I have a schedule!! Me! A schedule…that is working. I’m so excited and proud of myself I don’t even know what to do. In case you’re wondering, that’s me as Wonderwoman, to the left…well it could be me. Shut up.
I am writing articles, reviews, cleaning house, making meals, editing, writing, AND showering daily. Can you believe it? Man, neither can I. Some things aren’t seeing a lot of progress, but they aren’t standing still either. Which was my biggest issue all along. If I worked on one thing, a million others suffered, but no more. I work an hour at writing, an hour at cleaning, all day. Seems stupid, why not three on one then two on another and so on? Well, that’s not how my brain works and the kids need to see me more often than every three hours or so or they come bother me and interrupt everything and then I have to start over or I can’t focus and get back into what I was doing…and it’s just not convenient that way.
So, I dedicate the first hour of the morning to research for my articles. Then I go inside, get the kids some breakfast, usually tidy up the kitchen, throw in a load of laundry and go back to writing. I finish an article by lunchtime usually. Then it’s inside to make lunch, wash dishes, vacuum, etc. and while I do that, I consider what needs my attention first when I go back to writing.
This sounds crazy, but it works for me. I even have time to (gasp!) get out of the house. I visit people, go do fun things and sometimes, I like it. So take it from me, the most disorganized, easily irritated and possibly most stressed out person you’ll ever meet; it is possible to do this. You can do what you love and what you have to and still have time to breath. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. Not what works for me, or that guy over there (didn’t see him before did you. He lurks all the time, don’t mind him.) it’s about YOU.
Figure out how much time you can spend on a certain project without losing focus then figure out how much time you have to spend on other things to get them done. You’d be surprised. Also, moms or just people who like a clean, bug and rodent free house, or those who like to wear clean clothes or eat off real plates, check out those housekeeping sites that are all over the place. Full of great information. I wrote an article on making ‘chore lists’ and that’s what changed everything for me. Really, and I am not Holly Housewife. I am the furthest thing you’ll ever see from those freaks you see on commercials vacuuming in heels and a poufty dress with a smile on their face. I hate cleaning, but I have a clean house. I was going to take pictures, but I thought that might be going overboard. But really, my house is clean, I’m averaging 8 to 10 articles a week (as opposed to about 4 before this) and my fiction writing is moving steadily along.
Okay, enough sunshine and butterflies for one day. The next post will be back to the usual bitchy, cynical me you all know and love.
What’s that? Sleep? Shoot, I knew I left something off that schedule.
Dangling on the Edge of Insanity 
I resent that term "Holly Housewife", especially since I hurt my back and am confined to a chair or bed, and the kids have taken the opportunity to turn feral on my house.
I knew you'd like that term…come on. You vacuum in heels all the time, that's how you hurt your back. You were warned it was a bad idea. Heels and hotwheels don't mix well. Too bad about the kids. I hear once they're feral, there's not much you can do but stock up on pills and vodka. Hope you feel better!!
Congratulations, I know that is no small feat! I am striving to find a schedule, but I think I am a couple of years from reaching that particular nirvana since I still have babies in the house.
Congratulations on your newly-found organizational skills. I commend you, Renee. I really do. I don't have nearly all that stuff happening around me and I can't even keep one small commitment to my WIP every day. I get sucked in by emails, which are usually fun but difficult to pull away from if anything involves any sort of action, finding time to exercise, ewe no comment, taking my mom shopping, which usually involves spending money I don't have because I can't resist something, plus it's a very stressful undertaking (she's 85, legally blind and very hard of hearing, but she's my mom and I love her), or just plain old answering the phone, which usually happens right when I'm in the middle of a really good thought and need to get it down before I forget. Sigh… So cleaning? Well, having a clean house is nice. My house usually gets cleaned if I know company is coming, otherwise the dust bunnies are chasing the cat around. Seriously, he has come out from under where ever he comes out from covered with cobwebs. It's sort of hilarious. Well, I think so.You are an inspiration. So tomorrow I will write two pages on my WIP. I know I can, I know I can… Sorry if this was too long. I got carried away.
BTW – you look great holding that golden rope.
Haha. It took me more than two years to get this organized and it's still touch and go some days. I shouldn't celebrate quite yet though; I've only kept this up about a week or so. With young kids, it's impossible. Just go with the flow and some days you'll get a ton of stuff done, others are a write off. And you can write as many words as you like on my blog. Pages and pages if you like. No limits here on the Edge. Susan, my secret; don't answer the phone. Seriously. If it's not Kurt or the school calling, I don't answer it until I've finished what I'm doing. It works…mostly. Emails are a curse, and Twitter, and Facebook, and Goodreads…so much distraction. Oh, and then there's that Repo Show, Ghost Trackers, and that survivor guy named Bear or something…
Omigod, I'm so envious of your wonderful physique, girl! Looking real good in that red leotard, I must say! No wonder you're kicking so much ass! I only wish I could keep to a schedule. Honestly, I have no excuse. School starts in two weeks. I don't have a job. Kids. Husband. But my apartment is a total wreck and all I do is sit around watching crappy daytime television. At the moment, we don't have any clean dishes or clean clothes. It looks like a frat house in here, lol! Empty beer bottles everywhere…lol! I'm just too damn lazy to clean it up. I think I saw a beetle crawling over the couch yesterday…and gnats. Meh! AND I haven't been writing. It's been hard maintaining my "flow." But I figure I can slack off in my 20s. That's what they're for, right? LOL? (I keep trying to convince myself I'm not a lazy slob, hahahaha! Soooo not working!)Congrats on the new schedule!
Cannibal, your twenties are totally for slacking off. No kids, etc. Frig, I'd be laying on the couch watching Springer buried in old pizza boxes, empty beer cans and that faint, yet distinct odor of "I'd shower but there's some strange dude sleeping in my tub."I'm jealous.
Great stuff – sounds like you have found a good balance. Mind you, in my experience, everything just goes out of the window – often literally – when school holidays come along …
That's true, Simon. I think once they're back to school, I won't know what to do I'll be so organized…I hope.
Good for you, Renee. I need to do that. Assign every hour to something different. All those chores you wrote of, I need to get to grips with. I don't have the kids or a husband so I don't understand why I'm not getting as much done as you. Back to the drawing board.I have a to-do-list but that's a struggle. An hour sounds like a long time. I might just do what you do, back and forth but cut it to half an hour with an hour to write. That might work.I like your live traffic feed. I'm the one from the UK.
An hour is a long time, but because of the kids, a half hour won't clean much. Thanks for stopping by Jessie. I like the feedjit thing too.