Monday, August 4, 2008

Cutting Back?

Kathy had an interesting post below about making changes. It's funny because lately I've been thinking seriously about doing the same thing. I find as I get older I want to simplify my life to suite what I want. And in the fast paced world we live in I know it's not going to be easy. Sometimes making choices isn't easy, because we all want to make the right choices. How do we know what those are?

I just got back from spending three days with my daughter and her family. My little granddaughter, Alivia, turned two. My niece was there, my dad showed up from South Carolina to surprise us all. We were all together. As small a family as we are. We had a little birthday party for Alivia and for the first time I got to hear her say "gamaw". My niece and I discussed taking a short cruise together. All is good. No cut backs to be made here:)

So what changes will help simplify my life? Having a housekeeper is a good place to start, but I like cleaning my little house and it doesn't take up that much of my time. Hubby keeps the outside done. No worries there. Taking care of two little kitties isn't all that hard. They're pretty independent and besides, I enjoy having them around. No cut backs to be made here:)

Work? These days who can quit work? I enjoy that part of my life because I'm around co-workers who have become my friends. The job isn't that hard and I make decent money, that's always a plus. Sure, I wish I didn't have to work 5 days a week, 3 would be perfect! Still, I'm not special. If the rest of the world has to work 5 days a week then so should I. Gee, when I was younger I held down three jobs! No cut backs to be made here:)

What then? My writing? I can't give that up! Writing is in my blood, it's my passion. Sure, it became more complicated once I became published but I wouldn't give that experience up for the world. But there are aspects of writing that I can...trim. Getting back to Kathy's earlier blog, she said she belonged to 20 something groups. I belong to almost twice that many, several different networking sites, I have two websites and a blog of my own I need to maintain. Ah! Here's where I can start to cut back.

So like Kathy I will eliminate some of the groups I belong to. A couple of the networking sites will have to go, too. My websites and personal blogs will definitely stay, though. I will start eliminating my time on the Internet so I can do more writing, which has suffered because of all the time I spend playing. And I will stop committing myself to so much that I can't keep up with it anymore.

Sound like a plan?

6 comments:

margaret blake said...

I agree Debbie, I belong to too many groups. Sometimes I wonder how good they are for generating sales. I guess some are better than others, but you can get bogged down in reading all the stuff you receive.

Margaret

Suzanne Brandyn Author said...

Hi Debbie,
I also agree that networking can consume valuable time. I belong to a few sites but have no intentions of adding to them.
I spend half an hour in the morning checking emails etc. Then spend five hours writing,editing, or drafting, then back to computer to spend time for half an hour on blogs, visiting sites etc.

I agree that we have to be careful that the network does not take over from our writing. As our purpose is to promote, to become better writers, to get our name out there and learn something every day.

Suz:)

Kathleen said...

So glad you had such a nice family get together. I agree those are the events you need to make time for.

Tory Richards said...

Sure can Margaret. I'm not very good with math, it wasn't my strong point in school, but if I add up the total of people in all the groups and networking sites I belong to, and compare it to my royalty checks...well, it just doesn't add up! LOL

Tory Richards said...

Gee, I wish I had that kind of dicipline, Suzanne.

Tory Richards said...

For sure, Kathy. And I plan to do more of it!