This is what my creative desk looks like most of the time. Always something going on... like the rest of my life.
Over the years I've tried different Time Management methods, a variety of day planners and every other way imaginable to get the most out of my day without feeling as if I were still behind.
When not writing fiction, I am a entertainment writer and promoter. On any given day I will:
Go through email for business and writing
Check and respond to FB feeds for both business and writing
Quick check of Twitter for both business and writing
Plug artists and authors through social media - as well as my own stuff
Check in with radio stations or other promoters
Schedule blog guest for this blog and send them the appropriate form
Set up or transcribe entertainer interviews to post on the music blog
Review a new CD and post on the music blog
Review a book from either a Texas author, about/ by an entertainer or both & post to blog/ amazon
Street team a chunk of about 300 musicians - meaning I promote the heck out of them
Check the music charts to see how specific entertainers are doing
Work on contest entries
Research my current work in progress via internet or pinterest
Work on edits of another project
Work on freelance articles in various stages prior to submission
Get a couple hours in on actual fiction writing
Somewhere in there I hope to get some art time in to keep the other creative juices flowing - and fodder for freelance articles
Try to make the house look less like a hoarder lives here.
Are you exhausted yet?
Keep in mind... like many of you, I have a day job. That is the music and freelance work that I do. And like you, I fit my fiction in the best I can afterwards - usually in the evening after supper (during if I'm home alone)
Initially, I was up by 7 and firing up the laptop as I went past enroute to the coffee pot. While my coffee heated and the laptop warmed up, I would check on the outside doggies, give the inside cats their treats and fill the hummingbird feeder (I go through 3 C. of syrup in about 10 hours!) and make a double batch of feed for the next day.
By then, my day began on the computer and with housework and a quick meal if I remembered, my day didn't end until about 11 p.m. or later. This was a 6 day week!
The problem?
I was tired
I still didn't feel as if I were keeping up
I wasn't getting any creative time in
I wasn't having any fun.
Before I share my enlightened solution, let me educate those who do not know me. My husband is a riverboat Captain - trust me, not as exciting as it sounds. He works hard and is gone 21 days at a time. Those days I am home alone. I work long hours so I don't have to work any more than absolutely necessary when he IS home the next 21 days. He is my life and nothing is more important than spending the time we have together. And with him driving from south central MO to Chicago to get on the boat - let me just say there are a lot of crazies on the road. You just never know.
Then I found a FREE book on Amazon. But I would pay for TIME MANAGEMENT 2.0- 15 Secrets of a Self-Made Millionaire for Getting Things Done in heartbeat! This is part of H. Reardon's 'Coffee With a Millionaire' series.
For instance, did you know that Successful business people only check their mail twice a day? Once when they first get into the office and again at the end of the day.
Did you know that we are the saboteurs of our destiny? How? By letting OTHERS dictate how we spend OUR TIME. It's okay to do nice things for people once in awhile during 'office' hours. But keep in mind, that is time out of your paycheck.
I'll leave you with that. Come back next Thursday to see how my life has changed since incorporating H. Reardon's book into my life.
In the mean time, tell me how you spend your day.
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