Are There 25 Hours in a Day?

If you're in a creative rut, The Artist's Way will peel you off the pavement, then The Creative Habit will set your mind dancing again.

I can hear my little sister’s reaction now: “Riiiight. So how’s that workin’ for ya?” she will ask me with one eyebrow up (her eyebrow goes up so high I can hear it over the phone). She knows me. She knows I like to DO things. And boy am I ever doing things right now!

I am in a groove, as Twyla Tharp would call it. Every time I take a walk, an idea for a piece of my novel or an entirely new book project springs into my mind. “Structure the book as an escape to the outdoors in the same way Robbe-Grillet structured The Erasers city in a circle to hint at the story’s ending!” I gasp into my iPhone’s voice recorder, and suddenly the whole novel gels and the symbolism that’s already central to the plot is perfectly sewn together. Sweet! It’s not effortless, but it’s the fun kind of working up a sweat.

If you include my full-time “momming,” I am currently working 75 hours a week, but I’ve never felt more energized. That is the definition of a groove, or it should be. All grooves come to an end, but I am riding this one like a wild horse. No way am I going to let fear or distractions or anything else deter me from getting every drop of fun out of this groove.

How did I get here? I don’t really know, but the one thing I’m doing differently this time that might have something to do with it is this: I’m not over-thinking my plans. I have plans upon plans–that’s what I’m so excited about!–but I am focusing on the short-term plans right now to explore these rabbit trails, then later I’ll see if I want to pick one trail above the others. I also took Pete Michaud’s advice not to make everything perfect before launching my new blog, and that has paid dividends in creativity and forward momentum. Thanks, Pete!

Two years ago I had barely worked up the courage to say aloud that I wanted to write at all. So my self-confidence has changed as well. All I can say is, it’s about time!

If you’re in a groove or remember a good one, how did you get there? If your groove turned to a rut, what caused that to happen?

Slingshot Around the Moon

Photo by Jon Sullivan

Remember in Apollo 13 when they ran out of fuel and had to use the gravity of the moon to slingshot themselves back toward earth? As a country, we are now on the far side of the moon.

What I mean is this: Economists say we’re just starting to pull out of this historic recession. So, before the chance slips away, how are you positioning yourself to succeed on the other side of it? I’m hearing stories all the time now of someone using this difficult time to change their life’s trajectory, and I’m so excited to see new ideas and ways of doing business slingshot out into the recovery. It’s about time for a new way of doing media, in particular, don’t you think?

I’m no career expert, but I like to see specific suggestions when I read a post like this, so I’ll try to give you a few to work with. Here are some ways you might position yourself for the growth of your career or business in the next few months:

– READY: If you’re ready for a change in your career, think first about not just what you really want to do, but what your lifestyle will look like. If you have been thinking about becoming a freelance writer, would you like to stay at home or travel? Do you want to teach people to write in a group setting, or would you rather tutor? You have a unique opportunity to change courses right now without people questioning the break on your resume, so if you can afford it, go for whatever you really want!

– AIM: Now that you’ve got a target, research the heck out of it. Start with Google, but then branch out. If you’re looking for more magazines to write for, look up people that are well-connected with your target clients/employers on LinkedIn and Twitter lists, and follow/friend them. Then listen to them. Follow the rabbit trail of your targets online, learning what blogs they follow via Google Friend Connect and what they read on Delicious (I just discovered the usefulness of this myself! I know, I know. My husband says I’m five years late to the party, lol). What do they blog about? If they only blog for work (meaning they might be assigned to a particular topic), what is their perspective and what issues do they harp on within the context of their chosen/assigned subject matter? This takes some time, but it will be worth it to get to know the person you want to talk to. What if you discover that the entrepreneur you thought you wanted to work with is a maniac who has left a wake of angry colleagues and employees behind him? Respect your instinct if a person’s online persona is surrounded by controversy, and move on to a new target if need be.

– FIRE: Now you’re prepared. Network in new places: Twitter chats, mentoring groups, industry-specific networking lunches, or even cold-calling people are great ways to make connections if you’re prepared and really have something to talk about. I hate networking when I’m doing it in desperation for a new job, and I suspect the people I clung to when I used to do this hated it, too. I have a unique opportunity as a WAHM to network for the fun of it, the way it’s supposed to be done. Because I have the luxury of meeting people without immediately needing something from them (you may too, since we’re still on the far side of the moon), I’m not only more relaxed and enjoying myself more, but I’m also finding that people are more willing to talk to me when I ask.

– SLINGSHOT: Your positioning and hard work will carry you to success as the economy thaws. Have fun, and if you’re working on a new project that you’re excited about, please leave me a comment or msg me on Twitter. I’d love to hear about it!

What do you think? I hope this was helpful. Do you have more ideas to share on this topic? Please leave me a comment. Thanks for reading!

Am I Nuts?

My writing and editing background is diverse, shall we say: Christian book publishers, independent book co-publishers, automotive magazines, how-to e-content. Now, I seem to have added mommy blogging to the list, rather unintentionally.

I love cloth diapering my baby girl, and am always looking for ways to save even more money on the super-cute modern kind of cloth diapers. I happened to comment on a cloth diaper blog post about how I’d love to see a post on the subject of saving money, because so many cloth diapering moms spend loads of money on their fluff habits.

They asked me to write it! I did write it… they didn’t want the post after all because it promoted so many sites other than theirs (they are associated with a cloth diaper shop). So, I gave it to another cloth diaper blog not associated with a shop, and she happily posted the info so it wouldn’t go to waste.

Anyway, the question is this: am I nuts? Not about diapers; that’s rather obvious, but about further diversifying the already wide range of subjects I work with? Sure, I enjoy writing practically anything, but is this spreading myself too thin? Failing to brand my skills properly? Or, is this the kind of ability (do anything! do it yesterday!) that is necessary in this economy? It’s bugging me, even though I’m super-excited to see more of my stuff in print. (My latest article in Automobile Quarterly is coming out next issue, too, lol. Car collections and diapers… like I said, kind of weird, but I love it all!) What do you think?

Beyond the Recession/Depression/Cluster…

I just heard a third radio program discussing how maybe the media shouldn’t be discussing the possibility that this is a depression, because it might freak people out. Does spending an hour of airtime apologizing for possibly eroding consumer confidence by discussing the erosion of consumer confidence make up for the fact that you’re unnecessarily eroding consumer confidence by discussing it? Wtf, people? To move forward, we need to spend time planning for the future, not just pinpointing exactly how bad things are and adding to the hysteria. /mediarant>

Let’s look ahead. Beyond this recession/depression/cluster fudge is a gleaming future that, at least temporarily, does not involve nuclear war and destruction of this lovely planet. What are you doing, what am I doing, to prepare for it? For one, I’m not opening those stinking quarterly statements! Provided the stock market doesn’t utterly collapse, and I guess I do believe there still will BE a stock market in ten or twenty years, my portfolio will recover. If we keep investing now, hopefully we will be able to take advantage of historically low stock prices and make a bundle to retire on…someday. How low is low enough for you to start investing in the market? Are you already?

What are you doing to recession-proof your career? Do you believe there is anything you can do?

Are you considering moving? Do you think you might have to? What are you willing to sacrifice, or what have you had to sacrifice already, to stay afloat or to position yourself for the future?

Are you like my Twitter buddy @shelisrael, who believes cities like Detroit are in a prime position for a revival? Are you fleeing the burbs or Rust Belt to move closer to coastal or Southern cities? Downsizing? Stuck in your McMansion with a fat mortgage?

As nervous as I am that my beloved Michigan will be totally left behind in the next fifty years as the country’s economy shifts, I’m also quite curious to see how things will look in 2 years, 10 years. And I’d really like to know that someone out there is thinking ahead and facing the future. Let me know how you’re doing and what you’re up to in Comments.

Small Changes

When I was transitioning into freelance, a colleague advised me that the most successful freelance journalist he knew put out one request for new work every day to keep himself in the game. He is, consequently, one of the busiest automotive journalists in the business. Sounds like a great idea, but is it really that simple? How do you keep up with it? I spent several hours a day cold-calling companies for the first couple months, and then got distracted with current work or other projects. There was also this thing going on in the news about the economy. Maybe you heard about it.

Well, I’m back at it, networking, writing, and shaping my career into what I want it to look like before the kiddo arrives next spring, and I think I’ve found a way to build my career that doesn’t resemble crash dieting. Job hunting has a lot in common with An Inconvenient Truth: I avoided watching this movie for a long time, knowing I would feel overwhelmed at the volume of work needed to turn this planet around, and then Al gave us some small steps we could all take to do our part, AND showed us how small steps could have a huge impact. Not discouraging at all! I began to recycle more, compost, make better food choices, and lo and behold my expenses went down along with my environmental impact. I even negotiated 25% off my trash/recycling bill, because we’re so low-volume now! I just didn’t believe my little changes could make such an impact before.

Same thing with a freelance career. You know you’re your own marketer, but it’s tiring to think of having to keep up with working and networking at the same time. But what if networking weren’t as overwhelming as it sounds? What are a few small changes you could slowly make to your career to give it a boost, without burning yourself out? Here are a few:

Join LinkedIn and Twitter: LinkedIn allows you to easily keep in contact with old colleagues, and gives you access to their networks without a “let’s do lunch” effort. Twitter sounded pretty self-indulgent (“I’m sitting on the pot, reading WIRED”) until I tried it; it’s an excellent networking tool, because it allows you to notify people of new projects you’re working on, info you’re seeking, and puts you in contact with others in your industry that you’d otherwise never meet. (Please note: Blogging and micro-blogging don’t replace normal human contact.)

Cold-call Companies: This needs to be a focused effort. I researched several types of publishers I both wanted to work for and would have some credibility with because of my work experience, then called down the list. One a day would have been too frustrating–I needed to get in a groove–so I set aside several days a week when my energy was up and called as many as I could. The ones I could really offer value to responded positively. If I hadn’t tried this, I wouldn’t have found a new primary source of book editing work or gotten my first print article published in Automobile Quarterly.

Replace One Bad Habit: Just like changing your eating habits. Replace soda with juice, and juice with water, and you’ll never miss the soda. Replace people.com with gawker.com, and gawker.com with mediabistro.com, and you’ll find you’re spending free time keeping informed about news in publishing instead of Hollywood. Fewer calories, more satisfying.

Be Flexible: Writers and editors need to find a schedule that works for them in order to be productive. If you’re a night owl, spend the day exercising and networking, then write at night. If you’re a morning person like me, do the important stuff first so the to-do list doesn’t crowd it out. Don’t procrastinate your work time away, getting nothing done and feeling guilty just because you’re too tired at the moment to work. What works for you? Find that rhythm and shape your life around it. Don’t let anyone tell you what your day ought to look like, as long as you’re getting things done.

I’m sure there are many more small changes we can all make to help ourselves improve our lives and careers. What are your favorites? What works for you? Let me know in comments. I’ll post more at a later date, using your best ideas as well as any others I think of.