Last night I spent a few hours (while watching The West Wing) researching non-phone alarm clocks. I got to the fourth page of google and found only 4 actual sets of results, the rest were all  recommendations for the best alarm apps for your phone. Not what I wanted.

Both Chris and I use our phones to wake up. We both spend time in bed looking at social media, reading blogs or news or email. None of this stuff needs to be happening in bed. Last night, we both put our phones on airplane mode when we went to bed, and woke up without flipping open the email right away. Small improvements.

Have you ever done the ‘Ideal Day’ exercise? Basically, you sit down and write out, from the moment you wake up in the morning, what your ideal day would look like. The things that you choose to include (and omit) are enlightening, and help you realize what is most rewarding about your day to day. Although few have the opportunity to truly live out their ideal day everyday, it still gives you something to shoot for.

I’m in the unique position that I can structure my days, with a few exceptions, however I want. My kids’ school starts at 9:10, so if I want to sleep until 8:30, theoretically, I could. I work from home, for myself, so as long as I’m hitting my deliverables, I could work at my desk, on the couch, at a coffee shop, or even from bed. I can eat whatever I want whenever I want, limited only by my grocery shopping, or lack there-of. I can listen to music and wear my pajamas. If i want to leave in the middle of the day to walk the dog, I can.

But do you think I live out my ideal day on a regular basis?

Nope.

Want to know why?

Me too.

I have the freedom and the options, but I so often choose not to exercise them. I think this a problem for a lot of people. We feel like we don’t have choices when, in reality, we do. We’re just not making the right ones. I think a lot of the oppression and stress I feel are self-created.

I don’t have a solution, other than to keep trying. Today, that meant going for a short run before Chris had to leave to teach, then going to yoga after the kids went to school. I want to run more and do more yoga. So I did. And I’m still getting all my work done. I hope that tomorrow I’ll be able to set out my daily priorities and make a plan to achieve them again. But if I forget, I’ll try again the next day. I just have to remember to make the conscious choice. Every day.

Also, lest you think my attitude is because of the gorgeous sunshine and warmth here in Northern Minnesota, I feel like I should tell you: it’s snowing. On April 21. Apparently, my calendar is broken and it’s actually February or March.

How’s your day been? What do you use as an alarm clock?

I feel like this is my quarterly apology for neglecting my blog. Each time I do one I swear I’ll be better and not have to do one again, and then…here I am.

Last week AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) had their annual conference here in town, and, as a currently-on-hiatus-student of an MFA program, I was able to get in for almost free— $45— which is incredible for a three day conference. The first day I was a bit disappointed. The “Panel” discussions were way too academic and non-interactive for my tastes, and I heard several people say derogatory things about  self/independent publishing. The more I’ve learned about indie vs. traditional publishing, the more happy I’ve been with my decision to go indie. But I do definitely feel the need to constantly defend my position. So, I left the first day feeling incredibly defensive, and defeated (you get told you’re wrong enough times, you might start to believe it.) The second and third days though, I had a great time. I went to a bunch of incredible craft workshops—because writing is writing regardless of how it’s published—and met some cool people at the book fair. Plus, I got to have dinner and drinks with friends and it was great.

The other thing that’s been taking up most of my time is my new job with NoiseTrade. I’ve been working on the books side for several months, but just took on a new roll, and learning to balance the time I need to spend on that with the time to devote to my own stuff is hard. It’s getting better though, and I’m confident that by the end of the week I’ll have a good system in place (this is truly going to be my first “normal” week since starting in the middle of March.)

All that to say, I’ll be back next week with a new Book of the Week (I have several on deck and ready to go) and I’ll, hopefully, get back on my regular schedule at that point.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by work and life? How do you balance things?

Have you ever heard of NetGalley? It’s a website for media and bloggers to get free copies of books for media purposes: interviews, reviews, etc. In order to be a member, though, you have to go through an approval process, and then another approval process for each book you want to read. Also, from an author perspective, it’s crazy expensive. Like $399 and up expensive.

Story Cartel is like NetGalley lite– it’s smaller and more indie focused, and A LOT more reasonable. Anyone who likes to read can sign up and get books for free. Authors pay $25 (or less if you buy a package) to have a book listed. The caveat is this: by downloading, you’re agreeing to read and review the book within four weeks. When you submit your review, you’re entered into a contest for prizes like Amazon Gift cards. So it’s really a win-win-win.

At least, I’m hoping so!

I’m running my first Story Cartel promotion right now, giving away copies of Finding the Ruby Slippers through April 3. You’ll have until the 10th to post the review and be entered for their prizes. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Here’s the link— check out my book, and the other books on the site (but read mine first!) https://storycartel.com/books/finding-the-ruby-slippers