So how’m I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want?
Um, yeah.
Can I tell you how tempted I am to just go to bed, and not post at all?
When blogging at LACL, one of my favorite things to do in the world, feels like something of a chore, just one more thing I have to get done, you can be sure something is wrong with this picture.
I am reminded of the years (oh, how many of them…) in which I continued to take on custom ketubah commissions (with hard deadlines, mind you, as they were for someone’s wedding) at the same time that my print sales were starting to climb.
Can you say “working overtime”?
And the years (oh, how many) in which I agreed to create a new print design in time for someone’s wedding.
Let me paint the picture:
Imagine weeks, and even months on end of getting up early(ish) in the morning, working all day with breaks only to eat, use the bathroom, check email, and maybe take a walk around the block. Working late into the night, falling into bed for not-nearly-enough sleep, and then getting up and doing it all over again.
Imagine me lamenting to my then-boyfriend, “This is not how I want my life to be! I’m working hard now so I don’t have to work hard later, but this is not how I want my life to be!”
(To which said boyfriend would invariably reply that I should have an “attitude of gratitude.” To which I would invariably growl and seriously feel like walloping him upside the head. Though never fear – I never did.)
Can you see it?
Somehow I’ve managed to get myself right back there.
What happened to the years of maturity? The decades of learning from my mistakes?
How many times do I have to repeat the same stupid tendency to overschedule myself before I finally quit for good?
Or perhaps this insanity is an inevitable part of the formula, something that I’ll never be able to kick (god forbid…)
Right now, I seriously need a vacation. But I’m not going to get one until after I relaunch the Thriving Artists Project, and that process may very well kill me.
Okay, I know I’m being overly dramatic, but overwork will do that to a girl (especially a dramatic diva, such as myself.)
Goal: Drop whatever balls can be dropped without breaking, and get my overscheduled life back into balance. ASAP.
But first, I need to:
- Write the 8 more guest blog posts waiting in the queue
- Create templates for the 365 Days of Genius creativity lessons
- Lay out the next several weeks of lessons in InDesign (wanna help?)
- Find images for said lessons (ditto)
- Load said lessons into the site and format (though VA may be able to do this)
- Load all queued 365 Days of Genius guest blog posts, format, and find images for same
- Finish filling the Daily Resources spreadsheet to pass off to VA for loading (thank GOD for VA!)
- Catch up on bookkeeping (um.. months of personal books to log…) in order to file sales tax return and income tax return
- Print, package and ship ketubot waiting in the queue (oh, yeah – clients!)
- Create initial design concept for website client (oh, yeah – more clients!)
- Create next lessons and worksheets for the Thriving Artists Project
- Edit and load next interviews for tTAP, write commentary, create worksheets
- Create promo videos for tTAP relaunch
- Schedule relaunch, including possible webinar
- Install and figure out how to use the Digital Access Pass (affiliate link) upsell tree and coupon code modules
- Update the tTAP sidebar
- Update the tTAP welcome page
- Create the relaunch tTAP “products” and PayPal buttons
- Check Elance and other sites for inexpensive basic InDesign help
- Excerpt 365 Days of Genius Question of the Week responses and schedule tweets
- Fill out financial assistance application for medical bills
And that’s just stuff I was hoping to get done over the weekend. Ha.
Okay, don’t worry, I’m not that deluded. But it is stuff I wished I could have gotten done over the weekend.
Deep breath. First item on the agenda, right now, is shut down and go to bed.
Yep. This girl knows where her priorities lie.
Sometimes.
Melissa, you definitely have a lot on your plate. Getting enough sleep should always be a high priority, along with exercise and a good diet.
Good luck with that to-do list!
Totally agreed, John. And I’m actually pretty good about the exercise (thanks to my exercycle work station!) and food (thanks to my sweetie who makes sure I’m well-fed).
Sleep is more problematic for me…
Ah, well. Working on it.
Sleep well! You need it 🙂
I hope a little rest puts a better perspective on everything. Good luck with the re-balancing. I wish I had a better handle on that myself 🙂
Thanks Monette! Balance is an ever-elusive goal in my life.
I was supposed to get a mini-vacation today, actually. It’s my sweetie’s birthday, what he wanted as a present was simply for me to take the afternoon off to head to the coast with him.
Great!
Except that this morning he woke up with a bad chest cold. 🙁 So he’s in bed, and I’m at the computer. :}
Speaking as someone else who has a lot on their plate right now (though not as much as you!), I hear you! Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out a good way to handle it either. Except for mandatory 24 hour breaks, but I’m not sure if that helps or not, because then I get to where I’m so looking forward to working again that I can’t sleep that night. Go figure! Good luck in not getting burned out, Melissa. And do post if you figure out anything that works…
It is an ongoing challenge, especially for us multi-passionate, excited-about-what-we’re-doing types!
My goal is to get to a place where I’m diving into the stuff I want to do for PART of the day, and spending the rest of the day asking myself “gee, what do I FEEL like doing right now?” instead of “OMG, what do I HAVE to do right now in order to stay above water?” 😉
Since there’s only one of me, it’s clear that a business model in which I’m not the only one getting stuff done for my business is a part of the answer.
I’ll definitely keep you posted!
o.m.g.
Been there, done that, just finished a year long intense project on Jan 1 and am now knee deep in the next one. I seriously did a number on my health and I already have CFS. Driving yourself into exhaustion will backfire on you.
Anything you can delegate? Or perhaps cut back on your commitments? Opportunities come around when we need them, you don’t need to do everything at once.
I wish you rest AND success. And for me too!
Delegation is key, for sure. And I’m trying to figure out where I can trim. You’re right that driving yourself into exhaustion will backfire, and is to be avoided!
To that end, after I drop off some urgent stuff in the mail, I’m headed to bed for a nap… (She says.. Ask me later if I succeeded…)
well no wonder you’re all burnt out! Just look at all these awesome upgrades your website got! bravo! and thanks for the side banner! I’ll get you a proper one, well, when I have the time… Hhahah. me funny.
Hey Nicole! Thanks – glad you like the new banners. I’ll do a complete overhaul when I have the time, too. 😉