Friday, November 19, 2010

Sacrificial Rites & Perfecting Priorities

I've been working on a submission and believe me, my derriere feels the pain. So do my hands! Oh, the nails that once were long and beautiful are short little stubs. And I don't even want to discuss the hangnails. They are the bane of my existence. But sacrifices must be made in order to achieve my goals.

Here are some of the easier sacrifices I make when I am working toward a deadline:

1-Cooking? What's that? People, people in the house. Find a pop tart and deal.
2-Cleaning the bathrooms. A little bleach in the bowl goes a LONG way.
3-Why clean floors when they are just going to get dirty again?
4-Unimportant phone calls aren't answered--I'm talking the solicitation kind.
5-Social media is put on the back burner (but I still check occasionally)
6-Makeup? Hair? What? I'm a writer, not a movie star.
7-Ironing. Like that was hard haha.
8-Menu planning. Isn't that why frozen lasagna and pizza were invented? To ease my life?
9-Kitty litter scooping--someone else can do it for a change.
10-Watching television--thank goodness for the DVR and taping shows!

But in the midst of making sacrifices, I also know there are some things that cannot be ignored. Here are some priorities I keep no matter what, or who, is demanding my time:

1-Grocery shopping. Apparently food must be in the house even if it is a frozen pizza.
2-Laundry. Clean clothes are a must even if I am not a movie star.
3-Care and feeding of the cats--someone has to keep DFC full on Beechnut Organic baby food.
4-Sleeping. Can't write if my brain is dead.
5-Eating. Can't write if my tummy is rumbling.
6-Exercise. Must remain healthy and strong if I am going to keep on writing.
7-Being available to my closest friends in their times of need (friends are forever).
8-Spending time with my Darling Husband. After all, he's my first hero.
9-A modicum of social time cause I can't thrive without people contact.
10-Being available to my Darling Teenager in times of stress and in times of jubilation.

Tip: know your priorities and then you'll know what you can give up to achieve your goals.


What sacrifices are you making to achieve your goals? What are your top priorities and why?

Fabulous Friday Blog Roll

6 comments:

Jody Hedlund said...

Hi Christine,
Your lists are very much like mine when I'm on deadline! There's so much that can wait. I just turned in my second book to my publisher and this past week have been working like a mad woman to catch up on everything I neglected! :-) But I'm getting there. Getting my house back into shape once again! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Tami Brothers said...

Great tips, Christine! I laughed at the things we can do without and nodded my head at those we need to not ignore. Sometimes we forget about those and this reminder is very timely.

Keep up the great work!

Tami

Christine said...

Hi Jody: I know what you mean. I finished up my full and sent it to the editor last week. I spent all of this week catching up on the stuff that I had put aside. I actually cooked a "real" meal on Wednesday.

Congratulations on getting that second book sent to the publisher!

:-)

Christine said...

Hi Tami: It's amazing how easy it is to give up hair/makeup and ironing, isn't it? But our dear friends and our family do require care and maintenance. Yesterday I spent two hours on the phone with BF in Canada (we've known each other for over 30 years!) -- I'd sent off the Full, so I cleaned while we talked.

Catching up in more ways than one!

:-)

Gwen Hernandez said...

You mean you only give that stuff up when on deadline? ;-)

Christine said...

Hey Gwen: Ha ha... welll.... I do try to keep a neat & tidy house. I am a scheduler. So when deadlines loom, I drop the stuff listed, but it gives me itches and twitches to do so.

I just spent two days cleaning the house and catching up on this's and thats. Now I go back to my regularly scheduled program.

:-)