I’m notorious for not keeping promises to myself. I keep promises to other people just fine, in fact I can be fanatical about it, not ever wanting to let others down. Why I don’t include myself in that fanaticism I have no idea, but that’s the way it’s always been. Not every personal promise is broken. I’ve accomplished a lot, especially in the past year or so, because I set forward determined to succeed, but also because I’ve told others of those promises, so I felt some obligation to keep moving forward.
personalize it
So I’ve been thinking. If I put more things out there by posting here, they’re no longer stuck inside my head where I’m free to ignore them. Even if no one reads it, it’s still out there and by my internal logic I’m obligated to follow through.
If you take a look over there on the sidebar you’ll see that “personal” is by far the largest topic, the one I’ve tagged the most posts with. Still, I keep the really personal stuff, the “in my head” stuff, out of here. A little bit of that is going to change. I’m not going to turn this blog into a confessional, but maybe if I open up just a little more it will propel me forward. I can always go back and rewrite history if it doesn’t work out (see, there I go again!) 
Personal Promise the first:
My kids are back in school (save one, who starts tomorrow morning) so it’s time for me to get back into some kind of routine. Without making any actual changes yet, I’ve been trying to pay attention to what I do during certain parts of the day, certain parts of the week, and work with that rather then toss myself into a regimen that’s doomed from the start. Beginning tomorrow morning I’m going to develop and stick to a (admittedly loose) schedule so I get more done during so called “normal” hours and don’t find myself needing to get work done while MrB wants to relax by blasting music through our shared space, or son3 needs a hand with some homework. In order for this to work I know it needs to be flexible, since my to do list changes from day to day and often in random ways. But flexible doesn’t mean optional. That’s the part I need to fix.
Personal Promise the second:
Part of the new routine will include regular workouts. Starting with the One Hundred Push Ups program and walking 3 times a week. I know I can do this, nothing earth-shattering here. But each and every time I’ve made this commitment in the past, I’ve failed. This time, you’re watching me.
That’s enough for a start. I’ll find a way to chart my progress (posting it all here to the blog would be boring reading even for me!) and I’ll keep you updated. Thanks for being out there :)!
September 3, 2008 – 2:15 pm
August 29, 2008 – 10:08 am
August 28, 2008 – 9:37 pm
Summer is when my never-ending battle with time management takes a three month holiday. Surprisingly this has worked out quite well for me this season. Although things like posting to my blog were shunted aside, I’ve managed to keep up the forward momentum and get what needed to be done, done.
But these last two weeks before school starts are crazy. It’s the good kind of crazy that keeps me from wasting time away clicking around the interwebs or paging through catalogs of items I’ll never buy. Instead I’m methodically going down my to do list, checking things off, adding new items to the bottom, not letting them distract me from my mission. Obviously I’ve reached the item “post something, anything, to the blog!”
sunrise | Duck, NC
The past year has been one of exploration, testing the waters, seeing what works and what doesn’t. That’s the early adopter in me. But I’ve found that there’s a big drawback to spreading myself so thin- it takes away time I could spend using social media to socialize! It’s also stolen focus that I should be using to move forward.
Beginning in September I plan to have a more regular schedule of content here, plus a sprinkling of the random stuff. I’m trying to narrow my focus and gather my scattered internet presence into one basket. Maybe two. But I’ll be setting things up so most of the content I push out elsewhere ends up here. (Eventually. Because client work comes first, and I’m happy to say I have a bushel-load of clients for the moment.)
Meanwhile, here’s a blatantly symbolic photo of a sunrise taken with my iPhone :).
August 20, 2008 – 2:39 pm
We play with the new toys for awhile, but gradually the time-suck factor takes over and we leave them abandoned, like WALL-E, obediently doing what we’ve asked but no longer really serving a useful purpose.
