It's been a while...

 Hi everyone,

Today, I received a message from the blog board. It is amazing to me that some of you are still finding it, better yet,  reading it! I am not sure what to say other than "here we go again with another missed opportunity!" 

Blogging is a great way to stay in touch and share additional content I may have missed while filming. It is also another creative way to share my thoughts and progress, however small. Who knows, I may even inspire! 

So for those of you who are still around, kudos and thank you!

It seems that my blog pretty much fell into oblivion, alongside my trunk restoration, the elastic band on the yellow dress, the non functioning electric plug at the back of the kitchen...The list goes on.  I really have no one to blame but myself, in all honesty though, how many different platforms can one manage at a time? 

So let's talk about BALANCE. You all know I have the hardest time settling into a workable routine, finding time to be more business minded and sticking to what I would refer to as my side gig. Blogging, vlogging, reselling...It all takes time. I am not trying to make an excuse for my absence on either this platform or my Etsy shop, I am simply pointing out the obvious. When there are 24 hours in a day and 10 of those hours are spent on making a living, that does not leave much for the rest. I do like my sleep (I hope you do too). But it's simple math: 7 hours of sleep, or bed time rather, added to 10 hours of work, that's 7 hours for the rest. It's obvious (and I won't fool anyone with this one) that those 7 additional hours are not spent cleaning the house! So what do I do with my time and how do I reclaim it?

How does one find the right mindset and the right balance between work, family life, hobby and all the rest. It's not just MY great challenge, I believe it is every working woman's challenge. 

There are a lot of things we would like to do to enhance our day to day life and I am sure you can all agree that at some point in our life we have looked at another woman in absolute awe, wondering "how does she do it all?" Well, maybe the answer is in that 7 hours I seem to waste for no good reason at all other than being wiped out most days or otherwise engaged into running around in circles with no clear direction as to what I need to prioritize next. 

Truth:

I do not have a clear schedule.

I overload my To-Do list which is similar to my To Be Read list: it keeps piling on but really, nothing is ever accomplished here, the same goes with the bazillion other projects floating around my head and let's not get started with the quilting or that walk-in closet I am supposed to build (yes, that was a hint).

I do not prioritize...EVER. It's all super important and therefore nothing gets done. Looking busy though, does not really mean that you are. So on most days, I will look frazzled and all over the place. But truly, not much has been achieved. I think I have mastered the art of puttering around except it's all indulgence at this point. Here is a neat article on the subject. 

I am easily sidetracked, you see. I give you a for instance (true story):

I could get up on any Saturday morning with the intention of filming 3 grossly ambitious videos. Then I remember I need to go to the PO BOX. So I go there. On my way back, I remember I need to stop by the garden center for rose fertilizer, I do that. Before you know it I stop by the First Presbyterian thrift shop before they close. I am not looking for anything in particular but somehow I love the idea of having a large amount of stock I know very well I have zero time to process.  Sure enough I find something I now feel obligated to research. There goes another few hours since one does not simply research an item, surely, you get lost at one point or other into the web of neat stuff available on the internet for procrastinators like me.  Meanwhile there is no plan for lunch. It's already 1:30PM! Fine, we go out for Lunch or maybe we have leftovers. I clean up (somewhat) and realize I have a surplus of beans in the garden. So I go take care of that. On my way there, I find out the roses need pruning. It's now 4 PM and I am losing daylight. No filming today. This warrants a trip to Barnes & Noble where a new To Be Read calls my name. 

Sunday? More of the same. 

Does this sound familiar? 

Do you know what's missing? 

A Schedule and a commitment to go with it. 

The issue here is the repetition of failed expectations and their toll on my overall sense of self. Comes Monday, I feel like an absolute bum. One with zero accomplishment. Rinse. Repeat. 

I am fairly certain I could be way more successful in my endeavors if only I would...Are you ready for this? Commit to a schedule of activities. What a concept!

It sounds like a cliché (that's the French word for Overuse or Been There Done That - Come on now, you've all been there! Right?) Anyway, it may sound like a cliché but unless I start scheduling myself as though a business woman, nothing is ever going to really look business-like, feel business-like or reap business-like benefits. Don't get me wrong, my YouTube and other platforms are doing fairly well...with minimal effort on my part. Yes, I just said that. MINIMAL EFFORT. I film, I edit, I Post. Big deal! Imagine if there was an actual plan! A commitment to creating a serious platform with a clear vision and goal! Mind Blown!

If I earned a Dollar for every business dream I ever had, well, I could happily retire on a farm somewhere in Wyoming, raising chicken and riding my horse into the sunset! That is actually a dream of mine. 

But I am still here, in NJ where Me TIME is being stuck in traffic! You would think I would put that time to good use by listening to audiobook versions of my To Be Read pile! Of course not, that would make way too much sense!

So why am I even sharing all of this and where am I going with it?

It has come to my attention this week that at least 50% of my lack of motivation towards success mentioned above, was the lack of proper equipment. When I was blogging on a fairly consistent basis, while working full time AND filming equally consistently, I also happened to have the proper equipment, namely, a performing computer. Trust me, nothing sucks the motivation out of you more than a laptop that crashes every 40 minutes, writes drawkcab, and other quirks that simply make the task not only a chore, but purely wearisome. 

This week, I purchased a new computer (HP Pavilion All in One) Shameless affiliate link, BTW. And the stuff is going so fast, I am no longer dreading the task. Better yet! I am motivated again! And the proof is in the pudding, I am writing this blog!

So, as one thing often leads to another (see my Saturday story) when it comes to my general approach to life, I feel better equipped now, to renew my commitment to My Great Challenge. 

It's true, and some of you have felt it,  that MGC as a content somewhat became a tad stagnant over the past year. Coming up with new, fresh content is not easy. It's easy when it's not your content, but it's not that easy when you are the one who puts in the hours. But now that I have the proper tools again, a huge weight has been lifted and a renewed interest came with it. 

This is not an announcement that my channel, blog and Etsy shop are going to experience a revival within the next 24 hours. This is not a "come back" or even a promise. It's just me telling you that I am thinking about positive changes that in the long run (let me write that again) in the LONG RUN, are going to be beneficial. 

So let's talk baby steps. I need to restructure, regroup, recommit, not rebrand but at the very least, clarify where I am going moving forward. 

Ideally I would like to keep a schedule of videos 2 to 3 times per week. Mon, Wed, Friday seemed to work in the past. One blog per week on various trivial nonsense I feel like sharing. Could be a week in review. I always liked those plus I feel that the majority of subscribers enjoy this "youtubers are just like us" kind of moments. It's true, after all my DITL (Day in the life) have always been popular (oh look, I just linked you to all my DITL videos!) 

But baby steps first. What can I do, right now, to begin restructuring and reclaim my 7 hours?

I always believed that one has to start somewhere. Is it creating a schedule? Is it waking up earlier? How about a small daily step that could help me feeling a bit more accomplished by the end of the day.

Let's investigate the bedtime routine. 

We have this TV upstairs. We watch it without really watching it to be honest. We cut cable loose a while back so we are essentially just watching whatever is available on Prime. Most nights, one of us falls asleep within the first 30 minutes while the other browses aimlessly before settling on a James Bond rerun. Excitement prevails once you reach our age! So why not put that 30 minutes to good use?

Experiment #1: 30 minutes reading every night. What are the odds that this little baby step would actually lead to something bigger in the LONG RUN. 

This is what I am reading:

How Not to Die

How Not to Die

No I am not going Plant Based,  I am only educating myself. And as I am writing this, I realize that I am already past my bed time!

So, good night. I am off to a good start.

Tomorrow I plan on:

Working from home.

Editing and posting a video.

Working on rejuvenating this blog design as it needs a bit of an overall. 

Thank you all for reading my nonsense and cheering me on for yet another attempt at doing better. 

Cheers,

PS: I did sell the Scrapbook supplies. Thank you Carol-Ann