Prioritizing: How Do You Do It?

Prioritizing. How do you do it?

Seriously. I'm asking how you do it. If you thought this was a "how to" on how to prioritize, you can skip the post. Haha. But just so you don't go away empty handed, here's a beautiful pic of a La Jolla sunset. Hubby and I just celebrated (early) our 25th anniversary (and yes, I'm working).

And here's the day after:

Now on to the matter at hand!

Lately, I've found myself completely underwater with all kinds of work. I have the day job which takes an unusual amount of time. Then I have the writing job, which fills in much of the rest. Oh, but wait. I also have a husband, daughter and two dogs (and a house) who expect me to take care of them too. (And yes, I'm including the house since it's woefully in need of a cleaning.)

So the big question is: Who comes first? Yes, the daughter is 17 and capable of handling much on her own, but she's in the tough year of college hunting and applications and still needs her mom. The dogs definitely need me as does the house. Where do I start? Who wins me how much of the time?

Trust me, the house has taken the biggest back seat, but at some point, I HAVE to clean it. LOL. Do meals bite the dust and I just become the Sandwich Queen?

I'm really curious how people manage their time between two jobs and family. Help a girl out. I need tips. (I'm feeling a lot like Jess St. John in Against The Wall.

Time and Other Problems

by Janis Patterson

Okay, I messed up. Big time. Again.

Just a few minutes ago I got an email asking me if this were not my day to blog. Well, first I panicked, then I check the spreadsheet where I keep all my blog commitments. It wasn’t there, but as it is my responsibility to put it there I am still probably the one who goofed up. Ooops.

Obviously, the world will not end, my career will not implode, tornadoes will not strike simply because I missed a blog date. I am sorry to let down those who depended on me, but let’s get a grip on priorities.

On the other hand, this is a perfect object lesson. I, like just about every other writer on the planet, have a life, a career, perhaps health issues and a dozen other things going on. Some of us have day jobs. Some of us have families. Some of us have other obligations that pull at us, usually in half a dozen different directions.

On top of that, we are expected to edit, to revise, to play in the fields of social media, to blog, to maintain our websites and keep them current, arrange and go to booksignings, chat up booksellers, do every kind of promotion to keep our name out there that we can think of. to self-publish and do audio books and… – oh, I almost forgot – to write. And write well. And write prolifically. Every year it seems that more of the responsibility of getting the book out there falls on the poor author’s shoulders.

Hold it! Where is this going to stop? There are things we can’t give up – family, job, etc – and things we have to do – like write good books. We all want to do what we can to get fans and sales. But where does it end? There are just a set number of hours in the day and only so much can be crammed into them.

I don’t have an answer. I wish I did – maybe then I wouldn’t find that I have left off a blogging date and appear a careless fool for having done so. Those of you who have mastered the art of doing everything, I wish you’d tell me how you did it. Until then, I’m just going to keep stumbling on, and somehow I know I won’t be alone.