Flexible Time

So much for the snappy title. I think one of the hardest things for me to deal with in terms of time management is flexible time. By this I don't mean free time, necessarily. I mean time that I have where I could do a variety of fairly important things, but none of them are pressing.

For example, in terms of taking care of my home, I've determined that washing the dishes and keeping up with the laundry are almost essential on a daily basis. (Yeah, I did say, "almost essential." There are ways around doing these things on a daily basis. But they usually don't end up very pretty.) Beyond that, and making dinner, I have a variety of choices. Do I balance the checkbook? Do I vacuum the floors? Do I clean out closets? Do I weed the garden? Or do I drop everything and go for spending "family time" with someone (preferably someone in the family)?

Well, any of you who have tried to take care of a family, or even just your own room, know that there are millions of choices you could make that fall under the umbrella of "Take care of the House" (or "Take Care of My Room," etc.). And that's where I often get stuck. Sure, everything's important, but I don't have time to do all of it today!

Nor should I have to. But, at the same time, I do need to make some progress or I'll never get anywhere.

The same thing goes for writing a book. Once you've written your quota for the day, what do you do? Do you work on promotional activities? Do you write something else? And if you do write something else, what do you write? Should you work on a new book, or churn out an article in hopes that some magazine will pick it up? Or should you post something to your blog? If you've made a name for yourself as a romance author, but you always wanted to write a fantasy, do you try that? Or do you stick with your romances?

Or do you clean out your closets?

That's where goal setting and prioritizing come in. When you know what's most important to you (and it may change sometimes), you're better equipped to make those choices about how to spend that flexible time.

You might take the Franklin Covey approach, where you divide your activities into broad categories of importance and then order them within the categories. Stephen Covey takes it a step further and uses four "quadrants" of importance. I've learned a lot from these systems, but I think Randy Ingermansen has a point in the article below: When you have too many to-do's on your list, it doesn't matter whether an activity is A29 or B32. You're probably not going to get to it today anyway.

Regardless of what planning style you choose, whether you go for the casual approach advocated in the article posted below, or something more formal like the Franklin Covey system, the goal is to move forward. Get the essentials done, and then do more. Maybe only a little bit more. Sometimes even the essentials won't get finished. That's life. But those days when you can stretch and go beyond the essentials--that's when you're really going to move forward.

(Those time management companies ought to pay me for this.)

Time Management Revisited

As someone who has spent far too much time stressing over her daily task list and whether a particular chore should be prioritized as #21 or #22, or whether it's a "low A" or a "high B" category, I found the following article very helpful. (For a take on my own "Time Mismanagement" system, see my post from May 19, 2005. You can find it in the archives.)

By the way, the following article is pretty long, and I didn't write it. I'm posting it here with permission from the author.

Enjoy!

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Time Management for Writers -- Summary

Randy Ingermanson, Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine, October 3, 2006, Volume 2, Number 7
I've been talking about time management in this e-zine
for the last several issues because it's important to
me and because I strongly suspect it's important to
many writers too. After all, we're the people who are
saving the world. And saving worlds is a big, big job.

I've laid out a number of ideas in recent articles. Now
I'd like to summarize and synthesize. You'll see that
I've improved on last month's Divide And Conquer method
by adding in an idea from an earlier column.

So here are the things I've been finding useful in
managing my time better:

a) Keep a log of how you spend your time each day. You
can't optimize something unless you can measure it.

b) Spend less of your time and money on things you
VALUE, and spend more of your time and money on
learning SKILLS or buying TOOLS that will make you more
productive.

c) Outsource or delegate stuff, but only when it makes
sense.

d) Make a list of the Big Things you'd like to achieve
in the next year. Put a star next to the ONE thing on
the list that you simply must get done, even if you
achieve none of the rest.

e) Make a list of several things you'd like to achieve
in the next quarter. These can be pieces broken off
from the tasks on your annual list, or they can be
smaller tasks that can be done in one quarter. Put a
star next to the ONE task on the list that you MUST
achieve this quarter.

f) Make a list of the things you'd like to achieve this
month. Again, these can be stepping stones to your
quarterly list, or standalone tasks. Put a star next to
the ONE thing you really insist on getting done this
month.

g) Make a list of things you want to get done this
week. You are clever and will know how to break down
your monthly list as needed. Put a star next to the ONE
thing that had better get done this week at all costs.

h) Make a list of things you want to do today. Put a
star next to the ONE thing that you will bust your gut
to get finished by the end of the day, (even if you get
nothing else done).

i) Every day (and week and month and quarter and year),
MAKE SURE you get the starred task done, even if it's
the ONLY thing that you do. It's nice to do some or all
of the other tasks on the list, but there is only one
that's required and you know which one it is because it
has a star beside it. Whatever else happens, DO THAT
ONE.

k) Whenever you cross a starred item off one of your
lists, decide whether you want to put a star on a
second item, or whether you're done with the heavy
lifting for that time period. It's OK to take a
breather after you accomplish something important.

l) If something happens to change your priorities,
change your lists to reflect them. This may even mean
(heaven forfend!) moving that star to another task.
You're the boss, so you get to decide.

m) At the end of the day, ask yourself two questions:
Did you spend your time well? Did you achieve your
starred item for the day?


If you read last month's column, you'll know that I've
souped up the Divide And Conquer method by adding a
partial prioritization to each list (putting a star on
ONE item). Note that assigning priorities to EVERY item
on a list would be a lot of wasted work and anyway it's
not very accurate. But you generally know what the #1
item is on the list. That's the one that should get the
star.

Here's why this scheme is efficient: It's a whole lot
less work to set one priority than to set 10 or 20.
When things change in your life, it's a lot easier to
reset one priority than 10 or 20. Be lazy! That's how
things get done.

Just so you'll know, I'm eating my own cat food (so to
speak). My list for today has 17 items on it. Of these,
the one with the star is "Write e-zine." The fact that
you are reading this is proof positive that I
succeeded. I've also crossed off 7 of the others. Yes, I
did some of the "lower priority" tasks first -- but
only because I knew they wouldn't interfere with
getting the e-zine out. I also delegated some tasks to
my wife.

If you ever cross off every item on your daily list,
call Oprah. You will have achieved Ultimate Success
and will probably get a book deal out of it. I have
never, ever crossed off every item on my list for the
day.

However, the odds are very good that I'll get
everything on my Annual List done by December 31. And
is that cool or what? Because it's the Big Things that
matter. Life is about selectively ignoring the Little
Things so you can achieve the Big Things you really
wanted to do all along.

This scheme is actually working for me. Some days it
works better than others, but it works. If it works for
you, don't tell me. Just send me large numbers of
unmarked $100 bills, because my Life Goal (achieving
Total World Domination) is going to be expensive. And
tell your friends that I'm responsible for making you
smarter, happier, sexier, and taller.

If it doesn't work for you, then please blame Congress.
They deserve a little recognition now and again.


Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the
Snowflake Guy," publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing
E-zine, with more than 5000 readers, every month. If
you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction,
AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND
have FUN doing it, visit www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing
and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.

Your Comments--and Some Responses

My family is in the ending phases of PSFR (post-science fair recovery). My son was putting together a very ambitious but very cool science fair project--a robotic cart he could program to move by itself. With the deadline approaching last week, as well as the culmination of several other activities he was involved in at the same time, regular life as we knew it all but ground to a halt.

You'd think kids and their activities wouldn't cause this much trouble.

Nevertheless, we are now once again among the functioning members of society. And I'd like to take this opportunity to address some of the comments I've received that seem to have been piling up.

The first one comes to us from Janette Rallison, author of many fine young adult novels, including her most recent release, It's a Mall World After All: (how's that for a plug, Janette?)

My parents used to give me tomatoes with sugar on them when I was little. Really, I thought that was the only way people ate them. Since then everyone I've talked to about sugar on tomatoes thinks I'm hallucinating. I'm glad to know there is at least one other person on the planet who ate them (or in your case refused to eat them) that way. Janette

My answer: Wow! I never thought I'd come across another person who'd ever eaten tomatoes with sugar! Now let's talk about eating apples with salt...

Our next comment comes to us from Tristi Pinkston, author of LDS historical novels Nothing to Regret and Strength to Endure. She is also a blogger for families.com (which is quite a fun and informative site, by the way).

I was always so ticked off at Mahana's father. Honestly -- how dare he treat her like that?

And Johnny was a cutie. :)

My response: Well, first off, in case you can't tell, that comment was regarding the classic LDS flick Johnny Lingo.

And yes, I thought the way Mahana's father and everyone else treated her was highly disgusting. I could wax serious for a moment and point out that there are many people in the world who are unfortunately abused like this all the time. Verbal and emotional abuse are still as much abuse as physical abuse is. It all hurts.

(end serious aside)

But "Mahana, you ugly!" is such a memorable line. When my seminary students watched it, one of the guys shushed everyone else and told them, "This is the best part," right before the dad said it.

One more thing. Just in case my husband's reading this, I simply cannot agree with you regarding Johnny's cuteness. Besides, he already married some eight-cow chick.

Our last comment comes from Josi Kilpack, author of several LDS novels including Sheep's Clothing, to be released by Deseret Book in May. (Can you tell I edited the LDStorymakers New Release Newsletter last month?)

Josi's comment reads:

So what is it about Utes Gymnastics that has you so obsessive? :-)


My response: Well, it goes back to our poor starving student days when we lived in University of Utah student housing. As students we could get into the gymnastics meets for free. My husband's brother invited us to a meet or two. At first we thought they'd be pretty boring, but actually the Utah meets are really cool. They draw crowds of 10,000+ people, and there's a band and cheerleaders and loud screaming and the whole bit. The Utah gymnastics meets can be a great place to take little kids, because they don't have to be quiet. They can yell for the team and get hyper with the rest of the crowd. And the meets were free for us then. As poor starving students, we were always thrilled to find something we enjoyed that we could do for free.

Anyway, so we started going to all the home meets. It became a family tradition of ours for years...till that fateful day we moved out of the state and away from our gymnastics team.

The nice thing is, we can still see the home meets via live streaming video on the internet. It's not the same as watching in person at the Huntsman Center, but you can at least see what's going on. We can also still follow the team via press releases and newspaper articles released on the internet. And we can "watch" away meets via live scoring on the internet. This means you stare at your computer and watch the scores come in, one by one. (Heavy action, let me tell you.)

I enjoy watching gymnastics; it's an amazing sport. And of course I still love the Utes, and I'm really glad they stepped up and did a great job at regionals. I'll be rooting for them at nationals, via the internet! Go Utes!

That still doesn't explain why I had to check their website fifty times so I could find out where they were going for regionals. I haven't figured that one out myself.

Go Utes!

Well, it is now 5:00 PM and I finally know where the Utah women's gymnastics team is going for regionals. For some reason I thought the announcement would come out this morning. When I didn't see it, I kept checking back...and checking back...and checking back...

So if anyone at the Utes website is wondering who visited their site fifty times today, that would be me.

It's a good thing I don't pay attention to the basketball playoffs, or I'd never get anything done.

New Scriptures

I've had the same set of scriptures since I was 11 years old. They saw me through four years of seminary, college, holding small children on my lap during sacrament meeting, family home evening, family scripture study, and now a year of teaching early morning seminary. I think this year really did them in. They went from looking well-loved to, well, pretty junky.

So I finally gave in and ordered myself a beautiful new quad, with my name embossed on the cover. I've been looking forward to having new scriptures, but frankly, I'm almost afraid to touch them. They just arrived at my door about two minutes ago. Rather than dive into them immediately, and start the ominous task of marking them with the years of notes and markings in my old scriptures...well, you can guess what I decided to do instead. My new scriptures are back in their box and I'm hiding out here!

102 Top LDS Books

Here's a list of favorite LDS novels compiled by several LDS authors. The original post can be found at http://www.josikilpack.blogspot.com/.

I can't say that these are the top 102 LDS novels of all time, since it's not compiled from 20 years of sales data or a massive church-wide survey or anything like that. But these guys have picked some good ones. I'm sure that if a more scientifically compiled list existed, many if not all of these books would be on there.

I pride myself on the fact that I've heard of most of these, but unfortunately I haven't read nearly enough of them. I'm boldfacing the ones I have read. Feel free to copy this list to your own blog and indicate the ones you've read yourself. (And don't forget entry #103; see below.) If you're looking for some great LDS books to read, here's a bunch of 'em!

1) A Heartbeat Away—Rachel Ann Nunes
2) Almost Sisters—Nancy Anderson, Lael J. Littke
and Carroll H. Morris (I haven't read this one yet, but I bought it this weekend)
3) Angels Don't Knock—Dan Yates
4) An Old Fashioned Romance—Marcia Lynn McClure
5) A Question of Consequence—Gordon Ryan
6) Ariana: The Making of a Queen—Rachel Ann Nunes
7) As the Ward Turns—Joni Hilton
8) At the Journey’s End—Annette Lyon
9) Baptists at Our Barbecue—Robert Farrell Smith
10) Charly—Jack Weyland
11) Charley’s Monument—Blaine M. Yorgason
12) Chickens in the Headlights—Matthew Buckley
13) Children of the Promise, Vol 1: Rumors of War—
Dean Hughes
14) Children of the Promise, Vol 2: Since You Were Gone—
Dean Hughes
15) Come Armageddon—Anne Perry
16) Daughter of a King—Rachel Ann Nunes (picture book)
17) Dead on Arrival--Jeffrey Savage
18) Double Cross--Betsy Brannon Green
19) Dusty Britches—Marcia Lynn McClure
20) Emeralds and Espionage—Lynn Gardner
21) Escaping the Shadows—Lisa J. Peck
22) Fablehaven—Brandon Mull
23) False Pretenses—Carole Thayne
24) Faraway Child—Amy Maida Wadsworth (I really enjoyed this one)
25) Fire of the Covenant—Gerald Lund
26) First Love and Forever—Anita Stansfield
27) Flowers of the Winds--Dorothy Keddington
28) Ghost of a Chance—Kerry Blair
29) Gustavia Browne—Alene Roberts
30) Jimmy Fincher Saga Vol. 4: War of the Black Curtain—
James Dashner (my son LOVES the Jimmy Fincher books)
31) House on the Hill—Annette Lyon
32) House of Secrets—Jeff Savage
33) House on the Sound—Marilyn Brown
34) In a Dry Land—Elizabeth Petty Bentley
35) Lifted Up—Guy Morgan Galli
36) Love Beyond Time—Nancy Campbell Allen
37) Mary & Elisabeth—S. Kent Brown (Non-fiction)
38) MaCady—Jennie Hansen
39) Molly Mormon—Tamara Norton
40) Mummy's the Word—Kerry Blair
41) My Body Fell Off—BJ Rowley
42) My Not So Fairy Tale Life—Julie Wright (I really loved this one)
43) No Longer Strangers—Rachel Nunes
44) Nothing to Regret—Tristi Pinkston
45) On a Whim—Lisa McKendrick
46) On Second Thought—Robison Wells
47) On the Edge--Julie Coulter Bellon
48) One in Thine Hand—Gerald Lund
49) One Tattered Angel—Blaine M. Yorgason
50) Out of Jerusalem 1 (Of Goodly Parents)—H.B. Moore
51) Out of Jerusalem 2 (A Light in the Wilderness) —H. B. Moore
52) Out of Jerusalem 3 (Towards the Promised Land)—
H. B. Moore
53) The Peacegiver—James L. Ferrell
54) Pillar of Fire—David Woolley
55) Poison—Betsy Brannon Green
56) Prodigal Journey—Linda Paulson Adams (this is a good one)
57) Pursuit of Justice—Willard Boyd Gardner
58) Return to Red Castle—Dorothy Keddington
59) Race Against Time—Willard Boyd Gardner
60) Sarah—Orson Scott Card
61) Saints—Orson Scott Card
62) Sixteen In No Time—BJ Rowley
63) Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties—Sheralyn Pratt
64) Standing on the Promises Vol 1: One More River to Cross
--Margaret Young and Darius Gray
65) Strength to Endure—Tristi Pinkston
66) Surprising Marcus—Donald S. Smurthwaite
67) Tathea—Anne Perry (actually I only read part of it--does that count?)
68) Tempest Tossed—Josi S. Kilpack (excellent)
69) Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites—Chris Heimerdinger
70) The Alliance—Gerald Lund (on my to-read list)
71) The Book of Mormon—Nephi thru Moroni (non-fiction)
72) The Believer—Stephanie Black
73) The Coming of Elijiah—Arianne Cope
74) The Counterfeit—Robison Wells
75) The Emerald--Jennie Hansen
76) The First year—Crystal Liechty (reading it right now; very fun)
77) The Fragrance of Her Name—Marcia Lynn McClure
78) The Killing of Greybird—Eric Swedin
79) The Last Days, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm—
Kenneth R. Tarr
80) The Last Promise—Richard Paul Evans
81) The Looking Glass—Richard Paul Evans
82) The Miracle of Miss Willie—Alma J. Yates
83) The Single Heart—Melinda Jennings
84) The Visions of Ransom Lake—Marcia Lynn McClure
85) The Work and the Glory Vol 1—Gerald Lund
86) The Work and the Glory Vol 2—Gerald Lund
87) The Work and the Glory Vol 3—Gerald Lund
88) The Work and the Glory Vol 4—Gerald Lund
89) The Work and the Glory Vol 5—Gerald Lund
90) The Work and the Glory Vol 6—Gerald Lund
91) The Work and the Glory Vol 7—Gerald Lund
92) The Work and the Glory Vol 8—Gerald Lund
93) This Just In—Kerry Blair
94) Time Riders—Sierra St. James
95) Time Will Tell by Julie Coulter Bellon
96) To Echo the Past—Marcia Lynn McClure
97) To Have or To Hold—Josi S. Kilpack
98) Towers of Brierley, Anita Stansfield
99) Twelve Sisters—Leslie Hedley
100) Unsung Lullaby—Josi S. Kilpack
101) Wake Me When it’s over—Robison Wells
102) Winter Fire—Rachel Ann Nunes

And, my personal addition to the list:

103) Just The Way You Are--Katie Parker :-) :-) :-)

Happy reading, everyone!

Vote for Nauvoo!

This link was forwarded to me, and I thought I'd pass it along to you all:

http://www.enjoyillinois.com/sevenwonders/western.html

Apparently the state of Illinois is designating "Seven Wonders" for their state, and if you go to this link you can vote for Nauvoo as one of them.

The restoration done at Nauvoo is truly a wonder, and people of all faiths should find the site and interesting and inspirational place to visit. It's a great slice of our pioneer heritage, and what the settlers accomplished here in a few short years is simply amazing. It would be great for the area to get some extra recognition and publicity.