One Thing We Never Have Enough Of

I think everyone will agree the one thing we never have enough of is Time. Time to do the things that need to be done, time to do the things we want to do, time to spend with loved ones, friends, and family. I could go on and on.

Having enough time to get everything done is something that can be elusive. At least for me. I'm forever trying to "find" time to get things done. I live by a daily To Do list. I do accomplish the things on each day's list the majority of the time, but not always. Someone said to me that you can't find time to get things done, you have to make the time to get things done. I know what they were trying to convey, but I wanted to respond you can't make time either. Time is what it is, you can't make more of it. We all only get 24 hours in a day. If anyone knows how to get more than that in a day, I'd love to hear how to do it.

It's how we use the time we have that's important. Along with the things I'm trying out to help me get more writing accomplished (see Last Monday's Post), I've started keeping track of the time I use doing things that aren't on my daily To Do list. I'm looking for time wasters, though I hate to use that description. For example every Saturday afternoon I play a game on my Kindle Fire for an hour. Is it necessary that I do that? Of course not. Can I use that time doing something more productive? Definitely. You might be thinking that it's only an hour one day a week, which is true but I'm thinking how can I better use that time. I didn't play this past Saturday and used the hour to work on making some thank you and birthday cards so they would be ready when I need them instead of having to rush to get them done at the last minute. I don't want to give up the game forever, just for right now.

I don't plan on giving up all of my leisure activities. We all need some down time to decompress and recharge. I am still going to knit for an hour every evening, at least until I finish the blanket I'm making. I'm also going to continue reading for an hour every night before going to sleep. But I'm going to work hard at getting more done and wasting time less.

 

This I know for sure...

I wish there were more hours in the day. I realize I'm not the only one who feels this way. Some days I have so much I want to accomplish and still get a decent night's sleep that I feel like I have to sacrifice one for the other.

Then there are the times I'd like extra time to indulge like on the wicked cold so many degrees below zero wind chill days, I'd really like to have extra time to snuggle under the quilt rather than leave my nice warm bed to get ready for work. I'd like extra time to sit and finish a really good book that I don't want to put down and not have to worry about whatever else that's more important not getting done. I'd like extra time to sit and visit with my mom and not feel like I'm neglecting her.

I'd like extra time to...well I could go on and on but there are only 24 hours in a day so I don't sleep much (about 6 hours a night). I don't ever stay in bed for an extra 15 or 30 minutes or so. I don't read as much as I'd like for as long as I'd like no matter how good the book is, but I do try to make time to spend with my mom every day, it's just not as long as I'd like to.

Someone once told me, "Sacrifice is good for the soul." I wonder.

This I know for sure...

When we were young adults in those last years of high school (and sometimes when we were in college), we couldn't wait to be done with school so we could do what we wanted when we wanted and not be tied down with homework, term papers, and having to sit through another boring class on a subject we hated.

Then we graduated and got a job and found out how misinformed we were. While there may be no more homework, our time is still not our own to do with what we please, now we answer to managers and supervisors and have even less time off than we did while in school. (And we thought that wasn't enough time.)

The reasoning behind this posting is so many of us who are struggling writers and hold down a job outside the home would love to have more time to write, promote, and perhaps have a little bit of leisure time to just be, to just sit and breathe for a bit without having to worry what or who is being neglected during those few stolen moments.

I would love to write full time and not have to hold down a job outside the home but, right now, that's not feasible. The only income I have is mine so I can't rely on a spouse or partner to pay the bills while I try to earn a living from writing. More than just wanting to devote more than a couple of hours per day to my writing, I want to be able to spend as much time as I want with my mom. She's essentially been my only parent my entire life and though I've seen 40 come and go, I'm still very attached to her.  Thankfully, she's in great health given her age, but I don't want to miss a single minute I could be spending with her by having to sit at a desk in an office for 8 hours a day doing a job I don't hate, but I certainly don't love either.

So my dilemma is much like other struggling writers, other than writing the best books I can, how do I maximize sales so I can write full time?

This I Know For Sure...

The work week before a holiday is either crazy busy or annoyingly slow.  The first part of this week was pretty busy.  Yesterday, not so much.  And it doesn't look good for today either.  Could be because I'm really looking forward to the three day weekend and all that I hope to accomplish during the time away from the day job.  I just hope today doesn't seem like it's eighteen years long.  3:00pm can't come soon enough.  I'll try not to embarrass myself by running out the door at 3:01pm.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm trying to read He's No Prince Charming by LuAnn McLane.  I say trying to read because:

1.) I rarely have time to read these days, though I hope to have more time soon.  I started this book while my car was in the shop for a minor repair and I had to wait for my ride to get out of work.

2.) I'm having a very hard time reading the book because a lot of it seems contrived to make the hero have to "rescue" the heroine.  The heroine is constantly falling on or in front of the hero. I'm hoping it gets better as I get further into the book but I'm on page 126 and there's only 283 pages total.