Lately, I have been the epitome of “the hurrier I go, the behinder I get!” I have been trying to work on my time management between writing my next book, blogging, and maintaining a presence on Social Media. I have two words to describe my attempt, Epic Fail! After Tuesday night’s BlogPaws chat, I was relieved to know that I am not the only one trying to juggle balls while keeping the plates spinning on a pole.
As always, I picked up some great “chat” tips and ideas. One is that an editorial calendar or at least a general calendar is a must-have for me. I can write down my blog posts, review dates, different chats or web events that are upcoming, and stop trying to remember everything. It takes up too much of my vintage brain’s remaining hard drive.
Next and this is the hardest one for me; stop commenting on every blog that I visit. Blog hopping is as addictive as Pinterest. I tell myself to simply read a blog or look at a picture and hop along. I never listen because I visit and feel compelled to comment or say “hello.” If you aren’t following my Pinterest boards, please do. I have 33 boards with 2,819 pins! I have several boards for dogs, books, quotes, and some hilarious things that make me laugh. Anyway, you can see the problem. I’m always going to visit one more blog or pin just one more pin and before I know it, I spent half of the day!
The third thing I am trying to improve on is my training time with Bentley & Pierre. Bentley knows how to do basics commands. The problem is that he doesn’t feel inclined to perform on command. He believes that he should get a free ride on performing tricks due to his adorableness and being the inspiration behind my writing career. I was all-good until I saw Dachshund Nola turning on and off the light switch! Then, I see Emma from My Life asa GBGV, the gorgeous Greyhounds on Tales and Tails and Greyhounds Can Sit looking adorable holding a perfect pose for the camera. In no time at all, I have hopped over to see Sugar the Golden Retriever unrolling a Yoga mat! I look at my precious Bentley dissolved into a
puddle of snoring Basset and think I simply must do better.
How am I going to turn my thus-far Epic Failure into an Epic Win? This is my plan and I am going to try really, really hard to adhere to the time restraints.
1. Stop staying up all night. Since we’ve retired, our bedtime is the middle of the night. Earlier to bed, earlier to rise, yada yada.
2. Check my editorial calendar (after I make it), go through e-mail, check SM sites for updates, Retweets, likes, etc. the first thing in the morning with coffee. I’m going to have to pencil in a good 2 hours for this.
3. Visit my blog-hopping but restraining from commenting on every post. Maybe a share on Google+, Twitter, or Pinterest will be faster than commenting. Okay, I will still leave a few comments…heeheehee! I may limit this to 30 minutes three times a day.
4. Write my blog for the next day. I’m proud to say I am writing this post at 1:00 p.m. This is approximately 12 hours earlier than I usually write it. Do I feel a win on the horizon? If my thoughts are flowing, this takes about 2 hours.
5. Spend time with the boys reintroducing tricks, grooming, playing, and talking about their dog stuff. We are also requiring them to do a trick for a treat. They usually just demand a snack. Bentley has a treat mat, which is actually the mat for our kitchen sink. He will go sit on it and stare at his treat jar on the counter. If offered a treat, he runs over to sit on the mat. This is a work in progress. Pierre’s mom has taught him quite a few tricks so with him it’s just learning to mind Gramma. Bentley knows a few basic tricks but as I stated before, he doesn’t feel the need. We are working on his enthusiasm although he does perform a pretty awesome death scene. I have to dedicate an hour each day to their work.
***If you are counting along with me on my time spent, I have only used up 6 1/2 hours. If I wake up early, I could accomplish the majority of this list by early afternoon.
6. That leaves me the rest of the day to work on my new book. Time evaporates when I’m in my story. I cannot put a time restraint on this because one hour dissolves into four.
7. Oohh heck! I forgot to add in time to exercise. Okay, add at least 30 minutes for the exercise room. Maybe I can visit blogs while I’m on the treadmill. Skipper built a table mount for a laptop so you can surf and walk at the same time.
8. So, the way I have it figured is if I don’t eat or clean our house, there should be no trouble fitting everything into my day. Hmmm, if I don’t eat maybe I don’t need to exercise. No, I have to exercise because the conference is coming quickly. That’s my motivation now!
As you can see my time management needs managing. I just have to start with a calendar.
The other things that I learned on the BlogPaws chat were from @Blogpaws concerning Tweets. I still consider myself relatively new to Twitter. There are many tricks and rules that I am learning. I found these to be great and in case you missed them, I wanted to share. If you start a tweet with a mention, @mk_clinton, the tweet is seen by @mk_clinton. When you start a tweet with words before the @ mention, all of your followers can see the tweet. Adding a period before the @ mention will allow your followers and the followers of the @ mention to see the tweet. What I gathered from this is that if you want your tweet seen by more people; add something similar to “Hey. @mk_clinton, it’s nice to tweet you!’ This way you’re tweet is seen by your followers and the @ mention followers. Do you know any other tricks to get your tweets out to more people? Feel free to pass them along in comments!
You can join the BlogPaws Chat three times each month on Tuesday nights from 8:00 ~ 10:00 p.m. EST. It is a great fast-paced chat with a main topic, lots of sub-topics, and prizes! Just hashtag #BlogPaws Chat to get in the conversation. I always make new friends, followers, and find out about new blogs.
When I look over my plan, it seems very simple to follow. It brings to mind the quote
by H. Jackson Brown Jr. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” I’ll bet they all had editorial calendars!
That is what’s on my mind for this edition of Thoughtless Thursday! How do you manage your time? Are there any ideas that you can pass along? Maybe you know some other time saving tricks for Social Media. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below. Then, hop over to visit my other blogging buddies. Times-a-wasting!
