Talk Thursday: Slowdive – or The Fine Art of Time Miss Management

The intent of this topic totally eluded me. I thought, struggled, Googled, thought again and then I read Fii’s Talk Thursday blog for Spin. She is staggering blind in a miasma I know all too well: Crap! Where did my time go?

Easily I can say there is a minimum 9 to 10 hour day awaiting me Monday through Friday at work. My hours are forever evolving – this year it seems to be 8:30 to 5 or 5:30, or 6pm – depending on events even later. Plus I am on call 24 / 7. The length of the hours I work are my doing for the most part, yes I multi task, could you imagine the length of my day if I didn’t multi task? I literally do two airshifts at one time. I use to go to work at 4 in the morning, and I loved the morning shift – now I would hate it – at the time I was also working three jobs. My job also allows me to multi task for myself – I’m writing this while doing my airshift. It rocks. You have no idea how many times I chatted with Psam or Sid while on the air – on the station’s dime – my boss rocks.

But with those hours comes with a loss of time for me, a loss of time for Ducky, a loss of time of other vital things. Tuesday and Thursday nights are mine, Ducky is in the valley overnight taking a break from his long (160 mile round trip) commute. He gets the rest of my time, well the parts that aren’t claimed by work or my garden.

For eleven years I have compiled, Wednesday Links, a resource for writers. I’ve enjoyed creating the list and subsequent database that resulted from those eleven years – I placed a counter on the page and paid attention to the numbers – the numbers have slowed. Once each year I asked my readers to vote for Wednesday Links at Critters / Preditors and Editors, not a big request, to use it as a tool to judge the value of the Links. Last year Links finished at 11, this year at 19. I haven’t done links for the last two weeks reclaiming three hours of my life back each Tuesday night; I’ve not received one post or note asking what the heck happened to Wednesday Links.

While fewer and even less of my favorite bloggers have been posting in the past few weeks (months) I have missed my own blogging as much as my morning cup of coffee and blog time. I used to have the time to check my favorites several times each day, making sure I posted a comment as a show of support – whether a specific post compelled a response out of me (usually the case) or not. I refuse to give up blogging, it keeps me in touch with people I like, it makes me think, it feeds my soul. No! No! No! My blogging won’t go.

I have also noted that having no me time has bent my inspiration and sense of humor. I wrote out my annual “One Hundred Things About Me” list this week. I started writing it on Saturday night, added ten or more so items Sunday, got to number 67 on Monday – reread what I’d written Tuesday night when I wasn’t compiling my Wednesday Links and discovered several things:

1) I’m boring
2) I’m uninspired
3) I’m humorless
4) It took me four days to write 100 humorless things about me, a project I’ve been thinking about for months that usually takes me a half an hour to write. That sucks, majorly sucks. MAJORLY!

I want my me time back, I want my humor back. I want to still be able to hit my crosstrainer, bemoan my yoga endeavors, give Ducky the time he needs, garden, do my job and still be able to breathe, blog, and recharge. I’ve been on a Time Miss Management Slowdive. Slow nosedive is maybe more accurate, but now I know the definition of Slowdive and must become proactive to regain what I’ve seemingly lost.

Sith,
Cele

PS Thank you Sid for the topic, Thank you Fii, my friend, for the inspiration.