Protecting One's Time

It's amazing how quickly a week can get away from you. I've been shuttling back and forth between the office and the new building. My bosses purchased another office building, and they're in the process of sprucing it up so they can entice new tenants. So part of my job is to open the building for the painters, check on them during the day and then lock up on my way home. The good thing is that the new building is on my way. The bad is all the back and forth really cuts into the day. But it is interesting dealing with the different kinds of people we're getting estimates from and the workers. Must be story fodder there somewhere.

And, yes, this is going to stray into the whiny "no time to write" topic. But it does become positive. I promise. In addition to the crazy work schedule, I have a lot of extra curricular activities over the next few weeks. Tonight is a play at Theatreworks, tomorrow we have two NCAA Regional Finals hockey games and another on Saturday night. Next week is the PPW board meeting on Tuesday, a Pirate gathering on Thursday and a party that Saturday night. Those of you, in the know, are probably saying, "But you left out the Sunday meeting and the writing marathon on Saturday the fifth. No, I'm just opting out so I have some down time.

I could just complain about my bad luck, having all of these things scheduled at the same time. But I did take part in scheduling most of them so it's not exactly a luck thing. I could just do it all, resent about half of it and then feel worn out and bitchy for a week afterward. Or, I can pick and choose and protect myself and my time. So, as much as I enjoy our Sunday dinners and the writing marathon, they are out this time around. One of the reasons for those to go is the weekend connection. After three nights in a row, a Sunday with nothing to do and nowhere to go will be nice. And an unscheduled weekend is just what I need to refresh.

But more than that, I've found that for me revisions work better when I have substantial blocks of time. So those days off won't exactly be nothing days. I'll be diving into my MMG revisions head first. It's time to finish it and to send it out on it's own. Now all I have to do is ward off any new intrusions that try to work their way in.