 2009. It is the first day of school."

Okay, so it really isn't the first day of school. But I have to go back to work on Monday, with the kiddies showing up next Thursday.

Since it usually takes me until about mid-October to manage the madness (see yesterday's post), and since it's unplugged week next week anyway, I'm going to unplug.

I'll see you all on the other side!

EDIT: If you wanna unplug, read more about it at B.J. Anderson's blog. She's the Unplugged Queen. Hereafter referred to as UQ. LOL!

Managing the Madness

Yup, it's true. The day of reckoning has come. For me that means I'm on my way back to work. *shudders* Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I only work part-time and only part of the year. I have zero reason to complain.

Except for the fact that I don't get to spend every waking minute exactly how I want. But who does? So yeah. I'm not complaining, really I'm not.

Question: How do you manage your time so that you can write?


In the summer, I implemented my One Hour Plan. (One hour each of: reading, writing, editing, and Internet surfage/forums/blogs/etc.) It worked pretty well for a while. During the school year, I do not have four hours to devote to my writing lifestyle. So how in the world am I going to keep up?

I thought really hard to last year when I was working. (In case you didn't know, the year goes from September - August, NOT January - December. Just FYI. *wink*) It was hard, but here's what I remember doing:

I read and comment on blogs in short spurts instead of all at once. This means five minutes here, ten minutes at lunch, a few after work while my girl kid watches TV. I'm sure my comments will go down, that doesn't mean I'm not reading and enjoying your blogs.

I read for others (beta stuff) on my lunch break and late at night only. Reading for pleasure: while waiting for my kids at their various sports and activies. A few minutes here, a few there, while dinner is cooking, whenever.

I restrict myself to one writing project. Be that editing or writing something new. Doesn't matter. One thing. Since I am a strict enforcer of bedtimes (including my own) during the school year, I usually have 2 hours at night where everyone under the age of 21 is in bed. This is when I work on my writing project.

All other hours are spent at work, in transit, making lunches, fixing hair, buying sodas, paying bills, marinating chicken, making salads, grocery shopping, harping on kids about messy rooms, enforcing piano playing minutes, limiting TV watchage (yeah, right. Just have to make sure you were really reading!), and / or relaxing on the couch.

Phew.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

How do you manage the madness that is life, work, family, and writing?