Making the Most of the Minutes

  My greatest challenge in balancing writing time with household responsibilities is avoiding my own tendency toward the all-or-nothing approach. I’ll happily use every available hour to write – except those times when I studiously ignore my manuscript in favor of chores and errands. The problem is that total lack of progress in one priority [...]

The Big Picture Perspective in Running a Household

My husband and I enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles, but it’s been a while since we’ve done one. To remedy this, I picked out a grand thousand piece puzzle depicting a classic scene from Beauty and the Beast. (Hubby took this selection as commentary, but it wasn’t meant as such – honest!) Right now, we’ve [...]

Spring Cleaning: Getting Rid of Distractions

The notion to get an early start on spring cleaning has taken hold of me. My husband and I have been thinking about getting rid of things, but it’s a little more than a desire for fewer surfaces where dust can accumulate. My head is full of projects: better manage my online/social media presence, do something with [...]

Maximizing Your Time

Chances are that you know whether you are a morning person or a night owl, but are you maximizing your time by putting your peak hours to their best use? Many of us juggle household management with work and the business and creative aspects of maintaining a writing career. Working with and not against your [...]

Thanksgiving Lessons-Learned List

Happy Thanksgiving! Here in the U.S.A., today is set aside as a day for worship, family, and food. If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner (or if you’re responsible for any preparations beyond just showing up at Grandma’s house), you will probably spend some part of this holiday consulting a list. You might think your grocery list [...]

Writing a Meal Plan

I recently had a nightmare about destroying my laptop by accidentally setting it on a hot burner on the stove. Once I awoke (and backed up my work), I made a decision: no more writing while cooking! This resolution lasted about two days, and if you’re a writer who is responsible for the cooking in [...]

Letting Go of Appearances

You already know the signs when something’s got to give. Overscheduled and overtired, you dread what you once enjoyed. Overextended and over-budget, essentials find their way to negotiable status. Daily living takes on a frayed look, tattered around the edges, which you most likely recognize because you’ve been there before or you’ve been there a [...]

Organizing Schedules So You Can Find More Time to Write

As writers it’s easy to make excuses not to write, but add a busy family and back to school schedules, and it seems like squeezing in writing time is impossible. The key to finding writing time is getting organized and intentional about your “free time” no matter how much or little you have. But first [...]

Scheduling Your Family: How Do You Choose?

I hate to bid farewell to summer, the season of flexibility and spontaneity. Eventually, though, summer schedule gives way to fall, and the freedom to be flexible is replaced by appointments, deadlines, expectations. The whole family shifts to a more disciplined, scheduled life. And the hardest part, I think, is the time of transition when [...]

Magic Formula For Staying Clutter-Free For Life

You know that lovely feeling you get when you’ve just organized your shoes, cleared out the filing cabinet, or streamlined your vintage doily collection? *insert whiny voice* Why does it never last? Why must entropy rule? Why do you invariably end up right back in clutter and disorganization? The answer is that backsliding is actually [...]

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