Writing Wednesday: Finding Time

One of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes quotes is:

 "There's Never Enough Time to Do 

All the Nothing You Want."

As a mother of three, a freelance editor, a wife, a daughter, and an author, there's also never enough time to do all the sh*t I have to get done in any given week, let alone a bunch of fun stuff too. And I'm not just talking Facebook updates, although I've been pretty lame with those as well.

Deadlines are my friend because they make me finish the work that's due, just like back in college. But Laundry has no deadline, so it tends to pile up until there is a Crisis involving a 13-year-old who's out of underwear.

Then there is the Revise and Resubmit request. There's no deadline on that. Will it get done? It should, because wouldn't I love to have another book come to life? And then there's the magazine column I thought was due Friday but was actually due last Friday. And this blog - last week I was totally absent except for the posts I'd scheduled ahead of time...

Deep Breath.

Even writers have to have priorities. At the moment, my family is my priority. Everything else can wait. Things will get done eventually. No one will go to school without clean underwear. (hopefully.)

* Respect Priorities.

* Meet Deadlines.

* Set Goals.

And another deep breath. Everything will get done, and the less stressed I am, the better chance of the actually meeting those deadlines. Pushing a goal back a bit doesn't mean you have to erase it completely. The finish line will still be there, I might just have to slow my pace.

We all have too much to do. What's your strategy? How do you accomplish your goals? What strategies do you use to meet deadlines and get laundry done?

Writing Wednesday: Reading, Writing, Blogging, and Finding Time for it All

It's been crazy around here in so many ways.

My house has been under construction since before school let out. We tore down the garage and the family room to make way for a bigger kitchen and revised family room. It will be great when it's finished but more grating than great at the moment. If you've lived through renovations, you know what I'm talking about. This is my first time, so I had no idea.

My new YA mermaid book also came out around the same time as construction began (you might have read something about that), so I've been traveling the Cape visiting shops and bookstores, doing signings and events, and trying to spread the word as best I can about what I think is a GREAT summer read. I also finished the edits on the second mermaid book about Shea and his friends and sent those off to the publisher... and started the outline for the third book.

I've also promised a lot of reviews to various people, and have been trying to encourage more people to review my books as well. I didn't pay enough attention to my first two books when they were published, and didn't work at getting reviews and attention. I'm trying to remedy that with this book. It's work, despite the fact that so many people tell me they loved my book. "So write a review online already, for goodness sakes," is what I want to tell them, but feel the need to be more restrained in my requests.

So I've been reading and writing reviews, hoping to lead by example. Many of the books are by fellow newbie authors like myself, but some are popular books recommended to me by friends or my kids. I'm currently in the middle of an ARC by Joanne Brothwell of THE EVE GENOME which I'm really enjoying - hopefully I'll have a review of it up soon!

And then there's blogging. I participated in Blogger Book Fair in July, which sounded great when I signed up and then was a hectic mess the actual week of the online Book Fair. Another instance of "thank god for pre-scheduled blog posts" but it also meant I didn't have time to visit and enjoy so many of the participating blogs! I'm having enough trouble keeping up with my own this summer - it's just insane.

My boys both have jobs, my daughter is off at camp, my oldest is looking at colleges and busy with online applications... don't even peek in my laundry room for fear of being buried in a pile of old smelly dog towels that STILL need to be washed...

I know I've asked this before - the perpetual question of my life, it would seem - but how do other people keep up with everything in their lives both on and off-line? I'm once again in this place where I want to tear out my hair and scream until my throat is raw.

On the plus side, I broke down and actually bought two brand new brightly striped beach chairs. On the minus side, I've only gotten as far as taking the plastic off the wooden arms. I haven't actually carted them up the street to the beach yet.

When I find the time.

Suggestions? Ready? Go!