Category: Work

Mistake #3: Wasting time

You can’t buy it, stop it, or keep it. It’s always running out. So why are you wasting it?

LindaLeave a comment

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You won’t fill your belly reading cookbooks. Likewise, you won’t kick your terrible time-wasting habits simply by reading productivity books. No, you actually have to act on some of the things suggested. Not just nod your head and say Ye gods! Great idea! I’m writing that down!

I have the requisite books–and bookmarked websites–to help me realize my more productive self:

And still, bear witness to my folly: I’m here. Online. Doing the social media thing rather than getting real work done.

I get what it takes to be productive. When I actually follow through, I accomplish. Big time.

Take the Pomodoro Technique.

When I had a 9-5 office job, I knocked off six pomodoros in the morning, had lunch, then did another six before quittin’ time. I first tried the Pomodoro Technique out on my bedroom closet. An organizing task I’d dreaded for years ended up taking only five pomodoros. Five! You won’t understand the joy until you try it yourself.

It works. I know it works. Still. I. Waste. Time.

So yesterday, I chose not to disappear into my laptop to poke at various open-ended writing projects. Decided not to grab my phone and lose myself in Facebook, Words With Friends or Candy Crush Saga.

Instead, I opened up my Pomodoro app, started the timer and went to work. The 6-minute breaks between the 25-minute work blocks (Pomodoros) actually felt too long because I was eager to get back to the task at hand. At the end of the day, I had 12 pomodoros and my ‘to do’ list completed.

Before you raise your hands and shout Hallelujah, Sistah! this wasn’t a spontaneous conversion. Nope, I haven’t nipped time wasting in the bud. Don’t I wish. It’s an ongoing process. I’m working on it.

What do you struggle with on an ongoing basis? What mistake would you like to confront, correct, and leave behind in the past?

Mistake #2: Taking on too much

Ever feel like you’re underwater? For the first time in my life, I do. All because I’m doing too much.

LindaLeave a comment

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When I meet someone and explain how I make my living, the response is often “Wow, you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

I never thought I did until recently. Until the fall of this year. Now, as I near the end, I can see how much of a mistake taking on too much can be.

Every freelancer knows you have to cobble together a livelihood from a range of income sources, and if they don’t total a full-time salary, you don’t feel you’re working hard enough.

Because I’ve taken on too much, I’ve let things slide. Not in my professional life, but my personal life. My home is disorganized. I’m behind on laundry and cleaning. I either bulk cook meals and we eat a week of leftovers or my family fends for themselves on the nights I’m not at home (and I’m not at home a lot). They put up with me, but I’m finding it hard to put up with myself.

The clearest evidence that I’m doing too much is that I’ve lost track of time. What happened to Halloween? And how is it already less than a week ’til Thanksgiving?

I’m no Superman, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Hell, some days I don’t feel like I have the energy to get out of bed.

I’m underwater, and unless I shed some things that are weighing me down, I’m going to drown.

What’s weighing you down? What mistakes are you ready to acknowledge and let go of?