Time after time....

We're a week and a half into the summer here.


I'm not sure about anyone else, but part of the reason I freelance is so that when we get to the holidays, I can take some downtime with my kids - so that there's no holiday problems with care for them, and so that I'm not spending every minute in work wondering whether I'll need to leave early and find they've caused riots.


It does mean, however, that all of the work I'd planned on doing is being is being sandwiched in between episodes of Hannah Montana and Tom and Jerry. It's a nice life, but it's hard to measure the value of the work I'm snatching in. It also means that I've been pushing back and pushing pack things like theme designs and my fiction writing. I got up on Sunday morning though and decided that I needed to stop procrastinating and actually take control!

So, I've written a post over at Publishhacks about the best, and worst freelance tools, in my opinion, for monitoring and supporting any freelance career.


I'm always expanding and testing them though, so I thought I'd find out what your favs and time sinks are.


(so far, I've got Xobini, RescueTime, WordPress, the Internet (wikipedia), The Internet (RSS), Zoundry Raven - some good, some bad ;)) What do you have, and come on over to PublishHacks, to find out about the tools I've mentioned.

Stratosphereic Mental Illness Number*

I am ignoring the big red button that says panic. That's right. I'm sitting here NOT thinking of a big red button. Try it with me.

Do NOT think of the big red button.

It does not exist.

How's that working for you?

There really isn't THAT much to panic. Just a manuscript that needs to be read and re-read and everytime I find something new to put in it and I wonder if I have everything in that it needs and I feel that NO I certainly do NOT and there must be more to find and I'm below word count anyways so let's just put that in there ... or should it go there ... or here, or what about here and I think maybe I'll make a WHOLE NEW CHAPTER but then is it duplicating info from somewhere else, do I sound like a broken record...

And lather, rinse repeat because that is what life feels like at the moment.

I am SO taking a break when this book is done. At least until I get the edits back.

*I think Joshilyn has patented the Mental Illness Number Ranking System.

Guest - Jennifer Fink

We have a guest today, Mamas!

So Tiff go put on yer bra, Kai get yer hair in a pony and let's welcome her! And someone tell Linda to git a wiggle on it because she's always off doin' somethin' or other.

Jennifer L.W. Fink is lives and homeschools her boys in Mayville, WI. She is a freelance writer who has been published in Parents, American Baby, Ladies’ Home Journal and more. Suddenly Homeschooling (HEM books) will be out in late 2008.

With four sons ranging in age from two to ten, my house is a whirlwind of light saber battles, pillow fights and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Getting any writing done in such a testosterone-heavy environment is, uh, a challenge, to say the least. But it can be done. On a recent day last week, I conducted three phone interviews, nursed my toddler, made some last-minute edits to my Journal Sentinel op-ed, cooked three meals, considered teaching a writing class, hiked with the boys and wrote for three hours.

Freelancing with a family isn’t easy. It requires patience, devotion and time management skills. These tips, from my chapter, Living with Kids 24/7 in the soon-to-be-published book Suddenly Homeschooling, can help you get some work done:

• Develop simple household routines. Don’t be afraid to involve your children. Your kids can help pick up their rooms, prepare meals and clean up the yard.



• Use a master calendar to avoid scheduling conflicts. Be sure to transcribe your professional obligations onto the family calendar as well.



• Take advantage of empty moments. Try transcribing for 15 minutes on your laptop while the kids play video games. Or take your notebook along and outline an article while you wait for soccer practice to end.



• Get up before the kids or stay up after they go to bed. Many mom-writers find these quiet hours to be the most productive of the day.



• Offer to trade childcare with another parent, join a babysitting co-op, or hire a teenage babysitter or pre-teen “mother’s helper.” Even just a couple hours a week of kid-free time go a long way toward meeting your professional goals.



• Have realistic expectations. As one Mom told me, “Life with kids is very different. Be willing to accept the limitations that come with the territory.”

THANK YOU Jennifer, we kiss your feet, FOUR BOYS, PEOPLE!

(I have one, that's about enough!)

Hit me with your best shot

Image via Wikipedia
Have you ever been in a position where you've gotten to exactly the point where you can take NO MORE.
No, seriously. One more assignment, problem, project...email and my head is going to explode.
I took the rather drastic action of 'restarting' all of my time management projects.
I bought myself a new piece of software, and I've found that I am actually now 'winning' the war on my email.
It did, of course, also help that I relented and enabled spamassassin on my server, but by and large, I am actually managing to work and write emails in between, instead of emails, and sandwiching work in the spare couple of seconds between it and the next PING.
I've just started a daily blog on how time management works, given I'm suddenly finding I actually have TIME (OMG, does this mean I can't procrastinate and have to finish my books!?) but I was wondering what valuable and important time management, stretching, or downright saving tips you've got.


I bet a couple of you are wondering what the tiger in the picture has to do with all of this? Well - one, its a fabulous photo - but two:
When you give yourself room to stretch or extend - life can hit you with its best shot, and you should be able to go 'and there's time to take care of that HERE' without breaking a sweat. We might all be mothers, and we might all be really busy, being full time *other stuff*, parents, carers, partners and everything else that we do, but it doesn't mean, necessarily that it has to take all of our time to do it. It doesn't mean that just because we're engaging in superhuman feats of time corralling and management that we're not capable of doing it in a way that gives us our own little pockets of time.
Now...if only I could learn to say 'No, I can't, sorry' more often....

My Goals for 2008

I usually don't wait till the new year to begin my goals, but I do plan ahead. It is common to see me work on my future goals daily. People call me an "overachiever" or "ambitious", something like that. I believe in hard work and spirituality.

I figure if you don't help yourself, who will or why should they?

I do have lots of goals, but I will share just four in random order:

1. Continue to balance motherhood with being a writer. I think that is a rewarding challenge because I love the titles of both.

2. Officially graduate with my master's degree in August 2008. I will have a degree in Foundations of Education. Unofficially, I am already a graduate--I just need to hand in my thesis and walk in the ceremony. Pray and think positive thoughts for me to succeed.

3. Prepare my son for kindergarten when he goes to "big kids school." I plan on being involved in his school, but not to the extent of being like those annoying parents. Being a college instructor allows me to feel with other school educators, so I let them do their job within legal standards.

4. I want to continue to remain an open-minded person with what's best for humanity. I don't discriminate with ethnicity, race, or religion. I believe that this world needs some humanitarian touch. Many still have prejudices that prevent them from being friends with each other. I plan on doing random acts of kindness.

You can call me ideal or dreamer, but hey that is what I strongly believe in. We all can make a difference. People do listen when we speak. People do watch when we move. People do talk when something is done.

Linda's ONE wish for 2008

In 2008, my wish would be that I am THERE for my family without distractions.

In 2006,I went back to grad school. For most of 2006, I worked full-time as a reporter, part-time teaching at a college, and I was a grad student with very demanding courses with a high work load. It meant that everything I did infringed on everything else. My free time was in short supply, and I rarely spent time with my extended family, and my time with my immediate family was often shared.

I finished grad school in 2007, I am still teaching at a college, and I have almost totally eliminated my work at the newspaper. My free time is much more abundant than it was, but I have developed a horrible habit during the last two years. I talk to my children while writing and/or typing. I grade papers when I should be spending time with family.

In 2008, I want my family to have my full attention. I will continue to work, but I will work during work hours/times. When I am with my family, I want to be WITH my family. I don't want to be grading papers (or homework) while camping (something I did quite a bit during 2006/2007).

In other words, I want to quit answering my children's questions when I am only half-way attentive because I am also staring at my computer, which leads to me agreeing to things that I didn't realize I agreed to.

I think in order to do this, I will have to also be more attentive to work. I want my schedule to be more decisive. When I am working, I am working. When I am with my family, I am with my family. It is so easy for work to intrude into your personal life, and I want to make sure I don't let it. I feel like I've been very selfish for the last two years doing what I need to do for me (and I don't regret it). I feel blessed because my family supported me and let me be selfish. But I find myself coming back to my real life and realizing my children have grown up. They have more responsibilities and are more opinionated.

There was even a moment last month when I went to pick up my son from his school. A teacher I knew through his older sisters saw me and asked, "You have a child in this building?" She hadn't seen me although this was my son's second year. Granted, it is easier to miss seeing her in the larger school than it was in the past, but I also realized I hadn't been there for many things I had done in the past.

I don't need to do it all, but when I make time for my family, I need to make sure my family is my top priority. My new schedule will allow me to do this, but I also need to make sure I change my own ways. I don't need to multi-task every moment of the day.

Diets* for Busy Mamas?

This morning in my regular blog-read-a-thon that occurs when I'm supposed to be working... I came across Mir's post which included a list of things she is doing or needs to do.... I found these gems:

17) Realize I have nothing to wear.
17a) Stomp around the house complaining about my big ass.
17b) Eat some cookies while wallowing.
17c) Completely fail to see the relationship between 17a and 17b.

I laughed out loud (not a great thing when you are actually supposed to be analyzing sales numbers for Q4) because it is so, so me and so, so true to life.

What is it about this time of year? I have always felt all high-and-mighty and eschewed those silly January diets... oh-Ho, not I, says I... I shall not be like the masses and I shall not commit myself to a futile diet that will end before Jan 15th with me buying a larger size pant and justifying that I've just put on a little "winter weight".

But now I'm slowly and constantly expanding and I find myself wanting to do SOMETHING. But at the same time I want to emphatically state "But it's not because it's that time of YEAR or anythying... no, no, this is just the right time for ME!"

Yeah, me and the rest of the world. I am, of course, TOTALLY AN ISLAND.

Really now, I'm stuck. Yesterday I went to meet with this personal trainer at a gym that's near to work and to which I happen to be a member.

The deal? $2000 for three months of training, three times a week.

I totally wanted to do it. Room on credit card = money, right? right?

Not so, says my husband. (Dammit!)

He asks why... I say I need a) accountability and b) a concrete plan.

He says a) we can make a plan.

I say a) how do we know it's the RIGHT PLAN? (Have you seen how many possible diet/eating plans/exercise plans/programs/lifestyle changes etc... there are??)

Him: Just eat better.

Me: Eat better? I don't eat, that's the problem. I hardly eat, it will be 2 pm and I've had coffee and more coffee. By the time I put food in my face in the afternoon my body is all "calories! food! energy! Quick! Store that in her ass because she may not feed us again for a long while!"

Him: Well you have these cookbooks here...

Me: Do they make the food too?

Him: No, but they have good recipies.

Me: Read one out and tell me if we have ANY of those in the house. Can you make a low cal dinner out of a box of hamburger stroganof helper with cheese and some limp celery?

Him: Well look, chicken fajitas, you could have that but just without the cheese and sour cream.

Me: ?? (I might as well chew carpet)

It all boils down to this. I'm trying to explain that I am STINKING BUSY and that cooking healthy food and finding time to shop for snooty ingredients to make food taste good is A LOT OF WORK.

I've tried scheduling work outs but (again with the abc's) a) working out early does not work when you've been up on deadline until 11 pm, b) when no one is holding me accountable, I don't go, c) there is simply NO TIME to work out between when I get home to pick up E from the babysitters to when I pick up M. from school to when I get home again to when I start on dinner to when I put the kids to bed... because between all those tasks I'm also trying to write. (8 articles this month plus a 75K book, half of which is due Feb 29th).

I've concluded that lunch hour at work is what works best. I've tried to find a work out buddy, no dice. I've tried to ask around about HOW to work out (do I eat before? how about after? how much cardio? how often? .... the list goes on) and if I ask three people I get four opinions.

It boils down to this. I have to PAY SOMEONE TO CARE ABOUT HOW FAT I GET.

Husband says he cares.

But he says I'm making excuses.

I explain that these are not excuses... that I am laying my concerns out because he said that a) I couldn't hire a personal trainer and b) he said "we" could do it so he needs to know what I'm up against.

I end up in tears at the end of this every single time. I'm lost. I don't know how much faster I can paddle here ... heck, at least if I were actually paddling then I'd actually be exercising.

*please do not correct me .... I know diet is a four-letter word and I'm supposed to focus on "lifestyle changes"....

Is your productivity linked to your tools?

I used to think, and still, kinda do, that my laptop was the ultimate in productivity. The only thing I couldn't do was work whilst at the school, waiting for the kids.
That was, until I started university. And the laptop died. And the DESKTOP exploded. No joke, my desktop went *BANG* about a month ago. So we bought a new, vista installed desktop. And at the same time, I went for my disability assessment, cause the University referred me (my university ROCKS!), and eventually discovered I was getting a whole RAFT of tools that will tighten up my study skills.
So it all arrived this morning.

I didn't open my laptop first - I opened my dictaphone.
Y'see, I'm firmly of the belief that if something is working for you, augment it. I work well as a multi tasker. I can write and talk at the same time - I don't THINK I can write one story, and dictate another story, but I think I can write, pause when something else occurs to me and then go back to writing what I was working on.
Whether this rather wacky plan increases my productivity, or leaves me with more ideas than I know what to do with, which actually, is an improvement on coming up with snippets then losing them in the avalanche of the rest of the day, or whether I just run round in circles.
I am curious however, have you done anything recently to increase your productivity? Has changing the machine you work on increased your productivity, or has it left you the same, or worse off?

Five tips for the perpetually disorganised

(x-posted from my blog, Publish Hacks)
I promised I'd be back when my brain reconstituted slightly.
And so....without further ado.
The five top tips for the perpetually disorganized (cue chart count-down music)

In at number five - Make a to-do list - It might seem odd, but you're not going to be able get organized and plan your time without looking into what you've got to do. So, work out what you've got to work with, and then you can handle the rest more effectively.

At four - close your email. If, like me, you live in your email, you'll find your time is more effectively managed if you close the time sink that is your email. Not only do we focus less well on working if you're looking at your system tray for the little envelope every five minutes, but when it does come in, you then feel nagged, and may *have* to open it. Have a routine for checking email, even if its once an hour (but at the same time, if you're really in a flow at that point, don't break it)

At three - remember that if you're procrastinating, there's a reason for it. If you're ALWAYS procrastinating, perhaps you need to look at your practices, and find out why. Writing is everyone's passion, and yes, we all have to make money from it, but if you really hate what you're doing, maybe you need to look for something you hate less ;).

At two - remember that your todo list is a guideline, not a structure. As long as you're fulfilling your deadlines, don't sweat the small stuff. Similarly, if you're NOT completing your deadlines, you need to look at why. I'm very undisciplined, and I know that's what my main problem stems from, so I've built and designed my working patterns around that. But I don't break off when things are really going well either. If I get into the flow, I ride it out, and find a way to catch up later.

And at number one - make sure you've got the right tools for the right job. I'm currently trialling some low cost software that's supposedly great for people like me. It stores everything in the one place, so I can access whatever I need to with a couple of clicks, within the place I write - and is helping me see exactly where I need to go from here.
You don't NEED to buy software though - there are lots of free tools that you can use (in fact, I review them on my blog), its all a question of comfort.

BONUS tip!
Have FUN! Its one of the most important caveats of writing. We're not writing because we have to, we're writing because we love it. It might be hard, and yes, its frustrating, but at the end of the day, isn't it worth it?