A few Steps Back

I see my goal, can practically reach out and touch it. And I want to zoom forward at the speed of light. I mean, I am so ready. But things take time. And things take money. And I spin my wheels in anticipation of the amazing outcome.

I may not have to wait as long as I'm thinking right now... I need to have some conversations with some amazing people. I am on my way, and this new life I have been carving for myself is already wondrous beyond my belief.

What are you working towards? Are you running into speed bumps? Brick walls?

Time

I've been lamenting a lack of time for a week now. I've been sick, and have had no energy whatsoever. I hope that I'm on the mend now. But I realized yesterday, that I have time. I live my life this way. I have 89 projects going, in addition to running a household. Teaching a class. Running an etsy shop. Writing a novel. And starting a homebased business. It's all ok. Things fall into place. Whether I worry or not.

So today I will try to worry less, and simply be productive. I've had 2 sick days this week, so I'll be trying to get back into the groove at work.

What do you do when you think you don't have enough time for all that is going on?

Time...

Time is something I fight with frequently. I judge myself according to productivity, according to how much I can get done. Last night, I was not very productive. Instead, I did a few things that I've put off forever, and I played with Pandora radio, discovering tons of new music. I danced around the kitchen as I emptied the dishwasher. I looked into Ben Harper's soul. I rediscovered Floater, one of my favorite bands of all time.

I will not judge last night as a failure. I enjoyed it. I breathed. Life is good.

However, with the craft show just a few days away, tonight I will work by a list and get many things accomplished. And I am sure that I will enjoy that as well, because of the breather I got yesterday.

Balance. That's another thing I'm trying to apply. An easy, smooth balance in my life. Between discovering all the joys, and working hard. Relaxation, play... they do not come easy for me. But I am working on that. Ha! Working on relaxing. Seems like an oxymoron. But I'm driven to a fault. I need to learn to relax. I need to rediscover me.

Time Grew

Last night, I had an amazingly productive evening. I finished many little steps in prep for the craft show. One thing I've noticed about myself (for awhile now) is that I am energetic and very gung-ho... right up until the last couple steps of something. I am productive, more productive than ever, until the end. Then I drop it off... I get bored, I get excited about something else, and I move on.

So, last night, I didn't make a list. I just looked around, at my house in total disarray with pieces for the show everywhere. And I started a box. I packed everything that was ready for the show in that box. I looked at piles. Saw photos that were already bagged that I just needed to seal. Ok. I sealed those and put them in the box. Saw other photos waiting to be matted and bagged. So I did that, and placed them in the box. I had some journals that only need end papers put in. So they are stacked, and ready for me to tackle them today.

An interesting thing happened while I was doing my show prep. I started cleaning up some areas in my house. Not as a distraction, and not taking me away from my productivity... it's like time grew and I had more and more. It was very odd. I feel the main shift comes from all the soul-searching and re-prioritizing that I've been doing.

I know where my focus is, and time is growing for me to do it. Pretty amazing! I hope you discover wonderful, exciting, and surprising things today...

Frazzled

I marketed while at work yesterday... some. Then last night I was trying to market while making dinner, making cookies (ok, just supervising this), and watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The only thing I did well was make dinner.

Frustrating, frustrating. Oh, I was trying to make journals too. Or at least prep a couple for my middle son to sew them (his summer job-- he's saving up). I feel so frazzled. I need to go back to my original decision. Evenings are for the boys.

Tonight, I'll be cutting paper for a special order journal I'm making. But dinner can be made by hubby, and no marketing. Oh... the pool too... I told the youngest we could go to the pool. Honestly, I'm tired already.

But the work week is almost over. Perhaps I'll be able to come home early today. Or perhaps tomorrow. Sometime...

Today I'll be trying to remember to breathe.

Trying it on

I have been very actively involved with a wonderful group of folks on Etsy... talking it up with them throughout the day while I'm at work. Talking with them in the evenings... all under the guise of marketing. Yes, it did involve marketing... but it also took away a lot from ME. I love those folks, I do! But it's time to clean, to organize, and to create! I am on a hiatus, not *from* them, I'll miss them deeply. But from the time vampire I've allowed in.

I have been surfing, and learning about different binding methods... and I hope to be trying some of those on for size soon. And I have not taken a photo day in forever! I think it's time for me to make friends with the camera again!

So, today is the start of something new. I figure my hiatus will be about a week. I hope to still blog, but if I'm led to do other things in the time I've blocked out for that, then I won't fight it.

I hope all is well in your world.

Time

I took this photo on my day in Newport a few weekends ago. I love clocks. They have an impossible job... to measure time. Time, I think, is completely subjective. Like if you have had 3 cups of coffee and you're waiting for your boss to get out of the bathroom, time crawls. Or if you're working on a big project and the deadline is in two hours, time literally flies. In both circumstances, we watch that clock... and yes, it goes slower or faster. Or so it seems.

Long ago, I decided that I worked best under pressure. That fed my want to procrastinate. So I put things off til there's a real time crunch. Then I work like mad to get it done. What a lot of stress I'm putting on myself!

This weekend, I'm going to work on sorting through some more photos. I have tons that I need to organize. No deadline, just a want to get it done. But, if I really have a need to get it done, I'll create a deadline, then when that's near, I'll just buckle down and do it.

I'll also be working on more journals and listing them. I will keep you posted on that.

So... are you a procrastinator? A deadline maker? A list maker? What tools do you use to get things done in a timely manner?