Today is a research day. And I love research. It's a day I give myself permission to roam about the Internet reading, compiling, running stats. I truly enjoy plugging numbers into correlational formulas or simple chi squared equations. I adore finding an obsolete source or newly formed website. Combing through studies, contacting experts, learning ... it's what research is all about.
Strangely enough, even though I give myself permission to wander, I have to be vigilant so that I'm not chasing rabbits. It's easy to get distracted by our own curiosity at the expense of the task at hand. How do you stay focused on the questions you need answered? Do you post them on the corner of your laptop, hoping they'll keep you on track? Do you allow a certain amount of time for each question you need answered? How do you do your research and take joy in the chase without ending up miles away from where you need to be?
I set a predetermined amount of time. Today it's from nine o'clock a.m. until noon. I have a number of questions that I need to answer, the questions lay to my left for easy access. I copy and paste for easy reading later, taking care to get citations and make the note "read only" on the materials. When I am done reading them I delete them so that I don't violate copyright law. All I want is to put all my facts in one place on my computer for cohesive reading during my designated reading time, which is late afternoon.
Someone asked me once, why I read research in the late afternoon. It's the same reason I do rough draft writing at that time. I'm tired. It doesn't seem like it makes sense but it's a time when my walls are down. I'm free flowing, my internal editor is turned off for the day and I spew creative vomit all over the page. In the case of research, I make quantum leaps in my thinking ... I make connections I wouldn't normally make when I'm alert and clearly focused.
Try it sometime. Write at a time when you are at your editorial best. Write about your favorite summer day. Then a couple of weeks later, wait until you're exhausted and write about the same thing. Read them both. You'll see what I mean. Pay dirt. From me to you ... have an amazing Monday. See you next week!
Much love and joy,
Karen
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Derailed by Diet
If you think you can't be derailed by a diet ... think again. I started aggressively changing my diet last Thursday not only to lose weight but to bring my body and health into balance. That's my main focus, so in addition to changing the way I eat, I'm adding various supplements, vitamins and minerals. All that to say ... my body doesn't know what hit it and is more than a little disgruntled.
Fast forward to Monday. I get up, get out the book, set up and get a couple of hours of work in. Against my better judgment I had scheduled a morning appointment with my accountant to do my taxes. What? A half hour to an hour, right? Easy peasy. HAH!
I get down there and 25 minutes after my appointment time I get pushed off onto an assistant who doesn't really understand anything about LLCs. When I called I'd explained that I needed to be very careful and talk to someone with experience in LLCs because I'd set it up last fall very carefully. Semantics means everything in a new company start up. You can completely dismantle your LLC if you submit your taxes incorrectly. No problem, I was told. DOUBLE HAH!
Finally at 11:00 and getting nowhere, the big kahuna is done with her client and comes in to say that I'll have to make another appointment, the person helping me has other appointments. WHAAAATTT??? Why didn't the person in front of me get bumped so I could get in? Well, I might have been a little hungry, which added to the fact that both barrels were loaded in my verbal gun. I let fly. No, I wasn't angry, but I was very firm and let them know how unhappy I was with everything. I left my taxes so the main person could do some research to a questions that I even knew the answer to. I might have been smoking.
The more I thought about it, the madder I got. If they messed up my LLC tax return it could expose my son's special needs trust. I called an attorney. She knew what I was talking about when I told her how I'd set up the LLC. She also knew how important this first tax return was. I picked up my paperwork from the accountant and told her not to bother. ARG! Now I'm starting from scratch with my taxes but am validated by my chat with the attorney ... crisis averted. The day was lost to writing, because by that time I was completely derailed. I work from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. then again in the evening if I need to. If I would have scheduled that appointment in the afternoon I would've been fine, but instead I allowed it to derail my precious work time ... what an idiot!
On Tuesday I dealt with a Visa that had been stolen. Yes, thank you. It was fun. I also dealt with a screwed up writing account bank statement. The bank statement was on the schedule, but typically if I don't balance within an hour of starting, I put it away and save it for the blank spots in the afternoon or evening and go back to work. Instead, I suddenly went on a mission from God to straighten things out. It was absolutely ridiculous. I would have been there after work, it wasn't going anywhere. Honestly!
Both days reminded me of when I first started freelancing years ago. I used to let any and all crises derail my writing so that by the end of the day, I would feel lucky to have written at all. Then I got savvy and set office hours.
If you don't have a schedule and protect it ferociously from those who think freelancer means freeloader you will pay the price. Be prepared for people to be angry with you for not answering the phone, running over to help them immediately or being downright nasty about it. It will happen, I promise you. Protect your work hours.
There! I'm done with my rant. I hope you gained something from it ... or had a good laugh. Either way, I'm shaking my head and wondering what today will bring as I write Monday's blogs on Wednesday. lol. Ah well, be strong, Grasshopper. It will all come out in the end.
God bless your writing today,
Much love and joy,
Karen
Fast forward to Monday. I get up, get out the book, set up and get a couple of hours of work in. Against my better judgment I had scheduled a morning appointment with my accountant to do my taxes. What? A half hour to an hour, right? Easy peasy. HAH!
I get down there and 25 minutes after my appointment time I get pushed off onto an assistant who doesn't really understand anything about LLCs. When I called I'd explained that I needed to be very careful and talk to someone with experience in LLCs because I'd set it up last fall very carefully. Semantics means everything in a new company start up. You can completely dismantle your LLC if you submit your taxes incorrectly. No problem, I was told. DOUBLE HAH!
Finally at 11:00 and getting nowhere, the big kahuna is done with her client and comes in to say that I'll have to make another appointment, the person helping me has other appointments. WHAAAATTT??? Why didn't the person in front of me get bumped so I could get in? Well, I might have been a little hungry, which added to the fact that both barrels were loaded in my verbal gun. I let fly. No, I wasn't angry, but I was very firm and let them know how unhappy I was with everything. I left my taxes so the main person could do some research to a questions that I even knew the answer to. I might have been smoking.
The more I thought about it, the madder I got. If they messed up my LLC tax return it could expose my son's special needs trust. I called an attorney. She knew what I was talking about when I told her how I'd set up the LLC. She also knew how important this first tax return was. I picked up my paperwork from the accountant and told her not to bother. ARG! Now I'm starting from scratch with my taxes but am validated by my chat with the attorney ... crisis averted. The day was lost to writing, because by that time I was completely derailed. I work from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. then again in the evening if I need to. If I would have scheduled that appointment in the afternoon I would've been fine, but instead I allowed it to derail my precious work time ... what an idiot!
On Tuesday I dealt with a Visa that had been stolen. Yes, thank you. It was fun. I also dealt with a screwed up writing account bank statement. The bank statement was on the schedule, but typically if I don't balance within an hour of starting, I put it away and save it for the blank spots in the afternoon or evening and go back to work. Instead, I suddenly went on a mission from God to straighten things out. It was absolutely ridiculous. I would have been there after work, it wasn't going anywhere. Honestly!
Both days reminded me of when I first started freelancing years ago. I used to let any and all crises derail my writing so that by the end of the day, I would feel lucky to have written at all. Then I got savvy and set office hours.
If you don't have a schedule and protect it ferociously from those who think freelancer means freeloader you will pay the price. Be prepared for people to be angry with you for not answering the phone, running over to help them immediately or being downright nasty about it. It will happen, I promise you. Protect your work hours.
There! I'm done with my rant. I hope you gained something from it ... or had a good laugh. Either way, I'm shaking my head and wondering what today will bring as I write Monday's blogs on Wednesday. lol. Ah well, be strong, Grasshopper. It will all come out in the end.
God bless your writing today,
Much love and joy,
Karen
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