FINDING TIME WITH TOO MUCH TO DO

FINDING TIME WITH TOO MUCH TO DO I find it amazing that the more I have on my plate, the more productive I become. People ask how I accomplish what I do, and I never have a good answer. This week, however, I seemed to have caught up to myself. No signings or conferences for the entire month of July. No immediate deadlines since the manuscript for book two of The Carolina Slade Mystery Series is in the hands of the publisher. And I caught myself piddling more than ever. Some psychologist types might say it was my schedule catching up to me, that I needed the down time to go into idle-mode for a spell. Maybe. The problem is, idle to me means getting outside to garden, weed, or create some new wing on a chicken coop, and its too friggin hot to do all that. So Im seated at my computer, finally, with time to breathe, and I slow down. Back in my day-job years (geez that sounds old), I ran wide-out with kids, writing, jogging, and serving as administrative director for a small federal agency, answering to a politician. I fell into bed and rose tired, but once I had my coffee, I counted the juggling balls and prioritized which ones to handle first. I firmly believe we perform relative to the degree in which we are challenged. And the first people to argue this are those who are seeking reasons for not being productive. Go ahead. Throw tomatoes. But just think about it before you do. Athletes who perform the same routine, without challenging their limits, do not excel. Intellects who quit challenging the status-quo, do not find break-throughs. Doctors who treat the norm instead of seeking answers to anomalies, turn their backs on patients. Its the challenged who make a difference. And when we stop to ponder that, we can reply in one of two ways: 1. We can complain about our limitations, or 2. We can keep fighting to make a difference. Really, it IS that simple.