Christa: Caught up… and discombobulated
The schedule I committed to two weeks ago turned out very interestingly last week. Instead of making excuses as to why I wasn’t writing, I saw my productivity skyrocket (comparatively) and my memory–at least for where I was on which projects–improve. As a result, I can say I’m caught up on work. Not “done,” not by any stretch, but at a point where I don’t feel like I’ll be late on everything (one feature article, one regular feature, numerous edits and PR projects.
Now for the caveats: my husband, Rain Dog, was home for 4 days (among a sick day, the weekend, and a snow day). That freed my time considerably. And I’m still struggling to carve out 20-30 minutes per day for fiction.
The biggest challenge is making sure we eat at 5. I personally prefer to ask Rain Dog what he wants to eat, rather than make dinner at 4 and hope it’s okay. (Yes, I do rely heavily on leftovers!) I also have trouble staying focused. This would be easier if I were in a place with the one novel where I could consider myself “in a groove,” but I’m not. Yet.
So: still tweaking the schedule. The good news is, I’m close to done with a short story that was really bothering me. That should free some time!
Studio Mothers: Life & Art 
So glad things are still going well, Christa. I have to say I’m impressed that you make dinner to order! The only way I can manage the cooking routine myself is to plan the week’s menus on Sunday, taking into consideration whatever is going on that week, and then go shopping on Monday. I find the decision-making process about “what to make for dinner” so stressful that I have to take care of it in advance. And since my husband doesn’t ever cook, I figure he’s lucky to get a home-cooked meal at all, and can gratefully eat whatever is put before him! (Luckily, he’s easy-going and DOES always eat whatever I put before him. The kids–not so much. But with six people in our family, you can’t please everyone all the time.)
I hope Rain Dog has Monday off, so you get to enjoy another bonus weekend!
Wow, how impressive that you’ve finished all that in one week! I was finishing up a long run this afternoon, pushing my 2-year-old in the baby jogger, and musing about how, before her, I used to eat a bag of chips and down a bottle of wine and call it “dinner.” Now I’m proud that somehow, more or less consistently, I pull dinner out of thin air for her (and me) and it manages to be healthy (again, more or less).
And then I remembered my playdate yesterday – my good friend Nancy just signed up to have gourmet prepared meals (3 a day) delivered to her house on Sunday afternoons for the following week. She just goes online, clicks on the options she prefers, and game over.
Here’s to hoping we soon get to the day were we are taking those Jetson pills for sustanance. A pill, a glass of water, three times a day, done! No harm to the environment, no pesticides, no scrubbing burned rice of of the bottom of the pot. ALL of our productivities will skyrocket!