How I Manage My Time

What I don't do:

Stay up late and stay in bed late.

Sit around in my p.j.'s all day.

Watch TV in the day time with one exception.

Visit on the telephone.

Have people over for coffee--or go to others homes for coffee, except on rare occassions.

Work on the weekends.

Do my own housework, except for my bedroom and bath.

Belong to any social clubs.

Do craft projects, paint, knit, or sew. I realized that if I wanted to be a writer, I ought to concentrate on writing.

(Sounds boring, but it works for me)

What I do:

I read at spare moments and in bed. I also check my email in bed.

What I do:

I do watch DVD movies in the early evening because my brains turns to mush after putting in a certain number of hours writing and/or editing.

I go to bed early.

I get up between 4:30 a.m. and 5 and shower and dress--then I'm ready for whatever might happen during the day. (This is an old habit from when we owned and lived in a residential care home and we got surprise visits from licensing and the placement agency at any time.)

I start my day with whatever Bible study I happen to be doing, or just reading a chapter in the Bible.

I make a list of what I hope to accomplish.

I check my email and take care of it and do a quick peek at Facebook and tell the world what my plan for the day is. Fix my Chai latte to drink while I'm working. When I get hungry I fix my breakfast. One in awhile hubby fixes a big breakfast for both of us. Sometime I glance through the paper while I'm eating, other times I'll read a book.

 I write, either before breakfast or after starting wherever I left off the night before. (A trick I learned long ago was to quit in the middle of a scene then it's easy to begin again the next day.) Fortunately, I can be interrupted and go right back to whatever I was doing. (That's from raising five kids and always having a houseful of my own and everyone else's.)

When I've written as much as I feel like for the day--or that time period--I'll move onto other things that need to be done, like writing blog posts, book reviews, some editing, whatever happens to be on my list.

I eat lunch and take care of other little jobs--or maybe big ones, depending upon what has popped up.

My daytime TV watching exception is General Hospital, sometimes I sleep through it, sometimes I fold clothes, in any case, it's a nice break.

Then I'll finish up whatever and move onto cooking dinner. Cooking is something I enjoy most of the time.

And that more or less brings me full circle.

When I was younger I had my finger in more pies than I do now. The hours and the days seem to have gotten shorter and I can't accomplish as much as I used to.

Sometimes during the week, hubby and I will take time off and go out to lunch and to see a movie.


We also go to writers and mystery cons together. He doesn't write, but he enjoys the traveling and meeting new people.

I do belong to writing related organizations like Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Public Safety Writers Association.

Sometimes during the week, hubby and I will take time off and go out to lunch and to see a movie.


We also go to writers and mystery cons together. He doesn't write, but he enjoys the traveling and meeting new people.

This is what works for me.

Marilyn

Books by Marilyn/