Blessings and Curses of Owning the Time Clock

One of my greatest pleasures—and pains—is ordering my own workday.
I love making my own schedule, and breaking it, too. But I must admit, the consequences are a bit harder to take when you’re your own boss. Who do you blame for mismanagement?
I, of course, blame my dog. If it wasn’t for those untimely bathroom breaks, I could get a lot more done.

Molly at 7 weeks (she just turned 2 on Sept 3rd

Don’t buy it? Neither does my puppy.

But today, I have focus! I’ve started on a new book and it’s going very well. The idea came to me Saturday evening after an unsuccessful week of trying to make myself stay glued to my chair to edit a dark, complex story that I really love. Apparently, the beginning of Autumn encourages my ADD tendencies and an intricate plot is not in my immediate future.

Yes, this is one of those times when I would much rather ‘have written’ than ‘be writing.’ Try explaining that one to my supervisor in charge of productivity. {that would be me, again}

So, on Saturday, I started a new project, all shiny bright, and straight forward.
Did you catch the day I began this project? Saturday? The weekend? I’m also writing today, Labor Day, an official holiday.

If you see my boss, be sure to mention my dedication as shown by working weekends, okay?

BTW, I need a name for the ex-husband in this story. Suggestions?

Tags: discipline, new story, productivity
Posted in Distractions, Schedules | 13 Comments »

Discipline

Sunset from my Backyard

If you’re like me, that word instantly has me grinding my back teeth and digging in my heels, braced to rebel.   I think most of us have our rebellious sides, don’t we?  {Go ahead.  In the recesses of your cubbies, you can agree with me.}  The problem/solution is that those of us who have escaped the corporate cube farms have gloried in the winds of freedom and have a darned hard time getting down to work when we don’t wanna.

After a long, hot summer that would melt off your eyebrows, we’ve had several beautifully moderate days in a row.   Long walks, poking at the dried-up weeds in my wilted flower beds and daydreams about hammocks have seriously cut into my work hours.

The manuscript that I am so excited about glares at me from the corner of my desk, nagging that I should get at least a few pages edited.  Websites awaiting enhancements send messages via email that they are ready to be updated.  Bank accounts cry out for more, more, more more when all I want to do is less, less, less.

Discipline.  That word brings visions of black-robed nuns with hard plastic rulers to mind.  (Yes, I have felt the bite in my younger days.)  Surely, there’s a compromise somewhere.

Maybe I’ll figure it out while I take my nap.  If I only had a hammock…..

Tags: beautiful weather, discipline
Posted in Distractions, Schedules | 6 Comments »

Office Gossip when You’re the Only One in the Office

Working from home is a wonderful thing.  Pajamas.  Long walks when I want them.  Setting my own schedule.  No office gossip.

{screeching halt here}  No office gossip?

I have first hand experience that adult workers are 567% less inspired and 352% less efficient without at least one weekly injection of office gossip.

So how do we work-from-home types get our daily requirements of office gossip?    First I discovered Twitter.  I love it! A whole world having random thoughts and then sharing them with anyone who happens to be cruising by our Twitter sites at the time.  Saturday Night Live’s Jack Handy is looking down on all of us with a great big smile right now.  (Follow me on Twitter– www.twitter.com/conniecox )

And then there’s Facebook.  I just became part of the Facebook family a few weeks ago and feel like I’ve walked into a party thrown just for me.  Love,  love, love reading about the little things that are so significant in everyone else’s day.  And the comments…..they register very high on the office gossip scale. (I’m at www.facebook.com/connie.cox –note the dot–if you want to be my friend)

But there’s no substitution for the face-to-face meeting.  Every Thursday, my critique group meets over lunch and discusses writing.  It’s a subject we’re all passionate about so the conversation is always enthusiastic.  We hash out character arcs and plot points and discuss the merits of being a plotter versus a pantser (seat-of-your-pants writer).  And we talk about industry news–the office gossip part.  I’m not alone on this one. 

Yesterday, I was greatly inspired hearing that a debut author just sold her first three books for a nice 6 figures.  And books 2 and 3 aren’t even written yet.  Made me want to rush home and put fingers to keyboard before I even finished my dessert. 

Now to make my case to my boss about project priorities—wait!  I am my boss! 

So guess which project I’ll be focusing on today?  That’s right.  I’ll be jumping back into writing a new book.  After yesterday’s gossip session, I am now officially rested enough after the last book project and anxious to try for that golden ring again. 

The book starts this morning.

Life is good!

Posted in Schedules | 4 Comments »