Hills and valleys

As much as I might like to try to plan for an equally balanced life, there are simply times when one aspect takes over for a brief period.  This week was one of them  – the day job claiming overtime hours and the off time spent recovering from that.  That doesn’t mean, however that nothing else got done.

A new short story got started, friendships were cultivated, and so forth. This weekend is dedicated to getting caught up with jewelry. It becomes tempting to lose focus during these phases to let things slide until it feels like there is genuine free time instead of available time. But the reality is that cleaning out the bathroom shelves can wait another week while getting the new earring designs done can’t.

Technorati Tags: staying focused

Focus, goals, and surprises

I  think my new routine is starting to work for me, while it’s hard to get focused so early and stay focused after a full day of doing other things, knowing that there are limits on it helps.  I’ve put pen to paper or rather fingers to keyboard on the travel book – not much and I doubt any of those sentences will survive to the final draft but it’s a start. And I’ve sent follow-up emails to setup appointments for jewelry and kept up some basic blogging tasks.  There is always more to do!

While I haven’t been watching the Olympics, living so close to where they’re happening means I can’t avoid all the local stories and news features.  It seems like there is always at least one young athlete profile with a kid at the top of her game who also manages straight A’s and is or will be going to an ivy league school while continuing to compete internationally. You can be envious of what they have achieved or critical of what they’re missing but pretty much everyone agrees it requires great focus.  Focus seems to come up everywhere there is talk of great goals that are clearly defined. My two hours a day is giving me focus but it’s also creating space in the remainder of my free time for something equally valuable – observation and daydreaming and everything that is at the opposite extreme.

That’s what I realized as I contemplated the life of said young athlete – she probably isn’t missing out on the big stuff; graduation, birthdays, Disney World but I’m pretty sure anyone that focused all the time is missing out on being unfocused – noticing that a neighbor two blocks down has unusual crocuses blooming or just spending an afternoon on the porch with a romance novel.  Those things were important to me as a teenager and they’re important to me now. If they’re that much a part of my essential self I’d better figure out how to work them in to the schedule…

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, living your dreams, staying focused

The No Excuses Project: ‘I’m not in the mood’

I think this is one of the trickier excuses because other common excuses often masquerade as this one.  For example people often say “I’m not in the mood” when they really mean “I’m tired” or “I just don’t want to”.  I’ve certainly used the phrase to express boredom or to cover up not knowing where to start – something that tends to make most people want to do just about anything else.

But when I use the phrase as an excuse it usually means something more akin to “I can’t concentrate” because I’m too busy worrying about something else and that’s taking up too much of my brain capacity.  For the computer geeks the CPU usage is maxed.  We’re human so turning that voice completely off is usually asking too much but reducing it to background noise should be doable.

Getting the worry or distraction out in the open is the first step using whatever techniques work best – lists, five questions, etc. then ask yourself if there is anything you can do to fix things right now (absolutely right this minute, not tomorrow.) If the answer’s yes, then that’s probably a priority.  If the answer is no, then put the worry aside until there is something you can do.

Sometimes even that is asking too much – when my father was in the ICU for ten days telling myself to postpone the worry wasn’t as helpful as it was for being distracted by bills.  But even then, when I stopped beating myself up about how fast I was working and let myself run at about 60% capacity I got things done.  Any movement is refusing to give the excuse any leeway.

I’ve done pretty well reducing my use of this one, doing a greater percentage of things that I really enjoy and are part of my personal goals has helped me be less resistant to the things that don’t come so easily.

Next week:  ‘Nobody will notice if I don’t do it because nobody is paying attention’

Technorati Tags: dealing with distractions, setting priorities, staying focused

Turning point

I did it – I finally got the first group of beach glass jewelry made, photographed, described and online – viewable at http://jewelsofatlantis.etsy.com. I’m pleased with how they turned out and very, very pleased to have reached this milestone.  As I clicked save on the last item I had that odd feeling of having closed a chapter and wasn’t sure what was next, although there is plenty on the list.

But then, early Wednesday morning I got the news that my father had died. Now I have a completely different list of things that need doing and right now.  Grief aside, it’s astonishing how many things have to be done, how many people need to be called and just how much an emergency plane ticket can cost.  And yet, in some ways it’s a relief to know the hospital stays are over and everyone can start moving on to a new chapter.

The wonders of the Internet mean I can get some writing in as well and I’m hoping to check a few more things off the list next week.  Strangely enough I had just retrieved my copy of Writing Life Stories off the shelf to give the title to a friend and realized that I had stopped several months ago at an early exercise and not gotten back to it.  It seems like a good time to start exploring that again – old memories and stories of family. It’s the best legacy there is.

Technorati Tags: getting things done, Health and Happiness, moving on, solopreneur, staying focused, the way to happiness