Hello to all!
To all those people who want to start a blog that will eventually make you money, I have two words for you: START NOW. As the saying goes, any journey starts with a first step. So don't just tiptoe forwards timidly and bolt two steps backwards just as quick. Keep that tiptoeing forwards up.
But just don't go in willynilly. Pick a topic you are passionate about. I talked a few days/weeks ago about what passionate means to you. Any subject that you are passionate about is something to base your blog about, unless of course, it is just a one-off, and you can include that in a blog once every now and then. But do pick something where you know there is a target audience.
What I mean by target audience is just that. Like submitting a book in the old days of paper, or a market article. You would never have dreamed of writing an article on the sun, for instance and sending it to a vampire magazine. If there are any vampires about, they will either already know what the sun does, especially to them, and they certainly won't want to know that it is X amount of miles away of full of Y gases. So pick your market.
Check on Google or Amazon for topics. You'll be sure to find something that you can build up to peak condition in a while. Forget about buying shiny new objects. Pick ONE if you must, or at the most two, ideally to compliment each other and work with them for a while.
Above all though, please understand that those who say you can push a button and be a millionaire overnight are full of it, or they have gone through the same problems you are facing. There is no magic formula, at least not at first.
Find that topic that YOU are passionate about, set up a bog and get on with it. Send a few articles to Ezines too, about the topic, so you get some exposure. In coming weeks, I'll share some sites to submit to, mainly after I've tested them, so I am not giving you rubbish to follow. There are so many out there now, you may find it hard to decide on one which will genuinely help your case, and many which are very dodgy indeed.
Happy New Year and here's to you getting started on your blog. Remember, EVERYONE has 500 words in them about something, either feelings or perception or interest on it. Just fake it until you make it!
And all the best for this new Year Coming!
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Saturday, 29 December 2012
Lessons from the past Part One.
Hello to all!
Got everything ready for your New Year? Your drinks, eats, RESOLUTIONS? Yes, that nasty word. Of course, most of us won't be able to keep them ( with me, I think I just make them to be up with fashion!), but it's fun to do so.
One of my big dreams is to actually write and publish a book( one at least!) on Kindle. This year, actually. I have already booked a person to tweak and twitch it when it's finished, and, like most others, having actually PAID the money, I am now stuck with making good my word. It's always been a bad habit of mine - to put myself in a situation where I have to come up with something fairly good.
I did that often in University, but I was very lucky or God was sitting near me - everything came off right. But, when I did push myself to keeping my word, I found I could have done it with far less stress if I had just kept pottering along and not left it all to the last minute and added a bad hangover as the same time. In my time since those heady days, I have learned, mostly the hard way, to keep at whatever I am doing, and not quit quite so quickly.
This is probably a trait that I learned from my father. He would try one way, but not over and over. If that way did not work after two attempts, he simply went to another way, and kept doing this until he got whatever done properly. He would walk away and get done whatever else needed doing in a hurry and come back, again and again. He drove my mother mad by doing so, and even more when he would finally walk in with a smug look on his face.
So, I plan on using this approach this year coming with some other projects. Like the title says: Part One. I'll let you know how it goes somewhere later!
Anyone care to join me?
Got everything ready for your New Year? Your drinks, eats, RESOLUTIONS? Yes, that nasty word. Of course, most of us won't be able to keep them ( with me, I think I just make them to be up with fashion!), but it's fun to do so.
One of my big dreams is to actually write and publish a book( one at least!) on Kindle. This year, actually. I have already booked a person to tweak and twitch it when it's finished, and, like most others, having actually PAID the money, I am now stuck with making good my word. It's always been a bad habit of mine - to put myself in a situation where I have to come up with something fairly good.
I did that often in University, but I was very lucky or God was sitting near me - everything came off right. But, when I did push myself to keeping my word, I found I could have done it with far less stress if I had just kept pottering along and not left it all to the last minute and added a bad hangover as the same time. In my time since those heady days, I have learned, mostly the hard way, to keep at whatever I am doing, and not quit quite so quickly.
This is probably a trait that I learned from my father. He would try one way, but not over and over. If that way did not work after two attempts, he simply went to another way, and kept doing this until he got whatever done properly. He would walk away and get done whatever else needed doing in a hurry and come back, again and again. He drove my mother mad by doing so, and even more when he would finally walk in with a smug look on his face.
So, I plan on using this approach this year coming with some other projects. Like the title says: Part One. I'll let you know how it goes somewhere later!
Anyone care to join me?
Friday, 28 December 2012
learning from a bird
Hello to all!
The smallest things can appeal to me, and yesterday, I found another. A small, bedraggled young butcher bird, trying to call/sing/whatever. There had been a bad storm and obviously he/she got caught in it. These birds have the prettiest song, although they are nothing to look at, either black and white or grey and white.
People rave about how magpies can sing. Personally, I prefer these little guys, about a quarter the size of a magpie and very much less aggressive. I have seen them cringe when a much tinier honey-eater flies over the top of them. Besides, I have a personal aversion to magpies. I cannot bring myself to feed anything that is your best friend for six months, and then acts as though you are the worst enemy in the world for the next six months.
I know this is parent-care. And I can understand it very well indeed being used on strange people. But these dumb birds dive-bomb the hand that feeds them and still expect to get fed. So no, I don't feed them at all. Funny, as a child, my elder brother used to rear ones that had fallen/got pushed out of a nest and I can never remember them attacking any of us when they were grown and with their own families. Come to demand a hand-out, yes. Attack us, no way.
Anyway, my little friend sat on the clothesline and shook and shivered and tried its heart out to sing. I gave it some mince, very gratefully received, and it went back to trying to sing. Very much like an opera singer tuning up, except this was a series of very low squarks. But it finally got there, after about ten minutes. And it sang its little heart out for about five minutes, then went off, dry and fed.
Which makes me wonder: How many human beings give up the minutes things don't go their way? I think we are all guilty of that at some point, and maybe we should have tried a bit longer, like that little bird. It was so determined to sing, nothing was going to stop it, even food and being dry. I have no idea why the singer couldn't sing, just it couldn't. It was so determined though: the features fluffed out, it's small neck bulged with the effort.
So, there's a simple lesson in that, I guess. Keep trying, you'll get there sooner or later. :)
The smallest things can appeal to me, and yesterday, I found another. A small, bedraggled young butcher bird, trying to call/sing/whatever. There had been a bad storm and obviously he/she got caught in it. These birds have the prettiest song, although they are nothing to look at, either black and white or grey and white.
People rave about how magpies can sing. Personally, I prefer these little guys, about a quarter the size of a magpie and very much less aggressive. I have seen them cringe when a much tinier honey-eater flies over the top of them. Besides, I have a personal aversion to magpies. I cannot bring myself to feed anything that is your best friend for six months, and then acts as though you are the worst enemy in the world for the next six months.
I know this is parent-care. And I can understand it very well indeed being used on strange people. But these dumb birds dive-bomb the hand that feeds them and still expect to get fed. So no, I don't feed them at all. Funny, as a child, my elder brother used to rear ones that had fallen/got pushed out of a nest and I can never remember them attacking any of us when they were grown and with their own families. Come to demand a hand-out, yes. Attack us, no way.
Anyway, my little friend sat on the clothesline and shook and shivered and tried its heart out to sing. I gave it some mince, very gratefully received, and it went back to trying to sing. Very much like an opera singer tuning up, except this was a series of very low squarks. But it finally got there, after about ten minutes. And it sang its little heart out for about five minutes, then went off, dry and fed.
Which makes me wonder: How many human beings give up the minutes things don't go their way? I think we are all guilty of that at some point, and maybe we should have tried a bit longer, like that little bird. It was so determined to sing, nothing was going to stop it, even food and being dry. I have no idea why the singer couldn't sing, just it couldn't. It was so determined though: the features fluffed out, it's small neck bulged with the effort.
So, there's a simple lesson in that, I guess. Keep trying, you'll get there sooner or later. :)
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
definition of passion
Hello to all!
I sincerely hope you all had a great Christmas and you didn't get too many lumps of coal.(LOL) For those of you who wished the day would go away fast - guess what? Only 363 days until it's here again. And this time you can't hope the Mayans were right!
What is your definition of passion? Bit dated, but: Tom Cruise, jumping on Oprah's sofa, yelling he loved Katie? Or something else? A child, giving you all his/her reasons why you should buy them them latest iPad or iPhone? Your husband giving you reasons why he had too much to drink at the party? Or you to your husband, excusing why you maxed the Credit Card out on that absolutely divine dress or outfit or the kid's presents and his?
Or maybe it is what you do for a living? And, before you snort at that: we ALL must have some passion for the worst jobs we have taken at the beginning, although we know that this job is going to be dead-end, have no possibilities for advancement and drive us silly with its SAMENESS every day. Don't bother saying that's wrong. It does happen, and we know it. But we all have different reasons for taking that boring, repetitive, downright draining job where absolutely NOTHING ever happens, apart from it is never-ending. The passion dies quickly however, often as quickly as some Hollywood marriages.
So, what is YOUR definition of passion about your work, online or off? For instance, article writing falls into one of the categories above, in that, if you are writing one of the best ways to getting content into your sites, then it is never-ending. And the research involved can also be never-ending. It reminds me actually of being in University again, and having to look through book after book, huge, heavy, BORING things, to find what I wanted. What a wonderful way to spend a good day that was meant for anything but that! If nothing else, the Internet has made that easy for the kids and students of today, and everyone should be grateful for that.
The thing with research is, DO NOT take the first little bit you find which is relevant to your site and either use it as is(Plagiarism) or not take the time to look for even one other source as well. If you can surf the net looking for ways to lose weight, then surely you can spend five minutes extra when you are researching your subject. Use something that rings when you have got to say five or ten minutes searching, and quit when the timer goes off. Five minutes is usually ample to get four facts together, and anyone who cannot stretch four facts into an article of around 500 words. 300 - 350 words don't really cut it these days, as clients want more, so 500 - 600 words is great, if it is proofread, small glitches fixed, and it as good as you can give. But, do be aware, articles can drain you severely, even to the point of burn-out.
So, pace yourself, it's worth it.
I sincerely hope you all had a great Christmas and you didn't get too many lumps of coal.(LOL) For those of you who wished the day would go away fast - guess what? Only 363 days until it's here again. And this time you can't hope the Mayans were right!
What is your definition of passion? Bit dated, but: Tom Cruise, jumping on Oprah's sofa, yelling he loved Katie? Or something else? A child, giving you all his/her reasons why you should buy them them latest iPad or iPhone? Your husband giving you reasons why he had too much to drink at the party? Or you to your husband, excusing why you maxed the Credit Card out on that absolutely divine dress or outfit or the kid's presents and his?
Or maybe it is what you do for a living? And, before you snort at that: we ALL must have some passion for the worst jobs we have taken at the beginning, although we know that this job is going to be dead-end, have no possibilities for advancement and drive us silly with its SAMENESS every day. Don't bother saying that's wrong. It does happen, and we know it. But we all have different reasons for taking that boring, repetitive, downright draining job where absolutely NOTHING ever happens, apart from it is never-ending. The passion dies quickly however, often as quickly as some Hollywood marriages.
So, what is YOUR definition of passion about your work, online or off? For instance, article writing falls into one of the categories above, in that, if you are writing one of the best ways to getting content into your sites, then it is never-ending. And the research involved can also be never-ending. It reminds me actually of being in University again, and having to look through book after book, huge, heavy, BORING things, to find what I wanted. What a wonderful way to spend a good day that was meant for anything but that! If nothing else, the Internet has made that easy for the kids and students of today, and everyone should be grateful for that.
The thing with research is, DO NOT take the first little bit you find which is relevant to your site and either use it as is(Plagiarism) or not take the time to look for even one other source as well. If you can surf the net looking for ways to lose weight, then surely you can spend five minutes extra when you are researching your subject. Use something that rings when you have got to say five or ten minutes searching, and quit when the timer goes off. Five minutes is usually ample to get four facts together, and anyone who cannot stretch four facts into an article of around 500 words. 300 - 350 words don't really cut it these days, as clients want more, so 500 - 600 words is great, if it is proofread, small glitches fixed, and it as good as you can give. But, do be aware, articles can drain you severely, even to the point of burn-out.
So, pace yourself, it's worth it.
Monday, 24 December 2012
World War Two Christmas
Hello to all!
First and foremost, a very wonderful Christmas to you all for today/tomorrow and whenever Christmas is for you. I hope it brings you peace, happiness, and love, for a little while at least. Enjoy it, for it is a day in which everyone deserves to be happy and at peace with his or her neighbour.
Even during World War Two, the opposing forces took the time to play football with each other and a few actually scored a beer from the opposition. I wonder why we can't do that for just one day nowadays? A very dear friend who was in Viet Nam once said to me after he came back: That has got to be the stupidest war anyone was ever involved in. We couldn't win it; no one who was not actually from that country could win it. And the silliest thing of it all was that, even though they are Asians, I could have had a beer with anyone of them, and maybe been good friends with them all, apart from this bloody war.
So true. Maybe our powerbrokers, who want everyone in strange lands, but which have not themselves any idea about and which our people have no idea about, should have listened to that man. After all, it is not what they are doing, or what they should be doing, but what we want them to do. And who knows what friendships we lose because of this stupidity?
And we have all seen childhood scraps in the sandpit when even a very little one decides not to do what another little one wants him or her to do.
Very sombre, I know.
Just something to think about after Christmas.
So, everyone have a lovely time!
Merry Christmas.
First and foremost, a very wonderful Christmas to you all for today/tomorrow and whenever Christmas is for you. I hope it brings you peace, happiness, and love, for a little while at least. Enjoy it, for it is a day in which everyone deserves to be happy and at peace with his or her neighbour.
Even during World War Two, the opposing forces took the time to play football with each other and a few actually scored a beer from the opposition. I wonder why we can't do that for just one day nowadays? A very dear friend who was in Viet Nam once said to me after he came back: That has got to be the stupidest war anyone was ever involved in. We couldn't win it; no one who was not actually from that country could win it. And the silliest thing of it all was that, even though they are Asians, I could have had a beer with anyone of them, and maybe been good friends with them all, apart from this bloody war.
So true. Maybe our powerbrokers, who want everyone in strange lands, but which have not themselves any idea about and which our people have no idea about, should have listened to that man. After all, it is not what they are doing, or what they should be doing, but what we want them to do. And who knows what friendships we lose because of this stupidity?
And we have all seen childhood scraps in the sandpit when even a very little one decides not to do what another little one wants him or her to do.
Very sombre, I know.
Just something to think about after Christmas.
So, everyone have a lovely time!
Merry Christmas.
Friday, 21 December 2012
Spend a little time
Hello to all!
Ready for the big day? I'm not, but what's new about that? Christmas has always been interesting in my home, with people coming and going and the house looking like the wreck of the Hespredes. If any of you can remember that saying :)
No, Christmas is a day of well ... whatever it is. Giving thanks to God, or whomever you consider created you, with no arguments for once( that is a strict rule or you are OUT!), being truly grateful for what we have or don't have, good food, good drinks, and, the most important of all, the good company and love that is shared.
Some days, we may have 50 or 60 people through this tiny farm cottage. They all seem to fit though, and that is a true miracle. A usual day around here is probably 8 or 9 people, not all wanting anything, but just to share a minute or two, and, believe you me, that is also a miracle that is gratefully taken. Not that we want particularly to see people, but it is humbling that others seem to need some little thing from us, not material, but a hug, a talk, peace, I don't know what it is we give them, but every day it goes to someone.
And that is very humbling indeed. We are not anything special. We just share a little time with these people, some we may only know by a brief visit when they are with someone else.
We are not religious either. We do not preach or demand people do things for or in the name of God. That is for the visitors to do of their own free will. We expect nothing from them, but the pleasure of their company for a little bit of time.
It doesn't hurt to give anyone you know a tiny portion of your time at ANY time, not at celebrations or significant times. This time is the best time you can give anyone. Not summonsed, not dragged there, but given gratis. What you do today and any other day will be repaid over and over in ways you could never believe.
Ready for the big day? I'm not, but what's new about that? Christmas has always been interesting in my home, with people coming and going and the house looking like the wreck of the Hespredes. If any of you can remember that saying :)
No, Christmas is a day of well ... whatever it is. Giving thanks to God, or whomever you consider created you, with no arguments for once( that is a strict rule or you are OUT!), being truly grateful for what we have or don't have, good food, good drinks, and, the most important of all, the good company and love that is shared.
Some days, we may have 50 or 60 people through this tiny farm cottage. They all seem to fit though, and that is a true miracle. A usual day around here is probably 8 or 9 people, not all wanting anything, but just to share a minute or two, and, believe you me, that is also a miracle that is gratefully taken. Not that we want particularly to see people, but it is humbling that others seem to need some little thing from us, not material, but a hug, a talk, peace, I don't know what it is we give them, but every day it goes to someone.
And that is very humbling indeed. We are not anything special. We just share a little time with these people, some we may only know by a brief visit when they are with someone else.
We are not religious either. We do not preach or demand people do things for or in the name of God. That is for the visitors to do of their own free will. We expect nothing from them, but the pleasure of their company for a little bit of time.
It doesn't hurt to give anyone you know a tiny portion of your time at ANY time, not at celebrations or significant times. This time is the best time you can give anyone. Not summonsed, not dragged there, but given gratis. What you do today and any other day will be repaid over and over in ways you could never believe.
Monday, 17 December 2012
Reports - big and small
Hello to all!
And no, I am not going to apologise for the diversion yesterday. It was my opinion, for what it was worth, and if it made anyone at all THINK, then I am happy.
Back to the "real" world. Have you made any progress on your writing or planning skills? I hope you have, because this year( so close now: SCARY!) I am thinking of having a little challenge for you. But more on that later. After all, it isn't New Year - YET!
What do you think about reports? You can have small reports about 3-5 pages long. Then you can have the other end of the scale, whereby your report is as long as you like in order to convey your information. But there is a rather blurred line between a report and an eBook. Personally I think anything that is over about 25 pages is verging on an eBook. That is not a hard and fast rule, but figure out how many words fit into those 25 pages if it is non-fiction. 25 x 400 words = 10000 words. Not many, perhaps, but when you have read it all, you would definitely need to give your eyes a break if you are reading it on a Kindle appliance.
These things are not the easiest to read a big article on, although they are very handy indeed. At the moment, I am still very reluctant to lose my traditional paper books in order to store my books on a Kindle. But it will come. I just need to get accustomed to it.
Back to reports. You can write reports on anything. How-To are probably the most popular as they do not need frills and large descriptions. You need to fit the information you want to impart in quickly and concisely, so that any help held in it can be implemented immediately.
Putting together a quick report should really only take a day, or two at the most. At the end of a weekend, even with distractions, you could have a report up and earning you some money, or ready to give away with something you wish to sell.
This is not to say you can't sell a larger report by itself. Many people do and make a reasonable living out of it. Spend an afternoon searching out information online about the topic you have chosen. Don't include just anything, really sieve it. Get three or four of these reports up and running, add your copywrite to them and let people know you are available to write one for them.
This is a very simple way to get yourself known and pick up a few dollars too. Keep your research. You can always craft At least three or for more reports or Ebooks from this. After all, it is YOUR time you are using, so why not make it work?
And no, I am not going to apologise for the diversion yesterday. It was my opinion, for what it was worth, and if it made anyone at all THINK, then I am happy.
Back to the "real" world. Have you made any progress on your writing or planning skills? I hope you have, because this year( so close now: SCARY!) I am thinking of having a little challenge for you. But more on that later. After all, it isn't New Year - YET!
What do you think about reports? You can have small reports about 3-5 pages long. Then you can have the other end of the scale, whereby your report is as long as you like in order to convey your information. But there is a rather blurred line between a report and an eBook. Personally I think anything that is over about 25 pages is verging on an eBook. That is not a hard and fast rule, but figure out how many words fit into those 25 pages if it is non-fiction. 25 x 400 words = 10000 words. Not many, perhaps, but when you have read it all, you would definitely need to give your eyes a break if you are reading it on a Kindle appliance.
These things are not the easiest to read a big article on, although they are very handy indeed. At the moment, I am still very reluctant to lose my traditional paper books in order to store my books on a Kindle. But it will come. I just need to get accustomed to it.
Back to reports. You can write reports on anything. How-To are probably the most popular as they do not need frills and large descriptions. You need to fit the information you want to impart in quickly and concisely, so that any help held in it can be implemented immediately.
Putting together a quick report should really only take a day, or two at the most. At the end of a weekend, even with distractions, you could have a report up and earning you some money, or ready to give away with something you wish to sell.
This is not to say you can't sell a larger report by itself. Many people do and make a reasonable living out of it. Spend an afternoon searching out information online about the topic you have chosen. Don't include just anything, really sieve it. Get three or four of these reports up and running, add your copywrite to them and let people know you are available to write one for them.
This is a very simple way to get yourself known and pick up a few dollars too. Keep your research. You can always craft At least three or for more reports or Ebooks from this. After all, it is YOUR time you are using, so why not make it work?
Saturday, 15 December 2012
You cease to exist
Hello to all!
This post is going to be completely out of whatever zone people think I fit into, but I want to ask a question that maybe psychiatrists won't ask.
And that is: What the hell made that boy so twisted at that age as to go kill a lot of little kids who weren't that much younger than him? I know, I know: he had a bad upbringing, his mother/father didn't give him any attention/love/whatever, the little ones made a mess/too much noise/ got more of his mother's care than he did at the same age/ blah, blah,blah.
All damned excuses. What I absolutely HATE though, is the gutless wonders usually die as well. So why bother killing these others, if they p****d you off so bloody much to start with? If you believe in Heaven or Hell, then some of them are going to be there with you. It's that simple. And, if you are dead, maybe all of it's over for you, and maybe not.
I really don't believe in punishing these people. Sure, put them to death if it is an open and shut case, but the biggest punishment i can imagine is being placed in a cold grave or a vase, and not....being. in any shape or form. Dead. End of story. No reincarnation, no Heaven or Hell, just absolutely nothing. And being forced to watch your body disintegrate, as there is no way to escape, not even as something undead. As a movie I saw many years ago said: You just cease to exist.
That, to me, would be the biggest punishment of the lot.
I am so sorry for everyone who had anything to do with that attack. It would have broken your hearts.
This post is going to be completely out of whatever zone people think I fit into, but I want to ask a question that maybe psychiatrists won't ask.
And that is: What the hell made that boy so twisted at that age as to go kill a lot of little kids who weren't that much younger than him? I know, I know: he had a bad upbringing, his mother/father didn't give him any attention/love/whatever, the little ones made a mess/too much noise/ got more of his mother's care than he did at the same age/ blah, blah,blah.
All damned excuses. What I absolutely HATE though, is the gutless wonders usually die as well. So why bother killing these others, if they p****d you off so bloody much to start with? If you believe in Heaven or Hell, then some of them are going to be there with you. It's that simple. And, if you are dead, maybe all of it's over for you, and maybe not.
I really don't believe in punishing these people. Sure, put them to death if it is an open and shut case, but the biggest punishment i can imagine is being placed in a cold grave or a vase, and not....being. in any shape or form. Dead. End of story. No reincarnation, no Heaven or Hell, just absolutely nothing. And being forced to watch your body disintegrate, as there is no way to escape, not even as something undead. As a movie I saw many years ago said: You just cease to exist.
That, to me, would be the biggest punishment of the lot.
I am so sorry for everyone who had anything to do with that attack. It would have broken your hearts.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Winning money
Hello to all!
What are your real goals for this coming year( Mayan calendar be damned!)? To live comfortably, according to YOUR idea of comfortably or someone else's idea? And what does comfort mean to you? All the shiny new toys, like jet skis or whatever has taken over from them, a boat with all the fancy tricks, a car that goes from 0 - 100 in 1 second, a new house, a second house or just to be able to pay your debts each week and have enough over to be able to afford treats when you want to, instead of having to squeeze every penny until it screams?
You see, there are many ways that you can be comfortable. It is simply your choice. I have known a few people who have done extremely well in big lotteries. Not the big prize to themselves, but sharing it. I have met five of these lucky people. You judge if they have been lucky.
No 1. Won a share of $10 million with his friend. They were the only ones who shared first prize. Within a month, they had moved to a brand new house on the beach and changed their two children to private schools, although the children were happy where they were and in high school. Mother had a face lift and other bits lifted and trimmed and ran off with her son's best friend. dad had a breakdown. Daughter was removed from the new school by a very concerned aunt and returned to where she was happy.
No 2. Won almost a million dollars as second prize. Bought the newest Four wheel drives, one each for him and his wife, and a car capable of everything except driving itself for their only son. Son took the car for a spin a week after Dad bought it, lost control on a corner and died instantly when he crashed into a wall. Both father and mother are now in therapy.
No 3. Single mother. Won over one million dollars with other people. Bought the kids every new toy their hearts could want and took them everywhere they had ever wished. Met up with a handsome man around her age. Had a fling with him and found herself relieved of almost every penny that was left. But she is almost glad to go back to the boring job she left, and counts herself lucky that was all she lost.
No 4. Old couple. They have not touched a penny of the five hundred thousand they won. Have three grown-up children who refuse to speak to their parents and will not let them see the grandkids, although they are all going to inherit equal shares from the father when he dies and the same from the mother.
No 5. A lazy layabout. Plonked several hundred thousand in trust for his nieces and nephews, because he does not want any children ever.- There are too many starving and being beaten every day -, spent $10,000 on setting up a state of the art music and computer centre, and happily now continues at the job he does part time. He does not smoke or drink, does not do drugs, and worships at a tiny Church which is lucky to be standing. And he is as happy as anyone could be.
So who really are the happy ones? Money is not everything. But it does make life easier, at least in the beginning. So work out your priorities and go for them. But make sure that your priorities do not run YOU.
What are your real goals for this coming year( Mayan calendar be damned!)? To live comfortably, according to YOUR idea of comfortably or someone else's idea? And what does comfort mean to you? All the shiny new toys, like jet skis or whatever has taken over from them, a boat with all the fancy tricks, a car that goes from 0 - 100 in 1 second, a new house, a second house or just to be able to pay your debts each week and have enough over to be able to afford treats when you want to, instead of having to squeeze every penny until it screams?
You see, there are many ways that you can be comfortable. It is simply your choice. I have known a few people who have done extremely well in big lotteries. Not the big prize to themselves, but sharing it. I have met five of these lucky people. You judge if they have been lucky.
No 1. Won a share of $10 million with his friend. They were the only ones who shared first prize. Within a month, they had moved to a brand new house on the beach and changed their two children to private schools, although the children were happy where they were and in high school. Mother had a face lift and other bits lifted and trimmed and ran off with her son's best friend. dad had a breakdown. Daughter was removed from the new school by a very concerned aunt and returned to where she was happy.
No 2. Won almost a million dollars as second prize. Bought the newest Four wheel drives, one each for him and his wife, and a car capable of everything except driving itself for their only son. Son took the car for a spin a week after Dad bought it, lost control on a corner and died instantly when he crashed into a wall. Both father and mother are now in therapy.
No 3. Single mother. Won over one million dollars with other people. Bought the kids every new toy their hearts could want and took them everywhere they had ever wished. Met up with a handsome man around her age. Had a fling with him and found herself relieved of almost every penny that was left. But she is almost glad to go back to the boring job she left, and counts herself lucky that was all she lost.
No 4. Old couple. They have not touched a penny of the five hundred thousand they won. Have three grown-up children who refuse to speak to their parents and will not let them see the grandkids, although they are all going to inherit equal shares from the father when he dies and the same from the mother.
No 5. A lazy layabout. Plonked several hundred thousand in trust for his nieces and nephews, because he does not want any children ever.- There are too many starving and being beaten every day -, spent $10,000 on setting up a state of the art music and computer centre, and happily now continues at the job he does part time. He does not smoke or drink, does not do drugs, and worships at a tiny Church which is lucky to be standing. And he is as happy as anyone could be.
So who really are the happy ones? Money is not everything. But it does make life easier, at least in the beginning. So work out your priorities and go for them. But make sure that your priorities do not run YOU.
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Hello to all!
I have no idea who, if anybody, reads this blog, but if you are spending a few minutes on it, then thank you. I hope I give some light relief and maybe some help with a problem.
It always intrigues me why so many people need and ask for help on chats, blogs, many other methods of communication, but can't/don't think that their advice is worthwhile in the least, and don't/won't contribute to these sites at all.
According to friends of mine who have followed the cyber-business trail, traffic is almost the be-all and end-all. Well, be prepared for a little surprise. If you help someone else out, chances are they will visit your site, even if it is just to say "thanks". It costs you absolutely nothing to give those few words of advice and you most likely get a back-link, free of charge and legally, keeping you away from Google's nasty little alogarhythms and them off your case.
Forums are for people to share, much like the old gatherings of clubs and people were: to share information and meet other like-minded people. Unfortunately these sorts of gatherings are now few and far between, thanks partly to the Internet, but the Internet also makes it so much easier to get in touch with others. So don't be shy.
Is there anything you've always wanted to know about, but were too shy to ask about? Another friend of mine is very shy(the real shrinking violet in public!) but NOT when she is confronted by her absolute favourite subject. I mean, I like chess too( I play it and have a reasonable idea of what each piece can do, but am NOT by any means as serious as this friend.) She is always looking for forums anywhere on chess, not to strut her stuff, but to see if she can help another learn a tricky move.(She'll kill me if she sees I've used her as an example!)
So be brave and actually get in touch on a forum and answer a question. It doesn't matter what the topic is. Exotic reptiles are not one of my favourites( I saw the movie Anaconda; lousy movie, but as a young woman that was it for reptiles!), but it could be yours.
All I am trying to say is: get out of your comfort zone. You never know just what you may find in odd little corners( fair enough, some are too creepy for words), and you might even discover something that desperately needs articles, anything at all to grow itself. Often the people who own these sites pay well for what they want. Another friend found a site which dealt in ancient England, with the swords and the armour and all that stuff, wrote a few articles, offered them and was gleefully asked for more. She has since grown an interest in it herself.
So, as i said, get out of your comfort zone and find something else. You may not be totally interested in it
I have no idea who, if anybody, reads this blog, but if you are spending a few minutes on it, then thank you. I hope I give some light relief and maybe some help with a problem.
It always intrigues me why so many people need and ask for help on chats, blogs, many other methods of communication, but can't/don't think that their advice is worthwhile in the least, and don't/won't contribute to these sites at all.
According to friends of mine who have followed the cyber-business trail, traffic is almost the be-all and end-all. Well, be prepared for a little surprise. If you help someone else out, chances are they will visit your site, even if it is just to say "thanks". It costs you absolutely nothing to give those few words of advice and you most likely get a back-link, free of charge and legally, keeping you away from Google's nasty little alogarhythms and them off your case.
Forums are for people to share, much like the old gatherings of clubs and people were: to share information and meet other like-minded people. Unfortunately these sorts of gatherings are now few and far between, thanks partly to the Internet, but the Internet also makes it so much easier to get in touch with others. So don't be shy.
Is there anything you've always wanted to know about, but were too shy to ask about? Another friend of mine is very shy(the real shrinking violet in public!) but NOT when she is confronted by her absolute favourite subject. I mean, I like chess too( I play it and have a reasonable idea of what each piece can do, but am NOT by any means as serious as this friend.) She is always looking for forums anywhere on chess, not to strut her stuff, but to see if she can help another learn a tricky move.(She'll kill me if she sees I've used her as an example!)
So be brave and actually get in touch on a forum and answer a question. It doesn't matter what the topic is. Exotic reptiles are not one of my favourites( I saw the movie Anaconda; lousy movie, but as a young woman that was it for reptiles!), but it could be yours.
All I am trying to say is: get out of your comfort zone. You never know just what you may find in odd little corners( fair enough, some are too creepy for words), and you might even discover something that desperately needs articles, anything at all to grow itself. Often the people who own these sites pay well for what they want. Another friend found a site which dealt in ancient England, with the swords and the armour and all that stuff, wrote a few articles, offered them and was gleefully asked for more. She has since grown an interest in it herself.
So, as i said, get out of your comfort zone and find something else. You may not be totally interested in it
Perennial resolutions
Hello to all!
Okay, Christmas is just a heartbeat away, and New Year's not far behind. Time for all the old Resolutions to surface. Or are you sick and tired of making New Year's Resolutions that you never keep anyway? Well, you aren't lonely. Probably three quarters of the entire world don't manage to keep even one of their said-with-hand-on-heart resolutions, and that includes those of us who are either smart enough not to make any or simply do not let anyone know what they have resolved to do/not to do/ gain something/lose something.
Mind you, this last one is very hard to do, as in NOT telling anyone what you have planned. For some reason, keeping resolutions secret is harder for some than breaking the two-minute mile would be. Or leaving that last eclair on the plate.
The perennial: Lose X amount of weight. It doesn't sound too hard.If you say it quickly. But who wants to walk an extra kilometre to work when God-knows what may be watching you and hoping for a chance to strike? Better keep the weight. No. It really is not. Grab a long-suffering colleague who has plenty of patience and who travels the same way as you and rope them into walking with you. Preferably a male, but anyone will do. With any luck, they may just be courteous enough to agree, or they may need to lose a few spare pounds themselves. Either way, you have more chance of remaining safe, and getting a bit more exercise.
Another perennial: I am definitely giving up smoking. Yeah, right. You know all the don'ts concerning quitting. You know all the good reasons for doing so. You just cannot get it right. This is a really hard one. having quit the dreaded weed myself, I know how hard it can be. I learned those lessons and more the first three times I tried to quit. (By the way, the average tries a smoker has before he/she succeeds is four or five.) I was so frustrated with myself I took to chewing gum, the nonsmoking stuff. And I used it far longer than the recommended time too, I was so determined. Somebody up there must like me, because I got to the end of the second week with the chewing gum, and slowly began to cut back. I must admit, a very dear friend of mine died a painful death from a smoking-related disease around the same time as I decided to quit, so I had another good reason to stop, apart from my daughter who was not that old then.
So don't regard a slip-back as having fallen big-time off the wagon. If you find yourself with a cigarette in hand, but not lit, place it back in the pack and give whoever you believe in a heartfelt thanks. If you are actually smoking it, think of all the nasty things it is doing and feel what your body is feeling when you inhale. Is your heart starting to gallop? Are you breathing faster? Has that ghastly cough sprung from where it has been hiding, just waiting to cause you grief again? If you take notice of these factors, the thought of the damage being done may shame you into stopping immediately. If it does not, simply smoke the cigarette to the end, stub it out and commence deep-breathing. Tell yourself you are not a failure and try to stop the next time happening. I once smoked 75 cigarettes a day, more if I was stressed. I learned very fast to cope with my stress by any other means I could, and kept healthy pink lungs working perfectly in my mind. I even drank water as soon as I felt the urge to smoke. My bladder and kidneys hated me. :)
So, the best of luck with whichever resolutions you are about to make.I hope you manage to succeed with whatever they are. But, don't give up. Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes. So, when you tink you've failed, simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get straight back on that horse. If you succeed for one or two days, then flop, simply challenge yourself to go an extra day next time. YOU WILL GET THERE. Where ever there is!
Okay, Christmas is just a heartbeat away, and New Year's not far behind. Time for all the old Resolutions to surface. Or are you sick and tired of making New Year's Resolutions that you never keep anyway? Well, you aren't lonely. Probably three quarters of the entire world don't manage to keep even one of their said-with-hand-on-heart resolutions, and that includes those of us who are either smart enough not to make any or simply do not let anyone know what they have resolved to do/not to do/ gain something/lose something.
Mind you, this last one is very hard to do, as in NOT telling anyone what you have planned. For some reason, keeping resolutions secret is harder for some than breaking the two-minute mile would be. Or leaving that last eclair on the plate.
The perennial: Lose X amount of weight. It doesn't sound too hard.If you say it quickly. But who wants to walk an extra kilometre to work when God-knows what may be watching you and hoping for a chance to strike? Better keep the weight. No. It really is not. Grab a long-suffering colleague who has plenty of patience and who travels the same way as you and rope them into walking with you. Preferably a male, but anyone will do. With any luck, they may just be courteous enough to agree, or they may need to lose a few spare pounds themselves. Either way, you have more chance of remaining safe, and getting a bit more exercise.
Another perennial: I am definitely giving up smoking. Yeah, right. You know all the don'ts concerning quitting. You know all the good reasons for doing so. You just cannot get it right. This is a really hard one. having quit the dreaded weed myself, I know how hard it can be. I learned those lessons and more the first three times I tried to quit. (By the way, the average tries a smoker has before he/she succeeds is four or five.) I was so frustrated with myself I took to chewing gum, the nonsmoking stuff. And I used it far longer than the recommended time too, I was so determined. Somebody up there must like me, because I got to the end of the second week with the chewing gum, and slowly began to cut back. I must admit, a very dear friend of mine died a painful death from a smoking-related disease around the same time as I decided to quit, so I had another good reason to stop, apart from my daughter who was not that old then.
So don't regard a slip-back as having fallen big-time off the wagon. If you find yourself with a cigarette in hand, but not lit, place it back in the pack and give whoever you believe in a heartfelt thanks. If you are actually smoking it, think of all the nasty things it is doing and feel what your body is feeling when you inhale. Is your heart starting to gallop? Are you breathing faster? Has that ghastly cough sprung from where it has been hiding, just waiting to cause you grief again? If you take notice of these factors, the thought of the damage being done may shame you into stopping immediately. If it does not, simply smoke the cigarette to the end, stub it out and commence deep-breathing. Tell yourself you are not a failure and try to stop the next time happening. I once smoked 75 cigarettes a day, more if I was stressed. I learned very fast to cope with my stress by any other means I could, and kept healthy pink lungs working perfectly in my mind. I even drank water as soon as I felt the urge to smoke. My bladder and kidneys hated me. :)
So, the best of luck with whichever resolutions you are about to make.I hope you manage to succeed with whatever they are. But, don't give up. Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes. So, when you tink you've failed, simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get straight back on that horse. If you succeed for one or two days, then flop, simply challenge yourself to go an extra day next time. YOU WILL GET THERE. Where ever there is!
A couple of reasons to write
Hello to all!
Time to return to a topic that I've touched on a couple of times: why don't you write a book? How about I give you some reasons to do so?
1. You may be the lousiest writer in the whole Universe, but that shouldn't stop you. If you really want to get one book out there, there's plenty of help to do so. Go and look at Elance.com, Freelancer.com and Guru.com. These are all sites that have writers on them, and MANY, MANY of them. Don't just grab blindly, but inspect each writer's credentials for a while, until you find one who appeals, preferably with some testimonies. And don't be prejudiced either. if you don't want to spend a lot of money, choose one of the so-called Third World writers, and NOT for the price either. Some of them can write as well as say, Americans, English people, and those whose natives language is English, which says something, but I won't go there. You would probably be better choosing a single person to write what you want, instead of a team. More on that later.
2. Even if you think you are a one-trick pony, done properly, an ebook WILL sell a few copies. It may not make you a fortune; it may only make back the money you spent putting it out, but it will give you enormous personal satisfaction. People are always interested in each other's lives, so if you take a couple of strange occurrences during the time you have been on the earth, add a few paragraphs at the beginning and the end just to say who you are, and where you've got to, to make the ebook up to around 10,000 - 12,000 words, that's it. No need to rabbit on for ages. Ebooks are tiring to read, and, unless you are John Gresham or one of his ilk, n one is going to read something that is 150,000 words by you. Well, not until you've built up a following, anyway :).
3. Play a game of "what if" and 'how' with yourself. Or your baby. The baby won't understand a word, but will love the noise of your voice, especially if they are very young and you want them asleep. It is amazing what this type of trance can throw up, even if you are the most staid of people. Be quick to make notes however, and then turn it into a mind-map, or the wonderful dream will float into your subconscious forever.
See? I was going to simply set out a few ways to stimulate you to write, but I've excelled myself, and even more surprising, the words make sense. Oh, well, there's always time to do that, and I had fun. I have no idea where I go next post, but I'll find out when I get there!
Time to return to a topic that I've touched on a couple of times: why don't you write a book? How about I give you some reasons to do so?
1. You may be the lousiest writer in the whole Universe, but that shouldn't stop you. If you really want to get one book out there, there's plenty of help to do so. Go and look at Elance.com, Freelancer.com and Guru.com. These are all sites that have writers on them, and MANY, MANY of them. Don't just grab blindly, but inspect each writer's credentials for a while, until you find one who appeals, preferably with some testimonies. And don't be prejudiced either. if you don't want to spend a lot of money, choose one of the so-called Third World writers, and NOT for the price either. Some of them can write as well as say, Americans, English people, and those whose natives language is English, which says something, but I won't go there. You would probably be better choosing a single person to write what you want, instead of a team. More on that later.
2. Even if you think you are a one-trick pony, done properly, an ebook WILL sell a few copies. It may not make you a fortune; it may only make back the money you spent putting it out, but it will give you enormous personal satisfaction. People are always interested in each other's lives, so if you take a couple of strange occurrences during the time you have been on the earth, add a few paragraphs at the beginning and the end just to say who you are, and where you've got to, to make the ebook up to around 10,000 - 12,000 words, that's it. No need to rabbit on for ages. Ebooks are tiring to read, and, unless you are John Gresham or one of his ilk, n one is going to read something that is 150,000 words by you. Well, not until you've built up a following, anyway :).
3. Play a game of "what if" and 'how' with yourself. Or your baby. The baby won't understand a word, but will love the noise of your voice, especially if they are very young and you want them asleep. It is amazing what this type of trance can throw up, even if you are the most staid of people. Be quick to make notes however, and then turn it into a mind-map, or the wonderful dream will float into your subconscious forever.
See? I was going to simply set out a few ways to stimulate you to write, but I've excelled myself, and even more surprising, the words make sense. Oh, well, there's always time to do that, and I had fun. I have no idea where I go next post, but I'll find out when I get there!
Monday, 10 December 2012
FAKE IT
Hello to all!
Do you ever have days when, no matter what you do, it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference to your work, your home, YOU?
You aren't alone. Everyone is the world has one of them, including the most powerful figures you could think of. You might think they don't, but behind whatever façade they have stuck on their faces, they do. So HOW do they manage to present this air of competency and calm, while their world may be smashing into a million pieces around them? Do you really want to learn how to?
Easy. You simply FAKE IT. Practice this in the mirror every day for two minutes, while you shave or put your make-up on. It may feel funny at first, but gradually you WILL get the hang of it. Put the best spin on it that you can, and walk out the door with that on your face like a mask.
No doubt you will probably frighten horses, dogs and all of your colleagues the first time you put it out in public, but that's okay. It's better than some television shows! Well, to be honest, stuff them! Keep practising and you will soon have it perfect and natural.
While you are doing that, also practice some self-esteem mantras. they can be as simple as you like: I'm Okay. I'm okay. Or they can be more explicit: I'm okay with being sacked. I WILL find something else. Don't worry about anyone seeing you do this. Pretend you are chewing gum or something. If you have a long way to home from work, all the better. If it's a train ride or a bus, pretend to read a book. It'll just look like you are a bit illiterate. If you are too shy, buy a newspaper instead. Or you can even pretend to knit, even if you have never knitted before. This one is good, if you don't make too many obvious mistakes and the thing grows a bit. People just assume you are counting stitches. Men CAN do this too. After all, who says knitting is for girls any more!
Do you ever have days when, no matter what you do, it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference to your work, your home, YOU?
You aren't alone. Everyone is the world has one of them, including the most powerful figures you could think of. You might think they don't, but behind whatever façade they have stuck on their faces, they do. So HOW do they manage to present this air of competency and calm, while their world may be smashing into a million pieces around them? Do you really want to learn how to?
Easy. You simply FAKE IT. Practice this in the mirror every day for two minutes, while you shave or put your make-up on. It may feel funny at first, but gradually you WILL get the hang of it. Put the best spin on it that you can, and walk out the door with that on your face like a mask.
No doubt you will probably frighten horses, dogs and all of your colleagues the first time you put it out in public, but that's okay. It's better than some television shows! Well, to be honest, stuff them! Keep practising and you will soon have it perfect and natural.
While you are doing that, also practice some self-esteem mantras. they can be as simple as you like: I'm Okay. I'm okay. Or they can be more explicit: I'm okay with being sacked. I WILL find something else. Don't worry about anyone seeing you do this. Pretend you are chewing gum or something. If you have a long way to home from work, all the better. If it's a train ride or a bus, pretend to read a book. It'll just look like you are a bit illiterate. If you are too shy, buy a newspaper instead. Or you can even pretend to knit, even if you have never knitted before. This one is good, if you don't make too many obvious mistakes and the thing grows a bit. People just assume you are counting stitches. Men CAN do this too. After all, who says knitting is for girls any more!
Friday, 7 December 2012
experimentation
Hello to all!
Further to yesterday's talk, let's elaborate a little on it, although you probably are sick and tired of all this yammering! Well, feel free to stop reading any time you wish. Some of what I write you may think you have seen elsewhere. You may probably be right, except it is not plagiarism. I have taken a few ideas that I found interesting and put them in my own words. No problem.
Okay, back to the shiny new toy syndrome. The sad fact is it works with both adults and children, but how many of us actually follow a child's reasoning back to the beginning and play with the old toys once the 'new' has lost its gleam? Very few is the answer.
Say you have a fair system that, if you worked on it a bit, tweaked this and that, experimented, in other words, spent some time on it, may get you more money and traffic? Okay, that is called work. But the biggest companies in the world did not get that way because the founder or founders sat on their hands and said: It works great now, let's not improve it.
That should not be the way you view your business. There is absolutely no harm in seeing how far you can push the envelope before it falls off the table. Budget a little to do this with and try different things, while leaving the base alone. Maybe you could change to a more friendly host, ask a specialist blogger would they do a guest spot for you. Just small things that may or may not work, but you have at least given your business a chance to grow.
And everyone, rich or poor, has to have a point where they start from.
As long as you have that small leeway whereby you can afford to drop, say $10 or even $50, why not go for it? If you play pokies or something like that online, why not cut out whatever is your bet for just one day or weekend and invest that money in your business? You will get far better odds for doing this type of thing and your business may just get a start on growing. Besides, it is an investment, not a donation to a system that already has thousands or millions of monies from people who thought they would strike it rich with one jackpot and have simply contributed to that jackpot? Not really a fair deal by any means.
Further to yesterday's talk, let's elaborate a little on it, although you probably are sick and tired of all this yammering! Well, feel free to stop reading any time you wish. Some of what I write you may think you have seen elsewhere. You may probably be right, except it is not plagiarism. I have taken a few ideas that I found interesting and put them in my own words. No problem.
Okay, back to the shiny new toy syndrome. The sad fact is it works with both adults and children, but how many of us actually follow a child's reasoning back to the beginning and play with the old toys once the 'new' has lost its gleam? Very few is the answer.
Say you have a fair system that, if you worked on it a bit, tweaked this and that, experimented, in other words, spent some time on it, may get you more money and traffic? Okay, that is called work. But the biggest companies in the world did not get that way because the founder or founders sat on their hands and said: It works great now, let's not improve it.
That should not be the way you view your business. There is absolutely no harm in seeing how far you can push the envelope before it falls off the table. Budget a little to do this with and try different things, while leaving the base alone. Maybe you could change to a more friendly host, ask a specialist blogger would they do a guest spot for you. Just small things that may or may not work, but you have at least given your business a chance to grow.
And everyone, rich or poor, has to have a point where they start from.
As long as you have that small leeway whereby you can afford to drop, say $10 or even $50, why not go for it? If you play pokies or something like that online, why not cut out whatever is your bet for just one day or weekend and invest that money in your business? You will get far better odds for doing this type of thing and your business may just get a start on growing. Besides, it is an investment, not a donation to a system that already has thousands or millions of monies from people who thought they would strike it rich with one jackpot and have simply contributed to that jackpot? Not really a fair deal by any means.
Slowly slowly catchem monkey
Hello to all!
Have any of you taken the plunge and actually got into IM? If you have, if it is not a rude question, how are you doing? Statistics show that around 95-98% of IM marketers do not cut it. that is a very disappointing statistic from anyone's point of view.
Even worse, those damn statistics show that around the same amount find themselves having to go back to a dead-end job, sometimes in a lot worse financial state than they started out. Really great. Your savings gone, and your dreams shattered. Just what everyone wants and needs.
And yet it is not that hard to make money online, or so it is claimed. Millions of people holding out their credit cards for you to stamp. You are rolling in money and clover. You wish. So you chase the leprechaun's rainbow with every get-rich-quick scheme you can find. This does only ONE person any good. THE SELLER of said scheme. Yes, some of them do have some good in them. But who wants to buy a hundred programs in order to ferret just one piece of information out of them?
Yet, you CAN make money. If you try and do not expect big houses, rich vacations and shopping sprees to be available overnight. It is simply not possible. Yes, there are people who have done it, but they are few and very far between.
So let's look at the whole picture without any disappointment or anger. Sure, you may be only earning $5 per day through all of your efforts. But over 7 days, that adds up to $35. And 28 days later, you will have $160. Yeah, not nearly enough to buy everything you want/need, so why bother?
But say you work on making that $5 per day into $7 per day? At the end of a month, there's something over a thousand there. Now, that is not to be sneezed at. And, if you really push it, you can get up to gasp! $10 per day. Now that is getting to be serious money. $70 per week can buy your groceries, or some of them. It can pay for a pair of shoes for one of the kids. And it can add up to $3640 per year.
This was something an old friend explained to me once, except she had a bricks and mortar shop. A florist's shop. Her first payday, after she paid for her flowers and the girl who was helping out part-time? The princely sum of $15 for the week to spend on the family. The next week was double. $30. But by the time she had fought and scrimped for a year, she was turning over $1,500 per week. Nothing in that to sneeze at. But this lady worked her butt off. She simply did not believe in a free lunch. Dutch, yes, but not free.
So, don't be disappointed when your first week only puts in a small dribble into your account. Resolve to experiment and find what works. You can guarantee that each and everyone who boasts that they are earning hundreds of thousands per week started the same way. A few dollars popping into your account at a time.
My friend used her shop-girl to fill in the times she was working as a solicitor's clerk, which paid the bills. But, as the money came into the shop, she cut back on her hours as a clerk, until she was wholly self-sufficient. This seems to be the way to prosper online. Do not bungee-jump into the wide blue yonder. Even these people have a life-rope attached. Don't throw yourself off the cliff without that rope.
Have any of you taken the plunge and actually got into IM? If you have, if it is not a rude question, how are you doing? Statistics show that around 95-98% of IM marketers do not cut it. that is a very disappointing statistic from anyone's point of view.
Even worse, those damn statistics show that around the same amount find themselves having to go back to a dead-end job, sometimes in a lot worse financial state than they started out. Really great. Your savings gone, and your dreams shattered. Just what everyone wants and needs.
And yet it is not that hard to make money online, or so it is claimed. Millions of people holding out their credit cards for you to stamp. You are rolling in money and clover. You wish. So you chase the leprechaun's rainbow with every get-rich-quick scheme you can find. This does only ONE person any good. THE SELLER of said scheme. Yes, some of them do have some good in them. But who wants to buy a hundred programs in order to ferret just one piece of information out of them?
Yet, you CAN make money. If you try and do not expect big houses, rich vacations and shopping sprees to be available overnight. It is simply not possible. Yes, there are people who have done it, but they are few and very far between.
So let's look at the whole picture without any disappointment or anger. Sure, you may be only earning $5 per day through all of your efforts. But over 7 days, that adds up to $35. And 28 days later, you will have $160. Yeah, not nearly enough to buy everything you want/need, so why bother?
But say you work on making that $5 per day into $7 per day? At the end of a month, there's something over a thousand there. Now, that is not to be sneezed at. And, if you really push it, you can get up to gasp! $10 per day. Now that is getting to be serious money. $70 per week can buy your groceries, or some of them. It can pay for a pair of shoes for one of the kids. And it can add up to $3640 per year.
This was something an old friend explained to me once, except she had a bricks and mortar shop. A florist's shop. Her first payday, after she paid for her flowers and the girl who was helping out part-time? The princely sum of $15 for the week to spend on the family. The next week was double. $30. But by the time she had fought and scrimped for a year, she was turning over $1,500 per week. Nothing in that to sneeze at. But this lady worked her butt off. She simply did not believe in a free lunch. Dutch, yes, but not free.
So, don't be disappointed when your first week only puts in a small dribble into your account. Resolve to experiment and find what works. You can guarantee that each and everyone who boasts that they are earning hundreds of thousands per week started the same way. A few dollars popping into your account at a time.
My friend used her shop-girl to fill in the times she was working as a solicitor's clerk, which paid the bills. But, as the money came into the shop, she cut back on her hours as a clerk, until she was wholly self-sufficient. This seems to be the way to prosper online. Do not bungee-jump into the wide blue yonder. Even these people have a life-rope attached. Don't throw yourself off the cliff without that rope.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Overkill with emails
Hello to all!
Yesterday, I got a rush of emails in my letterbox. Not one from a person whom I even knew. Sometimes I feel that, in order to get a person's email, these email addresses are shared. They probably aren't. but when I have inquired about ONE thing from an address and even signed up for a report, what else am I to think? The last such occasion ended me with something like 15 spare emails which I had no interest in whatever.
I know marketers need to grow their lists, but surely ONE can send out one email alone and not involve all his or her joint marketers. This really does annoy me on occasions and often one person whom I may be interested in later on gets deleted forthwith. I also tend to remember these people and ignore them when I see their efforts online by themselves.
I know, I know. Shouldn't judge a person by their company. But it really does peeve me. I rarely sign up for anything, not exactly being interested in much that is being tooted online, except writing and information on a few topics, so this deluge does nothing for me. It is more likely to lose the person a sale, as a result.
Okay, so you want the report. badly. But i am beginning to think that it is easier to pay $5-$10 for one report which will have almost everything in it that I want without getting all these others which I want to know nothing about, apart from what I already know.
So maybe this is one thing you can look into when you start up your own online business. Don't be in such a hurry to hitch your wagon to just any JV. The other person may be one who likes bombarding email recipients Again, I know, there are spamming rules in place, but some marketers do ride very close to the fence on this. I would be much happier if each marketer found a friend to market with who is an expert on some aspect of the article being sold. For example, instead of chasing a graphics designer around when I want to make a new website, I would be most grateful if I had the opportunity to hire both the web designer and the graphics all under one roof.
I can at least look at the package anyway. I do not have to take it, and a little yea or nay never hurt anyone, if accompanied by a smaller please or thank you!
Yesterday, I got a rush of emails in my letterbox. Not one from a person whom I even knew. Sometimes I feel that, in order to get a person's email, these email addresses are shared. They probably aren't. but when I have inquired about ONE thing from an address and even signed up for a report, what else am I to think? The last such occasion ended me with something like 15 spare emails which I had no interest in whatever.
I know marketers need to grow their lists, but surely ONE can send out one email alone and not involve all his or her joint marketers. This really does annoy me on occasions and often one person whom I may be interested in later on gets deleted forthwith. I also tend to remember these people and ignore them when I see their efforts online by themselves.
I know, I know. Shouldn't judge a person by their company. But it really does peeve me. I rarely sign up for anything, not exactly being interested in much that is being tooted online, except writing and information on a few topics, so this deluge does nothing for me. It is more likely to lose the person a sale, as a result.
Okay, so you want the report. badly. But i am beginning to think that it is easier to pay $5-$10 for one report which will have almost everything in it that I want without getting all these others which I want to know nothing about, apart from what I already know.
So maybe this is one thing you can look into when you start up your own online business. Don't be in such a hurry to hitch your wagon to just any JV. The other person may be one who likes bombarding email recipients Again, I know, there are spamming rules in place, but some marketers do ride very close to the fence on this. I would be much happier if each marketer found a friend to market with who is an expert on some aspect of the article being sold. For example, instead of chasing a graphics designer around when I want to make a new website, I would be most grateful if I had the opportunity to hire both the web designer and the graphics all under one roof.
I can at least look at the package anyway. I do not have to take it, and a little yea or nay never hurt anyone, if accompanied by a smaller please or thank you!
Friday, 30 November 2012
Christmas gifts not costly in money
Hello to all!
As it is Christmas, probably the biggest gift-giving season of the year, have you got your presents all sorted and correct? Congratulations! People who are so organised such as you I simply hate with a passion! I have some really weird superstitions concerning shopping too early, especially for the older generation.
If I see something in about August, my brain says: Ahhh, perfect for Aunt Jane. No, hang on, isn't she still really sick from that last flu? Ummm. Maybe I'll give that a miss. There's no one else to give it to, if she does die.
And promptly the sky falls on me. Don't get me wrong. I adore all of my older relatives and never for a minute would wish death on them. ( Well, maybe Uncle Francis. That cancer of his makes his life a living misery. What the hell am I thinking about? Uncle Francis loves his life, pain, misery and all. And he really loves seeing all the relatives at Christmas so he can gloat that he's still alive.)
And so it goes. I am so lucky I cannot think of ONE relative whom I would genuinely wish off this mortal coil. I really hope you are like this too. Karma has a bad habit of biting the softest areas of your body if you aren't.
So, back to getting a gift for the relative in question. Well, why not involve the kids as well and make a personal gift? There are so many things that you can make, wrap in a pretty handkerchief or something and HAND-DELIVER, unless of course the person lives many miles away. Then spend the money that you would have spent on something they will not use, like fancy soaps, powders and that sort of thing, and have your gift COURIERED.
Or invest in a two-minute phone call. Some old people absolutely love the sound of a voice in their ear who is not selling them the newest vacuum cleaner or the (best) funeral plan.( In my part of the country this year, although they do advertise all year, they have really seemed to amp it up this year around Christmas. How revolting. And depressing. And they could at least schedule their ads better, instead of one for Chrisco followed by one for XYZ Funeral Plan.)
No, I am not in denial of the subject. I simply think there could be a little bit more tact used when programming these things. Another memory is of a god-daughter visiting an elderly aunt of her mother's. The little one was only about four, but one of those ads came on. before her mother could stop her, the child said, clear as a bell: Daddy says they are too expensive and the cheap one we have organised for you will do. Out of the mouths of babes! Luckily the old lady concerned had a marvellous sense of humour and roared laughing, saying to her niece later on: Tell young Jeremy seeing as I will go first, I'M the one who will probably receive him into Hell.
So I buy these gifts or make something simple and pray to God that he will not take the person concerned before I can see them/phone them or do some little thing to show them I have not forgotten them.
After all, we cannot make it up later, and one day out of 365 isn't much at all to make someone happy for two minutes.
As it is Christmas, probably the biggest gift-giving season of the year, have you got your presents all sorted and correct? Congratulations! People who are so organised such as you I simply hate with a passion! I have some really weird superstitions concerning shopping too early, especially for the older generation.
If I see something in about August, my brain says: Ahhh, perfect for Aunt Jane. No, hang on, isn't she still really sick from that last flu? Ummm. Maybe I'll give that a miss. There's no one else to give it to, if she does die.
And promptly the sky falls on me. Don't get me wrong. I adore all of my older relatives and never for a minute would wish death on them. ( Well, maybe Uncle Francis. That cancer of his makes his life a living misery. What the hell am I thinking about? Uncle Francis loves his life, pain, misery and all. And he really loves seeing all the relatives at Christmas so he can gloat that he's still alive.)
And so it goes. I am so lucky I cannot think of ONE relative whom I would genuinely wish off this mortal coil. I really hope you are like this too. Karma has a bad habit of biting the softest areas of your body if you aren't.
So, back to getting a gift for the relative in question. Well, why not involve the kids as well and make a personal gift? There are so many things that you can make, wrap in a pretty handkerchief or something and HAND-DELIVER, unless of course the person lives many miles away. Then spend the money that you would have spent on something they will not use, like fancy soaps, powders and that sort of thing, and have your gift COURIERED.
Or invest in a two-minute phone call. Some old people absolutely love the sound of a voice in their ear who is not selling them the newest vacuum cleaner or the (best) funeral plan.( In my part of the country this year, although they do advertise all year, they have really seemed to amp it up this year around Christmas. How revolting. And depressing. And they could at least schedule their ads better, instead of one for Chrisco followed by one for XYZ Funeral Plan.)
No, I am not in denial of the subject. I simply think there could be a little bit more tact used when programming these things. Another memory is of a god-daughter visiting an elderly aunt of her mother's. The little one was only about four, but one of those ads came on. before her mother could stop her, the child said, clear as a bell: Daddy says they are too expensive and the cheap one we have organised for you will do. Out of the mouths of babes! Luckily the old lady concerned had a marvellous sense of humour and roared laughing, saying to her niece later on: Tell young Jeremy seeing as I will go first, I'M the one who will probably receive him into Hell.
So I buy these gifts or make something simple and pray to God that he will not take the person concerned before I can see them/phone them or do some little thing to show them I have not forgotten them.
After all, we cannot make it up later, and one day out of 365 isn't much at all to make someone happy for two minutes.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Christmas grouches
Hello to all!
What a delightful thought: four weeks(give or take a few days) to Christmas; the big, fat jolly man(how does he ever miss the attentions of Jenny Craig et al, I wonder?) pays his once-a-year visit to most of us.( Most of us, if we were truthful, also wish our relatives would follow his lead and only visit once a year, for one damned day or night!) . That would be usually enough to create the same chaos.
By the way, this is NOT a Pick-on-Santa post. I am just as fond of the idea as anyone else. The only thing about Christmas that sticks in my craw is WHY do everyday items become suddenly exotic and cost prices equal to a beach holiday every time it rolls around? Take soap, washing liquid, toilet paper for instance, and they are just necessities.
Okay, I understand the economy is lousy, sales aren't grossing what they should, we all need to tighten our belts, jobs have suddenly hit the equivalent of here today, gone tomorrow. But, really, is that worth a 500gram tub of margarine which was $3.50 last week suddenly being worth $4.95? There isn't any more in it, unless some new ingredient has been added and then it still adds up to 300grams or 500 grams. The packaging is the same. Everything is the same. So why the jump? Maybe a few cents, but that is plain ridiculous.
We all have chicken at least once a week nowadays. Once it was a luxury and for some, still is. But it is not limited to Christmas or just Sunday is what I am getting at. So why is it so expensive around this time of year? ham turkey are all available during the year now, or you can buy it frozen and use it, so why? Is it because it is so-called organic, or free-range or has ninety-nine growth hormones which cost money added? Or has some other marvellous thing implanted? In that case,I think it should be a lot cheaper. After all, who is really old enough to show exactly what these additions can do to us inside and out?
No, I am not advocating boycotting shops or major stores. And, I do wish them all nothing but the best. But, hey, can't they throw a bit of the charity towards those who genuinely cannot afford the huge upscale?
What a delightful thought: four weeks(give or take a few days) to Christmas; the big, fat jolly man(how does he ever miss the attentions of Jenny Craig et al, I wonder?) pays his once-a-year visit to most of us.( Most of us, if we were truthful, also wish our relatives would follow his lead and only visit once a year, for one damned day or night!) . That would be usually enough to create the same chaos.
By the way, this is NOT a Pick-on-Santa post. I am just as fond of the idea as anyone else. The only thing about Christmas that sticks in my craw is WHY do everyday items become suddenly exotic and cost prices equal to a beach holiday every time it rolls around? Take soap, washing liquid, toilet paper for instance, and they are just necessities.
Okay, I understand the economy is lousy, sales aren't grossing what they should, we all need to tighten our belts, jobs have suddenly hit the equivalent of here today, gone tomorrow. But, really, is that worth a 500gram tub of margarine which was $3.50 last week suddenly being worth $4.95? There isn't any more in it, unless some new ingredient has been added and then it still adds up to 300grams or 500 grams. The packaging is the same. Everything is the same. So why the jump? Maybe a few cents, but that is plain ridiculous.
We all have chicken at least once a week nowadays. Once it was a luxury and for some, still is. But it is not limited to Christmas or just Sunday is what I am getting at. So why is it so expensive around this time of year? ham turkey are all available during the year now, or you can buy it frozen and use it, so why? Is it because it is so-called organic, or free-range or has ninety-nine growth hormones which cost money added? Or has some other marvellous thing implanted? In that case,I think it should be a lot cheaper. After all, who is really old enough to show exactly what these additions can do to us inside and out?
No, I am not advocating boycotting shops or major stores. And, I do wish them all nothing but the best. But, hey, can't they throw a bit of the charity towards those who genuinely cannot afford the huge upscale?
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Focus - isn't that something you do with a camera?
Hello to all!
Good grief, I actually am going to follow-up on something I said in the last post. I sometimes do, but not so often as I should. How come I can lecture one hundred people in my job and can remember to come back as promised with more the next time and cannot seem to manage it here? Just one of those quirks of mine, I guess.
Rubbish! More like it is simply I am only focusing on what I want to say today and NOT the long-term. This is fatal in any business, online or off. If you have not got a plan, a focus, a way, then, baby, you are screwed. You must focus. Maybe not on the real big picture but on at least a piece of it.
How many of us have ever done jigsaws? My absolute favourite way of getting the damned things all together is to separate all the blue pieces, all the orange, green, red, whatever and make a small picture from them. Usually I end with the tiger or the mountains or the sky(mind you, that one is a pain!), then I start to connect the small picture into a larger one.
I know, I know, it is so much easier to get the sides and corners together first, or apparently so, according to experts. Well, that doesn't work for me, so I use a method that does. I FOCUS on the tiger, whatever and get that part right. That doesn't mean that I don't construct bits here and there too, when they seem to come together, but my main aim is the trees, or the sky or the tiger.
Bingo! When I have that main piece done, the rest falls into line. Usually. Or that is my expectation. I haven't been disappointed yet, so I guess it works. And that is what you should do with your writing, your business, anything that is not personal, although the rules here can be worked into personal as well. After all, what is the point of having a thriving business at the cost of your family? In my book, that is no good trade-off at all. After all, I would prefer to snuggle up with a warm body any day, rather then cold hard cash. Everything in its place.
To revert back to another post, DO NOT go chasing shiny new things. Instead, focus on how you are going to get where you want to and go do it. It may take you some time, but at least you will have something to show for your work, and if you are focused enough, anything that is NOT helping will be spotted early in the piece.
What works for one may not work for another. But you can twist and tweak the original idea or thought to work for you. All you have to do is focus.
Good grief, I actually am going to follow-up on something I said in the last post. I sometimes do, but not so often as I should. How come I can lecture one hundred people in my job and can remember to come back as promised with more the next time and cannot seem to manage it here? Just one of those quirks of mine, I guess.
Rubbish! More like it is simply I am only focusing on what I want to say today and NOT the long-term. This is fatal in any business, online or off. If you have not got a plan, a focus, a way, then, baby, you are screwed. You must focus. Maybe not on the real big picture but on at least a piece of it.
How many of us have ever done jigsaws? My absolute favourite way of getting the damned things all together is to separate all the blue pieces, all the orange, green, red, whatever and make a small picture from them. Usually I end with the tiger or the mountains or the sky(mind you, that one is a pain!), then I start to connect the small picture into a larger one.
I know, I know, it is so much easier to get the sides and corners together first, or apparently so, according to experts. Well, that doesn't work for me, so I use a method that does. I FOCUS on the tiger, whatever and get that part right. That doesn't mean that I don't construct bits here and there too, when they seem to come together, but my main aim is the trees, or the sky or the tiger.
Bingo! When I have that main piece done, the rest falls into line. Usually. Or that is my expectation. I haven't been disappointed yet, so I guess it works. And that is what you should do with your writing, your business, anything that is not personal, although the rules here can be worked into personal as well. After all, what is the point of having a thriving business at the cost of your family? In my book, that is no good trade-off at all. After all, I would prefer to snuggle up with a warm body any day, rather then cold hard cash. Everything in its place.
To revert back to another post, DO NOT go chasing shiny new things. Instead, focus on how you are going to get where you want to and go do it. It may take you some time, but at least you will have something to show for your work, and if you are focused enough, anything that is NOT helping will be spotted early in the piece.
What works for one may not work for another. But you can twist and tweak the original idea or thought to work for you. All you have to do is focus.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Another job?
Hello to all!
Back on my hobby-horse With the economy in the state it is, should you really afford NOT to explore other alternatives to your job? Businesses seem to be hitting walls at a great rate of knots, some with very little warning to their employees, if any at all, so it does really pay to search out an alternative. After all, they may crash and burn, but you still need to eat, pay bills, have a roof over your head, etc.
Okay, you may be on one of those new-fangled diets and not need to eat. All the best if you are. And you may like sitting in the dark, bathing in cold water and living in a cardboard box on a street corner. I really HATE to tell you, but rain, mist, cars driving by, ALL dump some water on your abode and it is liable to disintegrate rapidly.
Okay, it's not a funny subject, but it IS one you need to look at seriously. If you follow the trend of getting into online marketing to get some money coming in, very good luck to you. It's not something I am interested at the moment, but there are a stack of really good marketers out there who can help you. The only thing I can say about that also is: DO NOT buy every program on the market, thinking each one is better than the last. That's called shiny new object syndrome, as one respected marketer calls it, and is only good for spending money. I've also been there and done that and have the proof on the hard drive of a few of my old computers, waiting to go into the rubbish bin when a friend reprograms the computers!
One thing that does not cost a great deal of money to set up is to take a particular pack of PLR and rewrite it to suit yourself as a small or large report. These are easy to do, and there are markets everywhere which will buy them from you for around $20-$100. This is easy money, easy work as most of it is in the PLR and very little research is needed. Just don't buy them and use them unadulterated or given your own treatment. Most search engines will throw them out without even thinking about it.
I'll talk more about PLR I hope(for some reason I always find something else that takes over LOL!) in the next post. Or maybe I'll talk about focus. That's something I find very hard to do. Yeah. Maybe the PLR can wait. We'll see.
Back on my hobby-horse With the economy in the state it is, should you really afford NOT to explore other alternatives to your job? Businesses seem to be hitting walls at a great rate of knots, some with very little warning to their employees, if any at all, so it does really pay to search out an alternative. After all, they may crash and burn, but you still need to eat, pay bills, have a roof over your head, etc.
Okay, you may be on one of those new-fangled diets and not need to eat. All the best if you are. And you may like sitting in the dark, bathing in cold water and living in a cardboard box on a street corner. I really HATE to tell you, but rain, mist, cars driving by, ALL dump some water on your abode and it is liable to disintegrate rapidly.
Okay, it's not a funny subject, but it IS one you need to look at seriously. If you follow the trend of getting into online marketing to get some money coming in, very good luck to you. It's not something I am interested at the moment, but there are a stack of really good marketers out there who can help you. The only thing I can say about that also is: DO NOT buy every program on the market, thinking each one is better than the last. That's called shiny new object syndrome, as one respected marketer calls it, and is only good for spending money. I've also been there and done that and have the proof on the hard drive of a few of my old computers, waiting to go into the rubbish bin when a friend reprograms the computers!
One thing that does not cost a great deal of money to set up is to take a particular pack of PLR and rewrite it to suit yourself as a small or large report. These are easy to do, and there are markets everywhere which will buy them from you for around $20-$100. This is easy money, easy work as most of it is in the PLR and very little research is needed. Just don't buy them and use them unadulterated or given your own treatment. Most search engines will throw them out without even thinking about it.
I'll talk more about PLR I hope(for some reason I always find something else that takes over LOL!) in the next post. Or maybe I'll talk about focus. That's something I find very hard to do. Yeah. Maybe the PLR can wait. We'll see.
Saturday, 24 November 2012
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE
Hello to all!
How many of you, I wonder, have always wanted to write a book and actually get it published? Well, now is about the easiest time ever to try. Go to Kindle and get some knowledge about how to format the books, and also what they want.
I know it is only 5(or is it 4?) weeks to Christmas, but amazingly you still can write a book. Or maybe you have written a book. Yay! that's half the battle! You are at the top of the mountain. Now the way down is usually easy. Format it and upload it to Amazon and let them handle it. You really do not need to spend a fortune in How-To books like I still do.
Drifting from the topic, I wonder just WHERE that trait came from? My father would watch someone closely, ask a couple of questions, and with very few minor mistakes, get it nearly perfect the first time. The second time was perfect. My younger brother has improved on that formula. His first attempts are always perfect. Being the younger brother, this is mortifying! I often wish I had choked him at birth, but i love him too dearly to do that. Besides, he towers over me now!
My mother was the same. Not me. All four of my siblings have mastered this trait, and the one who hasn't fakes it. Come on, sis, admit it!
No one who lives on this beautiful planet of ours can claim to get things exactly right the first time they even try to do something they are completely unfamiliar with, but they DID try. And, after the first time, it became easier. Einstein never perfected anything at first try. Edison had around 100 tries before he got the hang of a light bulb. So, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
Write this on a sticky and tape it to the monitor of your computer where it hits you in the eye the minute you sit in front of the monitor. Pick a really bright note and write in a contrasting colour. DO NOT REMOVE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO. Yes, I'm shouting and I shouldn't but this is so very important.
The simplest things are the hardest things usually. But you found the time to actually write the thing. You are happy with it. The few you have shared it with are happy with it. So, go the last few yards with it. Take one of the minutes, hours, whatever you scrounged to write it and study the manuals from Amazon.
Don't worry about pricing it. Until you see what it is going to do, allow it to be downloaded free. Yes, that's right. FREE. Set a time for it to settle in, say a week or so, and then put your price on it. There are something like 40 billion people in the world, and not all of them will visit the Amazon site every one of those days. The week is to tweak and get it right. Don't just whack it up and get so many things wrong and have to make refunds. Sneak on it, and make it the best, faultless book you can. Bad formatting sinks more books than you could ever imagine, as does poor spelling, and bad grammar. So, let the public have a taste for free. many, if their is any problem with it, will let you know in no uncertain terms and may even give you good advice.
The best thing about publishing this way is: You may lose some sales by it being free, but at least you do not have to refund the lot! And you may benefit too!
How many of you, I wonder, have always wanted to write a book and actually get it published? Well, now is about the easiest time ever to try. Go to Kindle and get some knowledge about how to format the books, and also what they want.
I know it is only 5(or is it 4?) weeks to Christmas, but amazingly you still can write a book. Or maybe you have written a book. Yay! that's half the battle! You are at the top of the mountain. Now the way down is usually easy. Format it and upload it to Amazon and let them handle it. You really do not need to spend a fortune in How-To books like I still do.
Drifting from the topic, I wonder just WHERE that trait came from? My father would watch someone closely, ask a couple of questions, and with very few minor mistakes, get it nearly perfect the first time. The second time was perfect. My younger brother has improved on that formula. His first attempts are always perfect. Being the younger brother, this is mortifying! I often wish I had choked him at birth, but i love him too dearly to do that. Besides, he towers over me now!
My mother was the same. Not me. All four of my siblings have mastered this trait, and the one who hasn't fakes it. Come on, sis, admit it!
No one who lives on this beautiful planet of ours can claim to get things exactly right the first time they even try to do something they are completely unfamiliar with, but they DID try. And, after the first time, it became easier. Einstein never perfected anything at first try. Edison had around 100 tries before he got the hang of a light bulb. So, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
Write this on a sticky and tape it to the monitor of your computer where it hits you in the eye the minute you sit in front of the monitor. Pick a really bright note and write in a contrasting colour. DO NOT REMOVE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO. Yes, I'm shouting and I shouldn't but this is so very important.
The simplest things are the hardest things usually. But you found the time to actually write the thing. You are happy with it. The few you have shared it with are happy with it. So, go the last few yards with it. Take one of the minutes, hours, whatever you scrounged to write it and study the manuals from Amazon.
Don't worry about pricing it. Until you see what it is going to do, allow it to be downloaded free. Yes, that's right. FREE. Set a time for it to settle in, say a week or so, and then put your price on it. There are something like 40 billion people in the world, and not all of them will visit the Amazon site every one of those days. The week is to tweak and get it right. Don't just whack it up and get so many things wrong and have to make refunds. Sneak on it, and make it the best, faultless book you can. Bad formatting sinks more books than you could ever imagine, as does poor spelling, and bad grammar. So, let the public have a taste for free. many, if their is any problem with it, will let you know in no uncertain terms and may even give you good advice.
The best thing about publishing this way is: You may lose some sales by it being free, but at least you do not have to refund the lot! And you may benefit too!
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Finding time to write
Hello to all!
Ever wondered how a book gets written? Well, of course you would. You have every intentions of writing one yourself, haven't you? Which is why you are reading this grasshopper of a blog.
There really is not standard way of writing a book. Some writers work for several hours in the morning, and revise it in the afternoon. Some spend the morning researching, then the afternoon putting it together. It really doesn't matter, so long as you actually put words on paper, or on your computer's face.
So you haven't got the time to sit down and devote long chunks of time to writing. You cannot see how you can possibly squeeze even five minutes out of your busy schedule. Well, one person who managed to do this on a regular basis, when he was at work, no less, Is Vincent Ros. www.TenaciousWriter.com. This man amazes me with the ways he has come up to find time to write. A last piece of his tells how he decided to write a book, come hell or high water, and made time to write.
He wrote at work. No, not in a way that would get you fired immediately. He stole half an hour from his lunch break, finding sneaky little bolt holes while he was on lunch and free-wring for the first or last part of the lunch-break. He really does deserve credit for his ingenuity. it's a good read, and he also gives ten tips as to how you can use that half-hour.
We ALL can find a spare five minutes if we really try. The often up to twenty minutes we wait for a doctor's appointment or a dental one can be utilized, instead of reading stale old magazines. If the surgeries have creches, put your children into these, and watch them while writing.
A laptop is rather bulky in these situations. Simply take a notepad and several pens or pencils in your bag and write. Develop characters, scenes, places and locations. I once grew a whole city while waiting for one of my ruder colleagues to finish what she was doing. To say it was fun was not the half of it. And I wasn't even cranky at her for delaying my own projects. it cost nothing but a little time and I had that, instead of a very boring meeting, gratis. The meeting was shorter than expected, too, because we needed to make up the time, which was a bonus!
So take a look around for where you can find a few spare minutes and determine how to put it to good use with your writing. Even if you only come up with a laundry list of names and places, it's a start, and, if you do this every time, you will soon have all the basics, outline and plan for your book.
Ever wondered how a book gets written? Well, of course you would. You have every intentions of writing one yourself, haven't you? Which is why you are reading this grasshopper of a blog.
There really is not standard way of writing a book. Some writers work for several hours in the morning, and revise it in the afternoon. Some spend the morning researching, then the afternoon putting it together. It really doesn't matter, so long as you actually put words on paper, or on your computer's face.
So you haven't got the time to sit down and devote long chunks of time to writing. You cannot see how you can possibly squeeze even five minutes out of your busy schedule. Well, one person who managed to do this on a regular basis, when he was at work, no less, Is Vincent Ros. www.TenaciousWriter.com. This man amazes me with the ways he has come up to find time to write. A last piece of his tells how he decided to write a book, come hell or high water, and made time to write.
He wrote at work. No, not in a way that would get you fired immediately. He stole half an hour from his lunch break, finding sneaky little bolt holes while he was on lunch and free-wring for the first or last part of the lunch-break. He really does deserve credit for his ingenuity. it's a good read, and he also gives ten tips as to how you can use that half-hour.
We ALL can find a spare five minutes if we really try. The often up to twenty minutes we wait for a doctor's appointment or a dental one can be utilized, instead of reading stale old magazines. If the surgeries have creches, put your children into these, and watch them while writing.
A laptop is rather bulky in these situations. Simply take a notepad and several pens or pencils in your bag and write. Develop characters, scenes, places and locations. I once grew a whole city while waiting for one of my ruder colleagues to finish what she was doing. To say it was fun was not the half of it. And I wasn't even cranky at her for delaying my own projects. it cost nothing but a little time and I had that, instead of a very boring meeting, gratis. The meeting was shorter than expected, too, because we needed to make up the time, which was a bonus!
So take a look around for where you can find a few spare minutes and determine how to put it to good use with your writing. Even if you only come up with a laundry list of names and places, it's a start, and, if you do this every time, you will soon have all the basics, outline and plan for your book.
Mind maps Part two
Hello to all!
I really was going to write something else this time, but I did a bit of research on mind maps and thought the subject could do with another visit.
You already know that mind maps can be as simple or as complicated as you may like. So can their names. For instance, spider mind maps, cloud mind maps, square mind maps, brain mind maps, the list is endless. But all these terms mean exactly the same. A main part, joined by lines or arrows to a smaller part of the same shape.
Don't worry, when I was at University, and first introduced to the term, it made no sense whatever. Nor did it help that several of the lecturers had a favourite mind map which never remotely resembled any other lecturer's. I am quite sure he/she simply wanted to keep us in a state of awe and fear. One even used designs of three-pointed stars for chemistry, and five pointed ones for physics. To us newbies, that was plain mean.
My last year of primary school did not involve any type of cluster designs at all, as it did not include very much physics, so it was probably committing dumb suicide to sign up for the classes, but hey! we knew everything and that was going to be a breeze. Such is the confidence of seventeen-going-on-eighteen year olds.
Anyway, that's a story for another time.
It doesn't matter what shape you use, as long as it works for you. I personally like the brain or cloud shape, because I am such a lousy drawer, and those two can be almost any shape, so long as they are vaguely like clouds or brains and the offspring match them!
The worst circle maps were those that enclosed abbreviations for chemical substances. Put them in brains or clouds and I was fine. Just NOT circles. I have never found out why either. Just perhaps my squirrelly brain! Seriously though, these simple diagrams can assist you a great deal in getting rid of procrastination too. This is where most of my writing comes from.
If you would like an article or two written, contact me on taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I am working on a website, but haven't got it down properly yet! Very soon though.
I really was going to write something else this time, but I did a bit of research on mind maps and thought the subject could do with another visit.
You already know that mind maps can be as simple or as complicated as you may like. So can their names. For instance, spider mind maps, cloud mind maps, square mind maps, brain mind maps, the list is endless. But all these terms mean exactly the same. A main part, joined by lines or arrows to a smaller part of the same shape.
Don't worry, when I was at University, and first introduced to the term, it made no sense whatever. Nor did it help that several of the lecturers had a favourite mind map which never remotely resembled any other lecturer's. I am quite sure he/she simply wanted to keep us in a state of awe and fear. One even used designs of three-pointed stars for chemistry, and five pointed ones for physics. To us newbies, that was plain mean.
My last year of primary school did not involve any type of cluster designs at all, as it did not include very much physics, so it was probably committing dumb suicide to sign up for the classes, but hey! we knew everything and that was going to be a breeze. Such is the confidence of seventeen-going-on-eighteen year olds.
Anyway, that's a story for another time.
It doesn't matter what shape you use, as long as it works for you. I personally like the brain or cloud shape, because I am such a lousy drawer, and those two can be almost any shape, so long as they are vaguely like clouds or brains and the offspring match them!
The worst circle maps were those that enclosed abbreviations for chemical substances. Put them in brains or clouds and I was fine. Just NOT circles. I have never found out why either. Just perhaps my squirrelly brain! Seriously though, these simple diagrams can assist you a great deal in getting rid of procrastination too. This is where most of my writing comes from.
If you would like an article or two written, contact me on taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I am working on a website, but haven't got it down properly yet! Very soon though.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Mind maps
Hello to all!
As promised, here is the next part on my favourite ways of getting any type of writing done. I happen to really like mind maps. You can be as basic as you like with these, or make them state-of-the-art. It doesn't really matter. I've even been known to add a smaller bubble halfway through the first stage to carry secondary thoughts, which may or may not be used. If not, I can always spin them off into something else.
The main idea with mind maps is to choose just one topic. This often throws a lot of people as all types of topics and snippets that seem to be interesting sneak in. That happens to all of us, so don't stress too much.
You will find that over practice, the subject which occupies your main balloon takes precedence over everything and you will just brainstorm everything that goes with the topic alone.
This process is due to those busy little elves in your subconscious. Give them just one word to work with, and you will be amazed at how industrious they will be. Often it will seem like rubbish, but where the subconscious is concerned, nothing is rubbish. It all has a place somewhere, even if it is right at the end. Or even may be useful in another ebook. Never throw these scribblings out, as they can fill in a lazy afternoon, or even a blank space in your conscious train of thought. I have pages and pages of all types of these things, and even notebooks of them around, of which I may do something one day.
A friend of mine uses mind maps when she is waiting for her small children to finish kindy and school. She is not one to share idle chit-chat as she is very shy, so she uses this time to map out some writing which she probably will do when the kids are in bed and husband is watching TV.
So most of us aren't that organised or energetic. It works for her, which is the main thing. She turns out four ebooks in the erotic genre each year and makes a good living.
Set up your mind map, having chosen your subject. Ensure you have chosen one for which there is a market, otherwise you may write the best ebook ever on your subject, but if that topic is not already selling, then it will simply languish in cyber space. This, just quietly, is why many good ebooks fail. There just is not the market for them, and may never be.
Many people also baulk at that. "But that niche is already saturated!" I hear you loud and clear. It may seem to be, but the positive in that is you know that topic sells. So go write your book, using a mind map. Just put your unique slant on it. Remember, no one else can see the topic from your point, so use this to write and map.
Next post, I'll talk about the lengths of ebooks.
As promised, here is the next part on my favourite ways of getting any type of writing done. I happen to really like mind maps. You can be as basic as you like with these, or make them state-of-the-art. It doesn't really matter. I've even been known to add a smaller bubble halfway through the first stage to carry secondary thoughts, which may or may not be used. If not, I can always spin them off into something else.
The main idea with mind maps is to choose just one topic. This often throws a lot of people as all types of topics and snippets that seem to be interesting sneak in. That happens to all of us, so don't stress too much.
You will find that over practice, the subject which occupies your main balloon takes precedence over everything and you will just brainstorm everything that goes with the topic alone.
This process is due to those busy little elves in your subconscious. Give them just one word to work with, and you will be amazed at how industrious they will be. Often it will seem like rubbish, but where the subconscious is concerned, nothing is rubbish. It all has a place somewhere, even if it is right at the end. Or even may be useful in another ebook. Never throw these scribblings out, as they can fill in a lazy afternoon, or even a blank space in your conscious train of thought. I have pages and pages of all types of these things, and even notebooks of them around, of which I may do something one day.
A friend of mine uses mind maps when she is waiting for her small children to finish kindy and school. She is not one to share idle chit-chat as she is very shy, so she uses this time to map out some writing which she probably will do when the kids are in bed and husband is watching TV.
So most of us aren't that organised or energetic. It works for her, which is the main thing. She turns out four ebooks in the erotic genre each year and makes a good living.
Set up your mind map, having chosen your subject. Ensure you have chosen one for which there is a market, otherwise you may write the best ebook ever on your subject, but if that topic is not already selling, then it will simply languish in cyber space. This, just quietly, is why many good ebooks fail. There just is not the market for them, and may never be.
Many people also baulk at that. "But that niche is already saturated!" I hear you loud and clear. It may seem to be, but the positive in that is you know that topic sells. So go write your book, using a mind map. Just put your unique slant on it. Remember, no one else can see the topic from your point, so use this to write and map.
Next post, I'll talk about the lengths of ebooks.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Free-writing
Hello to all.My last post was about how not to write that book that is blazing in your head, or what can happen and usually does.
If you do not have an outline and a plan.
These two things alone will stop your monster in its tracks. It may possibly do more. Ideas cannot be copyrighted The base idea can spin off in someone else's head, but you can still recognise it. This can be shattering for some and even worse if your idea is written very poorly, which does unfortunately happen a lot more than you would think.
Write down the idea and get stuck into it. That way you should have a great start on anyone else. The odds that they are still only thinking about it, whereas you are actually on the way.
Personally, I like an idea or two that my tutor swears by to get started with a book. Free-write and mind-map. These two simple actions can help to make writing a book a breeze. Let's take them one at a time.
I'm sure you've heard that free-writing comes from the right-brain which is connected to your sub-conscious. This place never stops; it works all the hours and would work more if it could. Years ago, Stephen King wrote of the sub-conscious as his personal sweat-shop for tiny people who sweated coming up with plots for him to take his pick, or left them overnight with something that was causing a blockage.
Set a clock for five or ten minutes. make sure it has an alarm.or get a cheap egg timer and set it beside you. Anything that can be made to make a noise after a set time is perfect. Ten minutes is usually enough, otherwise you may tire these little muses there.
Simply write. Anything at all. Your grocery list may appear. Take no notice and keep writing. Somewhere in this mess of pure words, there will be some real diamonds thrown up by the little guys which you can use. Don't stop until your timer goes off. Don't even go over a word and correct spelling. This will interrupt your creativity.
When you come to the end of your time, have a look at what you have written and see what you can tie in with your idea for your book. It might simply look like gibberish, but there are some parts you will be able utilize.
This is also an excellent exercise to start writing every day, if you are stiff and without thoughts. In order to write, you must stimulate the mind. This is one of the best ways I have found to do that. Dry-writing is very hard and no fun at all. have fun with your book. Robert Ludlum once said he had a marvellous idea for an epic. He sat down and began to free-write. His epic disappeared into one of the funniest books he had ever written, yet he had never intended that to happen. The book is Road to Gondolpho if you are interested in reading. I don't know if it is on Kindle, as the man is sadly deceased.
Next post we'll discuss mind-maps.
If you do not have an outline and a plan.
These two things alone will stop your monster in its tracks. It may possibly do more. Ideas cannot be copyrighted The base idea can spin off in someone else's head, but you can still recognise it. This can be shattering for some and even worse if your idea is written very poorly, which does unfortunately happen a lot more than you would think.
Write down the idea and get stuck into it. That way you should have a great start on anyone else. The odds that they are still only thinking about it, whereas you are actually on the way.
Personally, I like an idea or two that my tutor swears by to get started with a book. Free-write and mind-map. These two simple actions can help to make writing a book a breeze. Let's take them one at a time.
I'm sure you've heard that free-writing comes from the right-brain which is connected to your sub-conscious. This place never stops; it works all the hours and would work more if it could. Years ago, Stephen King wrote of the sub-conscious as his personal sweat-shop for tiny people who sweated coming up with plots for him to take his pick, or left them overnight with something that was causing a blockage.
Set a clock for five or ten minutes. make sure it has an alarm.or get a cheap egg timer and set it beside you. Anything that can be made to make a noise after a set time is perfect. Ten minutes is usually enough, otherwise you may tire these little muses there.
Simply write. Anything at all. Your grocery list may appear. Take no notice and keep writing. Somewhere in this mess of pure words, there will be some real diamonds thrown up by the little guys which you can use. Don't stop until your timer goes off. Don't even go over a word and correct spelling. This will interrupt your creativity.
When you come to the end of your time, have a look at what you have written and see what you can tie in with your idea for your book. It might simply look like gibberish, but there are some parts you will be able utilize.
This is also an excellent exercise to start writing every day, if you are stiff and without thoughts. In order to write, you must stimulate the mind. This is one of the best ways I have found to do that. Dry-writing is very hard and no fun at all. have fun with your book. Robert Ludlum once said he had a marvellous idea for an epic. He sat down and began to free-write. His epic disappeared into one of the funniest books he had ever written, yet he had never intended that to happen. The book is Road to Gondolpho if you are interested in reading. I don't know if it is on Kindle, as the man is sadly deceased.
Next post we'll discuss mind-maps.
Monday, 5 November 2012
What size book?
Hello to all!
I said last time I would go into some ways of getting your/my pesky book written. One thing I do recommend is take a look at how Kindle likes you to write. You don't really need anything else, apart from the imagination and the drive.
A book to us older people means just that. Something that has at least 300 pages and about 60,000 words. Or you can have ones that take up too much space, and weigh a tonne, such as Stephen King's The Stand. I read it, basically enjoyed it, but heartily wished he had cut it into bite-sized extracts, as he did with Green Mile. The reading burn-out wasn't bad, but it still made me shy away from anything but very small, pre-teen novels for a few months. My eyes and brain refused to take notice of anything that looked as though it might take a little effort to enjoy it.
Those days are still here, but muchly reduced with the advent of Kindle and all those electronic books. There is really no place for a 200,000 page epic, except in a physical book. Even 60,000 words is uncomfortable when read on a device. 45,000 words is much more comfortable, but can also be a drag to read.
This is disappointing, especially if you were looking forwards to a good read. My own personal opinion is to make your book in the middle. If it is 60,000 words, break it into two 30,000 words books. Of course you will not leave your reader hanging, but with a little fiddling, you can make the end of the first one dovetail nicely into the start of the second. Or start the new one with a little extra background, or even a new challenge, which leads into the second part. You will have two books for the time of one, and, if you publish them consecutively, hopefully two streams of income. Your platform is also given a boost.
Not for nothing did Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle make series out of their books, to the extent that Doyle's mother, on being told he was sick of Holmes and had killed him off, informed her son: Nonsense. You bring that nice man back at once.
In this age of the Web, there is no reason you cannot write and publish your book, and with very few hassles. Fiction is a big seller, as are supernatural genres, vampires and kid's books, and it is coming up to major holidays, so what better to give someone than a book? You can write short stories, as long as you specify it is just that, or you can write your life story.
The world wants to be entertained. Why not cater to that wish?
I said last time I would go into some ways of getting your/my pesky book written. One thing I do recommend is take a look at how Kindle likes you to write. You don't really need anything else, apart from the imagination and the drive.
A book to us older people means just that. Something that has at least 300 pages and about 60,000 words. Or you can have ones that take up too much space, and weigh a tonne, such as Stephen King's The Stand. I read it, basically enjoyed it, but heartily wished he had cut it into bite-sized extracts, as he did with Green Mile. The reading burn-out wasn't bad, but it still made me shy away from anything but very small, pre-teen novels for a few months. My eyes and brain refused to take notice of anything that looked as though it might take a little effort to enjoy it.
Those days are still here, but muchly reduced with the advent of Kindle and all those electronic books. There is really no place for a 200,000 page epic, except in a physical book. Even 60,000 words is uncomfortable when read on a device. 45,000 words is much more comfortable, but can also be a drag to read.
This is disappointing, especially if you were looking forwards to a good read. My own personal opinion is to make your book in the middle. If it is 60,000 words, break it into two 30,000 words books. Of course you will not leave your reader hanging, but with a little fiddling, you can make the end of the first one dovetail nicely into the start of the second. Or start the new one with a little extra background, or even a new challenge, which leads into the second part. You will have two books for the time of one, and, if you publish them consecutively, hopefully two streams of income. Your platform is also given a boost.
Not for nothing did Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle make series out of their books, to the extent that Doyle's mother, on being told he was sick of Holmes and had killed him off, informed her son: Nonsense. You bring that nice man back at once.
In this age of the Web, there is no reason you cannot write and publish your book, and with very few hassles. Fiction is a big seller, as are supernatural genres, vampires and kid's books, and it is coming up to major holidays, so what better to give someone than a book? You can write short stories, as long as you specify it is just that, or you can write your life story.
The world wants to be entertained. Why not cater to that wish?
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Some easy ways to NOT finish writing your book
Hello to all!
Ever had one of those days when you have a marvelous idea for a novel, you can see the characters, almost smell the action and are full of enthusiasm? You charge into it, all guns blazing, and have a wonderful time.
For about ten-twenty minutes.
Then the rot sets in. The scene you thought would take up at least ten pages from start to finish is flat out generating text enough for three pages and, furthermore, walks itself right into a dead end with no way out, apart from one that is extremely lame.
To make matters worse, the hero is suddenly developing very unpleasant tendencies that you had never imagined, or, possibly worse, becoming a full-blown wimp! So how many times have you struggled with one or another of these scenarios?
Well, I know I have. So much so that several books, almost finished and in the fiction genre, are gathering dust on my hard-drive. Another problem I have is: if I have never experienced the actual action I am trying to describe, I cannot get it right. Tara Moss, take a bow for being brave enough to actually set yourself on fire and all sorts of other things to bring authenticity to your writing. You leave me gasping with admiration.
I really must be the only person who has not at least dabbled in Fifty Shades of Grey. But that is for the simple reason that sort of thing does not appeal to me. I just can't read that sort of thing, but good luck to the author. I wasn't wrapped in Twilight either, so I am either far too fussy or straight-out culture-deprived.
I also have a bad habit of taking a book I have really enjoyed and trying to create my own. Surprisingly it has worked quite well and I also have three of these on my hard drive, waiting for me to grow some courage and publish them. I mean, what could be easier? I don't even have to use my own name.
Nor do I have to worry for months on end as to where my darling manuscript has got to. No matter how many people have told me to stop worrying about it and get on with the next one, I still cannot completely shake this thought that it has been buried in some tomb, never to see the light of day.
You have to agree, it's rather a depressing thought.
I have touched on a few subjects here that I think are worth expanding in the next few posts.So wait around for them. I can guarantee you, they will not be rehashed old stuff.
Ever had one of those days when you have a marvelous idea for a novel, you can see the characters, almost smell the action and are full of enthusiasm? You charge into it, all guns blazing, and have a wonderful time.
For about ten-twenty minutes.
Then the rot sets in. The scene you thought would take up at least ten pages from start to finish is flat out generating text enough for three pages and, furthermore, walks itself right into a dead end with no way out, apart from one that is extremely lame.
To make matters worse, the hero is suddenly developing very unpleasant tendencies that you had never imagined, or, possibly worse, becoming a full-blown wimp! So how many times have you struggled with one or another of these scenarios?
Well, I know I have. So much so that several books, almost finished and in the fiction genre, are gathering dust on my hard-drive. Another problem I have is: if I have never experienced the actual action I am trying to describe, I cannot get it right. Tara Moss, take a bow for being brave enough to actually set yourself on fire and all sorts of other things to bring authenticity to your writing. You leave me gasping with admiration.
I really must be the only person who has not at least dabbled in Fifty Shades of Grey. But that is for the simple reason that sort of thing does not appeal to me. I just can't read that sort of thing, but good luck to the author. I wasn't wrapped in Twilight either, so I am either far too fussy or straight-out culture-deprived.
I also have a bad habit of taking a book I have really enjoyed and trying to create my own. Surprisingly it has worked quite well and I also have three of these on my hard drive, waiting for me to grow some courage and publish them. I mean, what could be easier? I don't even have to use my own name.
Nor do I have to worry for months on end as to where my darling manuscript has got to. No matter how many people have told me to stop worrying about it and get on with the next one, I still cannot completely shake this thought that it has been buried in some tomb, never to see the light of day.
You have to agree, it's rather a depressing thought.
I have touched on a few subjects here that I think are worth expanding in the next few posts.So wait around for them. I can guarantee you, they will not be rehashed old stuff.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Some ideas to beat procrastination
Hello to all!
I think I have said quite a bit about procrastination in the last few blogs, so I might just close up for the time being with some ideas and tips to help with this problem. Others have also good ideas and I have added some links down at the end of this for you to visit and enlarge your reading. And no, I am not promoting anyone else, just giving you some more ideas.
The first thing anyone who wants to at least get a handle on procrastination has to understand that EVERYONE in the world, from Sir Richard Branston to President Barak Obama has procrastinated at some part in their life. So you aren't alone. The lady who is immaculately dressed and made-up, with her kids looking like they stepped out of some glittery magazine has, so don't beat yourself up about it. This lady may be able to afford designer dresses and have a nanny for each child, but she still has the same amount of time as you in a day.
And that is twenty-four hours.
So you don't really need to manage time. What you really need to manage is YOU.
Learn the tricks of self-management. Instead of waiting for that extra cup of coffee to cool and reading the paper, make it and while it is cooling, rinse the plates. If you are someone who enjoys scalding-hot beverages, then use the time the kettle is boiling to rinse the plates. You have all day to read the paper/ talk on the phone/catch up with Facebook.
Make yourself some notes the night before and leave them where you can see them, not first thing, while you are still shaking the sleep out of your head, but very soon afterwards. Most of us can estimate or rather guesatimate, how long it takes to get the kids out of the house of a morning. Holidays are an exception. If your husband can't get himself out of the house mostly by himself, then educate him. Is is the days of sharing, after all. Either buy shirts that do not need ironing or teach him to do so. Or outsource the ironing and provide a little bit of income for someone else.
Screeds of paper everywhere on sticky notes and post-its are fine, but after a while, they become just part of the furniture if they are continually the same colour. So make your lists on different colours for each day. That simple trick will startle your eyes, which are accustomed to the green/yellow/blue notes you stuck there yesterday.
Don't put too many tasks on the notes or you are sunk before you start. And don't make them marathons either. I personally like to be extremely specific on what I plan, so it does not fall victim to both procrastination and exhaustion, although you haven't even started. Cleaning a cupboard from top to bottom for instance is broken down into clean one drawer and sort junk from it into piles to throw out/give away/keep at a time.I find the optimum number of tasks I can exert myself to complete in a day is about five. This does not leave me stressed, frustrated, or any of the other negatives. But I have a system in place, as well as the one below.
Use bribes. It works for quite a lot of the population, so why not you? Promise yourself to read the paper/phone that friend/check Facebook, but choose only one, after you have finished each task. Often the enjoyment of having actually finished something on your list can be enough and inspire you to go further on with what you are doing, instead of commencing your next task.
Don't.
That euphoria will be short-lived and make it twice as hard to start the next task, which should be entirely different, or derail what you did plan in the first place. Instead, savor the feeling and give yourself that reward. This can be added incentive for the next job. Depending on the size of the closet, schedule one drawer for every day of the week, At the end of the week, you should have a clean closet with a great deal of unneeded stuff removed.
Two pieces of advice that I really have found valuable are: to break the task into tiny bite-size pieces, and anything that I have not worn for more than a year/ keep for sentimental reasons only/ really has hit its use-by date has to go. If I have not worn it for a year, chances are I am never going to be thin enough again to wear it/ I'll be far too old or it will be when it comes around in fashion again, so stop deluding yourself. Besides, you can always free-up some more closet space for new clothes!
Breaking the job up may not result in a sparkling clean closet in one day, but hey! Rome wasn't built in a day either. If you look at it from the side of 'It doesn't look any different', then that leaves a gap for disappointment and disillusionment to move in and completely derail everything. If you must, admire the clean drawer, ignore the rest of the mess and slam the door until the next time, or whenever you have scheduled an assault for later on.
Okay, on with those links I have inspected. They may just give you further ideas.
I think I have said quite a bit about procrastination in the last few blogs, so I might just close up for the time being with some ideas and tips to help with this problem. Others have also good ideas and I have added some links down at the end of this for you to visit and enlarge your reading. And no, I am not promoting anyone else, just giving you some more ideas.
The first thing anyone who wants to at least get a handle on procrastination has to understand that EVERYONE in the world, from Sir Richard Branston to President Barak Obama has procrastinated at some part in their life. So you aren't alone. The lady who is immaculately dressed and made-up, with her kids looking like they stepped out of some glittery magazine has, so don't beat yourself up about it. This lady may be able to afford designer dresses and have a nanny for each child, but she still has the same amount of time as you in a day.
And that is twenty-four hours.
So you don't really need to manage time. What you really need to manage is YOU.
Learn the tricks of self-management. Instead of waiting for that extra cup of coffee to cool and reading the paper, make it and while it is cooling, rinse the plates. If you are someone who enjoys scalding-hot beverages, then use the time the kettle is boiling to rinse the plates. You have all day to read the paper/ talk on the phone/catch up with Facebook.
Make yourself some notes the night before and leave them where you can see them, not first thing, while you are still shaking the sleep out of your head, but very soon afterwards. Most of us can estimate or rather guesatimate, how long it takes to get the kids out of the house of a morning. Holidays are an exception. If your husband can't get himself out of the house mostly by himself, then educate him. Is is the days of sharing, after all. Either buy shirts that do not need ironing or teach him to do so. Or outsource the ironing and provide a little bit of income for someone else.
Screeds of paper everywhere on sticky notes and post-its are fine, but after a while, they become just part of the furniture if they are continually the same colour. So make your lists on different colours for each day. That simple trick will startle your eyes, which are accustomed to the green/yellow/blue notes you stuck there yesterday.
Don't put too many tasks on the notes or you are sunk before you start. And don't make them marathons either. I personally like to be extremely specific on what I plan, so it does not fall victim to both procrastination and exhaustion, although you haven't even started. Cleaning a cupboard from top to bottom for instance is broken down into clean one drawer and sort junk from it into piles to throw out/give away/keep at a time.I find the optimum number of tasks I can exert myself to complete in a day is about five. This does not leave me stressed, frustrated, or any of the other negatives. But I have a system in place, as well as the one below.
Use bribes. It works for quite a lot of the population, so why not you? Promise yourself to read the paper/phone that friend/check Facebook, but choose only one, after you have finished each task. Often the enjoyment of having actually finished something on your list can be enough and inspire you to go further on with what you are doing, instead of commencing your next task.
Don't.
That euphoria will be short-lived and make it twice as hard to start the next task, which should be entirely different, or derail what you did plan in the first place. Instead, savor the feeling and give yourself that reward. This can be added incentive for the next job. Depending on the size of the closet, schedule one drawer for every day of the week, At the end of the week, you should have a clean closet with a great deal of unneeded stuff removed.
Two pieces of advice that I really have found valuable are: to break the task into tiny bite-size pieces, and anything that I have not worn for more than a year/ keep for sentimental reasons only/ really has hit its use-by date has to go. If I have not worn it for a year, chances are I am never going to be thin enough again to wear it/ I'll be far too old or it will be when it comes around in fashion again, so stop deluding yourself. Besides, you can always free-up some more closet space for new clothes!
Breaking the job up may not result in a sparkling clean closet in one day, but hey! Rome wasn't built in a day either. If you look at it from the side of 'It doesn't look any different', then that leaves a gap for disappointment and disillusionment to move in and completely derail everything. If you must, admire the clean drawer, ignore the rest of the mess and slam the door until the next time, or whenever you have scheduled an assault for later on.
Okay, on with those links I have inspected. They may just give you further ideas.
www.marcandangel.com/.../7-common-causes-and-proven-.
www.pickthebrain.com/blog/procrastination-4-causes-and-cures/
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Procrastination V laziness
Hello to all!
No, I actually haven't been procrastinating this time. I've been researching two words which seem to mean the same at first sight. They are procrastination and laziness.
Are they the same meaning-wise? I guess it depends on you and your view of things. Mind you, procrastination does sound better than lazy!
So what are the differences? Well, let's have a look at lazy and all its derivatives first.
All of us have usually learned the meaning of lazy from when we were tiny. 'Stop being so lazy: and get up/ wash your face/ make your bed/ pick your own ending. I know my mother probably opened her eyes in the morning saying this to whichever of her brood she was cranky with.
Lazy will take the path of least resistance usually. That is, if you can take the rapid repetitions that follow, with little variation. Actually if you know in your heart of hearts that the nagging is correct and it will cease as soon as you obey, but you choose not to do it and can ignore the two voices, one inside your head and one actual, then you have laziness almost to a fine art. This state of being is also enhanced by the fact that you are extremely comfortable living in a mess. Lazy, bone-idle, call it what you will, but not procrastination.
Procrastination is when you acknowledge it has to be done, but find as many things as possible to do before giving in to the evil deed. So with laziness there is a high chance that whatever it is will definitely not get done no matter how much it begs; by you anyway. With procrastination it at least has a chance of being started, if not finished, and maybe some other things may benefit as well.
My mother had a simple way to get the bed made. If pulling the offending child out of it and standing there tapping her foot didn't work, she usually screamed for a sibling to get in and help. If that didn't have results, she usually gave in and made it herself. These were not the days of doonas and simple ways of making beds, but roll the mattress, apply sheets and tuck them in, followed by a blanket maybe and certainly a quilt. And she did it in less time than a trained nurse would or a housemaid, although she was never either of those. it used to amaze us children at her speed. Then she would proceed to take her vengeance, usually by some other task that had gone begging around the home.
So take heart. Procrastinating is better than laziness. It sounds better, it often results in some other task getting done, although the proper object may only get started, and you usually feel better. And livestock do not usually get a chance to set up home inside your wardrobe.
No, I actually haven't been procrastinating this time. I've been researching two words which seem to mean the same at first sight. They are procrastination and laziness.
Are they the same meaning-wise? I guess it depends on you and your view of things. Mind you, procrastination does sound better than lazy!
So what are the differences? Well, let's have a look at lazy and all its derivatives first.
All of us have usually learned the meaning of lazy from when we were tiny. 'Stop being so lazy: and get up/ wash your face/ make your bed/ pick your own ending. I know my mother probably opened her eyes in the morning saying this to whichever of her brood she was cranky with.
Lazy will take the path of least resistance usually. That is, if you can take the rapid repetitions that follow, with little variation. Actually if you know in your heart of hearts that the nagging is correct and it will cease as soon as you obey, but you choose not to do it and can ignore the two voices, one inside your head and one actual, then you have laziness almost to a fine art. This state of being is also enhanced by the fact that you are extremely comfortable living in a mess. Lazy, bone-idle, call it what you will, but not procrastination.
Procrastination is when you acknowledge it has to be done, but find as many things as possible to do before giving in to the evil deed. So with laziness there is a high chance that whatever it is will definitely not get done no matter how much it begs; by you anyway. With procrastination it at least has a chance of being started, if not finished, and maybe some other things may benefit as well.
My mother had a simple way to get the bed made. If pulling the offending child out of it and standing there tapping her foot didn't work, she usually screamed for a sibling to get in and help. If that didn't have results, she usually gave in and made it herself. These were not the days of doonas and simple ways of making beds, but roll the mattress, apply sheets and tuck them in, followed by a blanket maybe and certainly a quilt. And she did it in less time than a trained nurse would or a housemaid, although she was never either of those. it used to amaze us children at her speed. Then she would proceed to take her vengeance, usually by some other task that had gone begging around the home.
So take heart. Procrastinating is better than laziness. It sounds better, it often results in some other task getting done, although the proper object may only get started, and you usually feel better. And livestock do not usually get a chance to set up home inside your wardrobe.
Friday, 19 October 2012
Emotions and procrastination - part two
Hello, all!
Well, guess who has been a victim of procrastination for the last few days?
Guilty as charged and absolutely no excuses.
I had planned to continue with emotions and their involvement in procrastination, so I will do so. If you feel down, why not use that misery to go yourself some good? Misery loves company, it is said, not without a certain degree of truth. Procrastination also loves misery.
I mean: I've just lost my job, what happens to me now? There's no work around that I can do....etcetera, etcetera. Perfect for procrastination to grab a hold and put you in the unemployable box forever. Those so-called friends that lost their jobs at the same time as you had no idea what they were talking about; going back to school, upgrading their skills.....
It may sound like I am making fun of people in this situation. I most certainly am not, having been in that very same place not so long ago. As a matter of fact, I made a living out of it, not understanding and not caring what it was doing to all of my family.
I procrastinated for almost twenty years.Twenty perfectly good years, while I hid behind procrastination and self-pity. Not so much self-pity, because I knew how to handle that, but I blamed everything I could think of for stopping my dream.
What was my dream? A very simple one, actually. To write. To entertain people. A dream that had accompanied me through both lots of school, university, nursing work and everything else I could fit in, while I dragged a few words out here and there, and went through all the emotions you can imagine as to what to do with them. But I could always find some way of not continuing on with what I started.
So the first thing in your fight against procrastination should be to examine your feelings. It is as a fact that a mood, no matter how bad, cannot not sustain itself for more than half-an-hour, if that. You may think you have been in that state for hours, but really, there have been quick experiences of sadness, love, joy, expectation and generally the whole range of emotions that humans are capable of as well, despite them not registering on your consciousness.
Humans are incapable of keeping one emotion alive for very long. It will settle into a less strong feeling and become less and less, until woken up by some action or random thought, or overtaken by another emotion entirely.
So don't go with the first emotion you feel, or makes itself known to you. That one will probably last until you squeeze in a cup of tea or coffee. Think of all those people who say they cannot function without that kick-start.
If you consider you are in a bad mood, go take a shower. Not hot or cold, but reasonably warm, changing to luke-warm just before you get out. Dry yourself and clean your teeth. These two very simple acts should push your moods higher on the positive scale.
Don't sit around in your pajamas. Sub-consciously staying in your pajamas signals bedtime, and you will start to feel the good felling drain away. Some people can work in their pajamas and good luck to them. Many of us, however, cannot, unfortunately. Doing that throws our sense of rightness into confusion, even if we are galloping around after children to get them ready for school.
Many people now work from home, which is a great idea. But it really is a better idea to get dressed, not done-up like a sore toe and made-up to kill, but a little lipstick can do wonders for your ego, as can dressing simply but neatly.
In your fight against procrastination, if you do the above for maybe a week, then you will see what type of moods you usually wake up in, or you are in when you look at whatever it is that you keep putting-off and putting-off. Keep a list of how you feel first thing, then think about it an hour later. Are you still tired, out-of-sorts, reluctant to even think about the problem?
Take the shower then. It will only take you a few minutes and you will be ready for anything. Somehow having a clean mouth also adds to the feeling of freshness that the shower starts.
It does work, all you Doubting Thomas's! Just try it!
Well, guess who has been a victim of procrastination for the last few days?
Guilty as charged and absolutely no excuses.
I had planned to continue with emotions and their involvement in procrastination, so I will do so. If you feel down, why not use that misery to go yourself some good? Misery loves company, it is said, not without a certain degree of truth. Procrastination also loves misery.
I mean: I've just lost my job, what happens to me now? There's no work around that I can do....etcetera, etcetera. Perfect for procrastination to grab a hold and put you in the unemployable box forever. Those so-called friends that lost their jobs at the same time as you had no idea what they were talking about; going back to school, upgrading their skills.....
It may sound like I am making fun of people in this situation. I most certainly am not, having been in that very same place not so long ago. As a matter of fact, I made a living out of it, not understanding and not caring what it was doing to all of my family.
I procrastinated for almost twenty years.Twenty perfectly good years, while I hid behind procrastination and self-pity. Not so much self-pity, because I knew how to handle that, but I blamed everything I could think of for stopping my dream.
What was my dream? A very simple one, actually. To write. To entertain people. A dream that had accompanied me through both lots of school, university, nursing work and everything else I could fit in, while I dragged a few words out here and there, and went through all the emotions you can imagine as to what to do with them. But I could always find some way of not continuing on with what I started.
So the first thing in your fight against procrastination should be to examine your feelings. It is as a fact that a mood, no matter how bad, cannot not sustain itself for more than half-an-hour, if that. You may think you have been in that state for hours, but really, there have been quick experiences of sadness, love, joy, expectation and generally the whole range of emotions that humans are capable of as well, despite them not registering on your consciousness.
Humans are incapable of keeping one emotion alive for very long. It will settle into a less strong feeling and become less and less, until woken up by some action or random thought, or overtaken by another emotion entirely.
So don't go with the first emotion you feel, or makes itself known to you. That one will probably last until you squeeze in a cup of tea or coffee. Think of all those people who say they cannot function without that kick-start.
If you consider you are in a bad mood, go take a shower. Not hot or cold, but reasonably warm, changing to luke-warm just before you get out. Dry yourself and clean your teeth. These two very simple acts should push your moods higher on the positive scale.
Don't sit around in your pajamas. Sub-consciously staying in your pajamas signals bedtime, and you will start to feel the good felling drain away. Some people can work in their pajamas and good luck to them. Many of us, however, cannot, unfortunately. Doing that throws our sense of rightness into confusion, even if we are galloping around after children to get them ready for school.
Many people now work from home, which is a great idea. But it really is a better idea to get dressed, not done-up like a sore toe and made-up to kill, but a little lipstick can do wonders for your ego, as can dressing simply but neatly.
In your fight against procrastination, if you do the above for maybe a week, then you will see what type of moods you usually wake up in, or you are in when you look at whatever it is that you keep putting-off and putting-off. Keep a list of how you feel first thing, then think about it an hour later. Are you still tired, out-of-sorts, reluctant to even think about the problem?
Take the shower then. It will only take you a few minutes and you will be ready for anything. Somehow having a clean mouth also adds to the feeling of freshness that the shower starts.
It does work, all you Doubting Thomas's! Just try it!
Monday, 15 October 2012
Emotions and procrastination
Hello to all!
Ever thought about your feelings when you are busy procrastinating? Well, the next time you find yourself staring at a pile of work you need to be doing, such as going through your receipts, cleaning out your purse or wallet, folding the ironing, whatever, think about how you feel.
You may be unsurprised that you feel resentful, angry, tired, all feelings that will usually stop you in your tracks, throw the lot into a drawer or back wherever and say: Blow it, I'm too tired/hungry/whatever. I'll do it later.
This is how your emotions work against you, and in the service of procrastination. However, in most cases, moods do not last for very long. No one on this earth can keep up a fury for too long; the body is just not equipped for it. The fury either burns itself out in a few minutes(although it seems much longer!), or settles to a low dull throb.
Start to clean out that wallet/purse. Don't go get that cup of coffee/tea/whatever. If you do, you will find a hundred other things to take your eye, and, before you know it, everything is all too much trouble and you will either throw your hands up in disgust and go back to bed, or go do probably nothing important. There is only one thing that is wrong with that scenario.
Whatever you put off with procrastination will still be there, smiling and waiting for you, even if you threw it in the bin. That purse/wallet will have something in it that you desperately need, probably the same day, so you are back to where you started.
The bag/wallet needs cleaning out.
So don't let your emotions override you. Use them to help you to do whatever task it is. If you are in a bad mood with someone, screwing up old pieces of unwanted paper, flinging a useless pen in the bin and pulling pieces of lint out from where they are hiding, can all be used to work off that mood, instead of possibly ruining a good friendship over one silly piece of not normal behavior.
Use the emotion. You may find that you do a far better job when you do of cleaning up the purse or wallet than you would have before. A friend of mine, in a fine fury with her sister one day, took to one of her 'bottomless pits' of bags and ruthlessly turned it inside-out. When she had finished, she was $60 richer than she thought, her bag was much lighter, and she had found several lip glosses that she thought she had left somewhere.
She was also not half as angry as she had been with her sister, and nothing had been done to spoil the usually close relationship they shared.
Good moods can also be useful. You can use them to start something, and use whatever comes after that particular mood to finish up.In a typical day, we may experience something like over a hundred different moods. Some we realize, most we don't, unless they are strong emotions, like anger, love, fear.The rest are simply ignored or are too soft to note consciously. But the sub-conscious does note.
I shall write more on the subject of emotions soon.
If you should like me to write something for you, you can contact me at: taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I shall be happy to hear from you! :)
Ever thought about your feelings when you are busy procrastinating? Well, the next time you find yourself staring at a pile of work you need to be doing, such as going through your receipts, cleaning out your purse or wallet, folding the ironing, whatever, think about how you feel.
You may be unsurprised that you feel resentful, angry, tired, all feelings that will usually stop you in your tracks, throw the lot into a drawer or back wherever and say: Blow it, I'm too tired/hungry/whatever. I'll do it later.
This is how your emotions work against you, and in the service of procrastination. However, in most cases, moods do not last for very long. No one on this earth can keep up a fury for too long; the body is just not equipped for it. The fury either burns itself out in a few minutes(although it seems much longer!), or settles to a low dull throb.
Start to clean out that wallet/purse. Don't go get that cup of coffee/tea/whatever. If you do, you will find a hundred other things to take your eye, and, before you know it, everything is all too much trouble and you will either throw your hands up in disgust and go back to bed, or go do probably nothing important. There is only one thing that is wrong with that scenario.
Whatever you put off with procrastination will still be there, smiling and waiting for you, even if you threw it in the bin. That purse/wallet will have something in it that you desperately need, probably the same day, so you are back to where you started.
The bag/wallet needs cleaning out.
So don't let your emotions override you. Use them to help you to do whatever task it is. If you are in a bad mood with someone, screwing up old pieces of unwanted paper, flinging a useless pen in the bin and pulling pieces of lint out from where they are hiding, can all be used to work off that mood, instead of possibly ruining a good friendship over one silly piece of not normal behavior.
Use the emotion. You may find that you do a far better job when you do of cleaning up the purse or wallet than you would have before. A friend of mine, in a fine fury with her sister one day, took to one of her 'bottomless pits' of bags and ruthlessly turned it inside-out. When she had finished, she was $60 richer than she thought, her bag was much lighter, and she had found several lip glosses that she thought she had left somewhere.
She was also not half as angry as she had been with her sister, and nothing had been done to spoil the usually close relationship they shared.
Good moods can also be useful. You can use them to start something, and use whatever comes after that particular mood to finish up.In a typical day, we may experience something like over a hundred different moods. Some we realize, most we don't, unless they are strong emotions, like anger, love, fear.The rest are simply ignored or are too soft to note consciously. But the sub-conscious does note.
I shall write more on the subject of emotions soon.
If you should like me to write something for you, you can contact me at: taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I shall be happy to hear from you! :)
Saturday, 13 October 2012
1. How do you think you are procrastinating?
Hello, all.
Got a bit behind the eight-ball again, as usual. :) But I did say I was going to talk about procrastination again, and so I am. No lecture, but something to think about. In fact, I am going to make a series of posts about it, and, hopefully, help you with a few tips; nothing earth-shattering or disruptive, but to try to help with this all-too-common problem.
Here is the first.
1. How do you think that you are procrastinating?
That is the first step, realizing that you are. Some people may qualify procrastinating on something by stating that doing something else was more important.
That may be perfectly true. But does paying for a new dress or pair of shoes instead of paying your rent do you the same amount of good? I really do not think so. You can't really live in a dress or a pair of shoes, although some seem to think they can.
Paying the rent to have a roof over your head may be a pain, but it is also necessary to your comfort. The other two items are necessary to your sense of self, certainly, but in the bigger scale of things, they are only additions to it. Without a roof, you will not be able to see what you appear like, or keep clean.
So this is one way that people need to re-priotorize things in their lives. This is the same with procrastination. You need to understand that, no matter how many ways you may find to put things off, they will still be there at the end, and you will have to deal with them anyway. Maybe after a few threatening letters from your landlords or visits from the bondsman, but the rent will still get paid. Or you will have all the problems of finding a new home, and paying rent still, as well as other costs; to put the electricity on, buy food, shift your things, amongst others. So why not pay the rent first up, and see if you can afford the new dress or shoes later?
There is a sly blessing to that. You may have bought the dress or shoes, got them home and found they were not what you wanted, been on special or something else, so you cannot exchange them or gain a refund. Then you are left with an item you don't want/like/need, rent unpaid, and no other recourse, apart from to regret what you have done, and panic over the unpaid rent.
This is not as silly a scenario as it might seem. There are many people in the world who have just done that, and spent a lot of time in misery over it. Why join them? There is enough misery in the world without wishing more on yourself in particular.
So accept that you do procrastinate and do something about it. You will feel much better if you do. And remember that we all have a finite amount of time. Someone who seems to have it all under control usually has prioritized her life, and makes time for everything out of that allotted span.
Why not join her? You only have to take one tiny step first, as she would have. it's easier than you think.
Got a bit behind the eight-ball again, as usual. :) But I did say I was going to talk about procrastination again, and so I am. No lecture, but something to think about. In fact, I am going to make a series of posts about it, and, hopefully, help you with a few tips; nothing earth-shattering or disruptive, but to try to help with this all-too-common problem.
Here is the first.
1. How do you think that you are procrastinating?
That is the first step, realizing that you are. Some people may qualify procrastinating on something by stating that doing something else was more important.
That may be perfectly true. But does paying for a new dress or pair of shoes instead of paying your rent do you the same amount of good? I really do not think so. You can't really live in a dress or a pair of shoes, although some seem to think they can.
Paying the rent to have a roof over your head may be a pain, but it is also necessary to your comfort. The other two items are necessary to your sense of self, certainly, but in the bigger scale of things, they are only additions to it. Without a roof, you will not be able to see what you appear like, or keep clean.
So this is one way that people need to re-priotorize things in their lives. This is the same with procrastination. You need to understand that, no matter how many ways you may find to put things off, they will still be there at the end, and you will have to deal with them anyway. Maybe after a few threatening letters from your landlords or visits from the bondsman, but the rent will still get paid. Or you will have all the problems of finding a new home, and paying rent still, as well as other costs; to put the electricity on, buy food, shift your things, amongst others. So why not pay the rent first up, and see if you can afford the new dress or shoes later?
There is a sly blessing to that. You may have bought the dress or shoes, got them home and found they were not what you wanted, been on special or something else, so you cannot exchange them or gain a refund. Then you are left with an item you don't want/like/need, rent unpaid, and no other recourse, apart from to regret what you have done, and panic over the unpaid rent.
This is not as silly a scenario as it might seem. There are many people in the world who have just done that, and spent a lot of time in misery over it. Why join them? There is enough misery in the world without wishing more on yourself in particular.
So accept that you do procrastinate and do something about it. You will feel much better if you do. And remember that we all have a finite amount of time. Someone who seems to have it all under control usually has prioritized her life, and makes time for everything out of that allotted span.
Why not join her? You only have to take one tiny step first, as she would have. it's easier than you think.
Saturday, 6 October 2012
Some of my ways to procrastinate
Hello to all!
My last post was about procrastination, of sorts. Thinking(!) in more depth about this, as I am an expert procrastinater, just how many ways can you put off what is really important? Let's see.
1. My phone. I own a very basic mobile phone that certainly doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the new ones. I actually use it for making and taking phone calls, nothing else. So, how can I waste perfectly good time with this gadget?
I haven't a clue how to text properly yet. I mean, the phone is about three years old. My daughter has tried very patiently to teach me to text, instead of ringing all and sundry. My brother swears I am the dumbest woman he has ever met. ( He's younger than me, and married to a gorgeous woman, so we'll ignore that comment; besides, he has two other sisters!) And I simply haven't been bothered to learn. Hey, what's wrong with that?
The phone also has some of those amazing games on it. The amount of energy I spend playing them leaves me too exhausted to do anything at all constructive which I should be doing!
Those are just a couple of reasons I can blame on my phone, instead of other people. As for everything else, no one has that amount of time spare to read what I can find, but I will include a few more, just for interest.
2. The pot-plants suddenly look dull. Their leaves need washing immediately; today. No matter that there is a gentle misty rain outside which could do the job much better than I can manually, if I set them outside for maybe five minutes, and where's that leaf-polish stuff?
3. The pantry cupboard is a shambles, although I only pulled everything out, checked labels for expiry dates and removed the hundred or so spiders who were busily setting up home in the corners of the shelves that do not even remotely get used, apart from some unGodly stuff that has been tried, disliked intensely and stuffed promptly to the back.
4. The mending suddenly resembles Mt. Kilimanjaro. My God, is that where that pair of jeans disappeared to? Oh, guess what? There are five pairs that need buttons and I have the buttons here too, just looking at me. I've been wondering what five of the same type of buttons have been doing in that saucer.
5. Ditto the ironing. There's months worth there, and it looks disgusting. Besides, where is Aunt Sarah going to have her afternoon nap when she visits? Oh, that's right. She's moved States a couple of months ago. Oh, well, someone must need the bed for some reason, and I'm here anyway, so I may as well get rid of some of this. I do have a darling lady who does ironing for me sometimes. That's right, I've lost her number. And her name.
6. I haven't cooked a full load of cakes, scones, etc for ages. Oh, my poor deprived family. Never mind I saw my husband and daughter happily scoffing some bought rock cakes just this morning. Time to see if the oven cooks anything but roasts.
7. There's that cupboard I really need for spare, in order to fill it up with junk again immediately, so I may as well clean it out. I promised the Church charity a whole heap of stuff out of it and their used, pre-loved clothing sale is on in six months. I really need to get on with that.
8. There's that new Peter Robinson book I bought three weeks ago. I haven't read it yet, so maybe I just better see why I actually bought it in the first place. I've forgotten what the jacket said. I may as well read a little of it; after all, I do like his writing.
So you see, I can find a pile of things inside the house to do and they will take me all day. I haven't even given thought to the garden or outside. I have read up on how to avoid procrastination so much that it has become another procrastination tool.
So, what to do about procrastination? Keep reading how to avoid it? No. In my next post, I'll go through some strategies that may hopefully help you. There are many that really do work, if you practice them every day.
My last post was about procrastination, of sorts. Thinking(!) in more depth about this, as I am an expert procrastinater, just how many ways can you put off what is really important? Let's see.
1. My phone. I own a very basic mobile phone that certainly doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the new ones. I actually use it for making and taking phone calls, nothing else. So, how can I waste perfectly good time with this gadget?
I haven't a clue how to text properly yet. I mean, the phone is about three years old. My daughter has tried very patiently to teach me to text, instead of ringing all and sundry. My brother swears I am the dumbest woman he has ever met. ( He's younger than me, and married to a gorgeous woman, so we'll ignore that comment; besides, he has two other sisters!) And I simply haven't been bothered to learn. Hey, what's wrong with that?
The phone also has some of those amazing games on it. The amount of energy I spend playing them leaves me too exhausted to do anything at all constructive which I should be doing!
Those are just a couple of reasons I can blame on my phone, instead of other people. As for everything else, no one has that amount of time spare to read what I can find, but I will include a few more, just for interest.
2. The pot-plants suddenly look dull. Their leaves need washing immediately; today. No matter that there is a gentle misty rain outside which could do the job much better than I can manually, if I set them outside for maybe five minutes, and where's that leaf-polish stuff?
3. The pantry cupboard is a shambles, although I only pulled everything out, checked labels for expiry dates and removed the hundred or so spiders who were busily setting up home in the corners of the shelves that do not even remotely get used, apart from some unGodly stuff that has been tried, disliked intensely and stuffed promptly to the back.
4. The mending suddenly resembles Mt. Kilimanjaro. My God, is that where that pair of jeans disappeared to? Oh, guess what? There are five pairs that need buttons and I have the buttons here too, just looking at me. I've been wondering what five of the same type of buttons have been doing in that saucer.
5. Ditto the ironing. There's months worth there, and it looks disgusting. Besides, where is Aunt Sarah going to have her afternoon nap when she visits? Oh, that's right. She's moved States a couple of months ago. Oh, well, someone must need the bed for some reason, and I'm here anyway, so I may as well get rid of some of this. I do have a darling lady who does ironing for me sometimes. That's right, I've lost her number. And her name.
6. I haven't cooked a full load of cakes, scones, etc for ages. Oh, my poor deprived family. Never mind I saw my husband and daughter happily scoffing some bought rock cakes just this morning. Time to see if the oven cooks anything but roasts.
7. There's that cupboard I really need for spare, in order to fill it up with junk again immediately, so I may as well clean it out. I promised the Church charity a whole heap of stuff out of it and their used, pre-loved clothing sale is on in six months. I really need to get on with that.
8. There's that new Peter Robinson book I bought three weeks ago. I haven't read it yet, so maybe I just better see why I actually bought it in the first place. I've forgotten what the jacket said. I may as well read a little of it; after all, I do like his writing.
So you see, I can find a pile of things inside the house to do and they will take me all day. I haven't even given thought to the garden or outside. I have read up on how to avoid procrastination so much that it has become another procrastination tool.
So, what to do about procrastination? Keep reading how to avoid it? No. In my next post, I'll go through some strategies that may hopefully help you. There are many that really do work, if you practice them every day.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Procrastination
Hello, all! Well, guess what? I fell into the trap that I said not to. Have been too tired and haven't touched my blog for nearly a week. Not very good.
Everybody gets hit by procrastination at some point. It's amazing what the human brain can come up with to put off something that really needs to be doing. In order not to write sometimes, I have cleaned cupboards that I only did a couple of weeks ago, cooked( definitely not my favorite occupation!) and done all sorts of things that don't really need doing in the immediate timezone. Usually that piece of writing is a total disaster when I finally get back to it, and, if it is for a client, needs more work than if I had done it in the first place.
The stupid thing about it is I like writing. It's simply that I have somehow convinced myself that I don't feel like writing just at that moment. If I actually force myself to sit down in front of the computer and free-write, within ten minutes or less, I am ready to resume whatever work I have on the drawing-board.
Free-writing is actually a cross-over between the logical left-brain hemisphere and the dreamy, sub-conscious right hemisphere, where all writing comes from. If you are using both when you write, then great! You've got the best of all worlds. Ignore the critical harping that come from the left-brain as you free-write and ignore the desire to immediately fix every spelling mistake and sentence screw-up.
If you do this, you will quite often come up with a new idea or a way to remove the block you are furious with. Little nuggets surface from the deep pit that is your sub-conscious when you free-write, put together by the gnomes that live there and they are usually the answer to your prayers.
So, use free-write if you are stuck, hit by the dreaded procrastination, or just don't think what you are writing is right. The little gnomes do not understand what is right or wrong, only that what they have come up with is related to some message you have given them. They don't see things as logical or black and white, so they are free to turn your imagination into words.
Everybody gets hit by procrastination at some point. It's amazing what the human brain can come up with to put off something that really needs to be doing. In order not to write sometimes, I have cleaned cupboards that I only did a couple of weeks ago, cooked( definitely not my favorite occupation!) and done all sorts of things that don't really need doing in the immediate timezone. Usually that piece of writing is a total disaster when I finally get back to it, and, if it is for a client, needs more work than if I had done it in the first place.
The stupid thing about it is I like writing. It's simply that I have somehow convinced myself that I don't feel like writing just at that moment. If I actually force myself to sit down in front of the computer and free-write, within ten minutes or less, I am ready to resume whatever work I have on the drawing-board.
Free-writing is actually a cross-over between the logical left-brain hemisphere and the dreamy, sub-conscious right hemisphere, where all writing comes from. If you are using both when you write, then great! You've got the best of all worlds. Ignore the critical harping that come from the left-brain as you free-write and ignore the desire to immediately fix every spelling mistake and sentence screw-up.
If you do this, you will quite often come up with a new idea or a way to remove the block you are furious with. Little nuggets surface from the deep pit that is your sub-conscious when you free-write, put together by the gnomes that live there and they are usually the answer to your prayers.
So, use free-write if you are stuck, hit by the dreaded procrastination, or just don't think what you are writing is right. The little gnomes do not understand what is right or wrong, only that what they have come up with is related to some message you have given them. They don't see things as logical or black and white, so they are free to turn your imagination into words.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Home
Hello to all. How's your day so far? Mine is it's usual shambles, but I am trying to get a handle on all of it. Even being diabetic, I tend to forget to eat at the right times, so have started leaving myself notes around the house reminding me to.
Of course, my husband and daughter think I'm nuts. The idea of their wife and mother actually doing something about organizing herself after all these years is sort of alien. Who's this stranger who's taken my wife/mother's place? I must admit it is a shock to me also, after so many years living happily in a chaotic jumble. Who really cared? Meals got given at approximately the right times, clothes got washed and ironed for work or school, the animals got fed and the rest simply muddled on.
That has worked for this family for many years, so why this sudden desire to work to schedules, have everything neat and tidy, and generally make this place uninhabitable from the point of my family?
Well, I think it stems from some crazy desire to do one thing right in my life. I was very good at my job (nursing) for over thirty years, I like to think I have been a satisfactory wife ( i.e. my husband is still walking around large as life and three times as annoying!) some forty years later, and our adored daughter seems to be doing just fine ( we won't talk about her love life!). So what really is the problem?
Because friends I have have these wonderful houses where everything is in its place, the ironing does not hit you as you walk in, and you don't fall over two cats who consider this is their house, one bedroom for each and a fridge too!
Cat heaven. What more could a cat want? Well, there are times when we do not agree with the human's desires to sleep in the bed and object to the doors being shut at night, but hey! we do just fine for the rest of it.
I like these houses when these houses when I visit. I do not almost kill myself falling over tools that someone should have taken back to the shed six months ago. I do not have to fight my way to the kettle because everyone else wants a cup of coffee at the same time as i do ( and will get it for me anyway!) and isn't renovating the bathroom so as to be able to shave without cutting his throat.
So why do these lovely friends of mine invade my house frequently, stare around with wonder, obviously expecting a missing person to jump out and say: "I love your house. It's so homely." They too can have one like mine. I'll move into theirs, no worries. They can have mine.
The only catch is: They have to take the cats, my husband and my daughter! I'm not open to offers, that's the whole deal. Please take it!
Of course, my husband and daughter think I'm nuts. The idea of their wife and mother actually doing something about organizing herself after all these years is sort of alien. Who's this stranger who's taken my wife/mother's place? I must admit it is a shock to me also, after so many years living happily in a chaotic jumble. Who really cared? Meals got given at approximately the right times, clothes got washed and ironed for work or school, the animals got fed and the rest simply muddled on.
That has worked for this family for many years, so why this sudden desire to work to schedules, have everything neat and tidy, and generally make this place uninhabitable from the point of my family?
Well, I think it stems from some crazy desire to do one thing right in my life. I was very good at my job (nursing) for over thirty years, I like to think I have been a satisfactory wife ( i.e. my husband is still walking around large as life and three times as annoying!) some forty years later, and our adored daughter seems to be doing just fine ( we won't talk about her love life!). So what really is the problem?
Because friends I have have these wonderful houses where everything is in its place, the ironing does not hit you as you walk in, and you don't fall over two cats who consider this is their house, one bedroom for each and a fridge too!
Cat heaven. What more could a cat want? Well, there are times when we do not agree with the human's desires to sleep in the bed and object to the doors being shut at night, but hey! we do just fine for the rest of it.
I like these houses when these houses when I visit. I do not almost kill myself falling over tools that someone should have taken back to the shed six months ago. I do not have to fight my way to the kettle because everyone else wants a cup of coffee at the same time as i do ( and will get it for me anyway!) and isn't renovating the bathroom so as to be able to shave without cutting his throat.
So why do these lovely friends of mine invade my house frequently, stare around with wonder, obviously expecting a missing person to jump out and say: "I love your house. It's so homely." They too can have one like mine. I'll move into theirs, no worries. They can have mine.
The only catch is: They have to take the cats, my husband and my daughter! I'm not open to offers, that's the whole deal. Please take it!
Monday, 24 September 2012
blogs
Okay, it's time to start your blog. A day or so ago I touched on one idea for it, but you may have others. However, get one thing straight about blogs. Do not simply write religiously for a week or even a month and then abandon it because no one seems to be taking any notice, or, if they are, they are not making their presence felt.
Some people have their blog up for months before something in it hits home with a viewer or two. There are no hard and fast rules about when your blog will be discovered. But it is fair to say that, if by say three months it has not attracted even one viewer, then it is pretty safe to kill it off and start again.
You do not have to post every day. You might want to only post once a week. But should you leave it for any longer, it will get buried in the pile of new ones that are being established and have a far harder time getting any viewers at all. Every day is good to start out, even more per day if you have the content. There is time, when you get established, to drop back to once or twice per week.
Give your viewers new stuff to think about. If you rehash and rehash, everyone, including you, will get thoroughly sick and tired of it and all scramble to find something else to take their attention. If you have been blogging about your one-year-old, have a little change and talk about the dog or the cat and the interaction that goes on between the toddler and the dog or the cat, and incorporate a bit about how all three interact.
If you are using your blog to try to sell items, have a look at some of the successful ones before setting up your own. I know, there are a stack online already doing that. That's fine. Why not develop your own style? Fiddle around with it until it is what you want, not what you are told is needed. It does not cost you anything to read a blog usually, and, if it does, you should be able to glean an understanding without forking out any hard-earned cash to buy a subscription you really don't want.
Let me know how it goes!
Some people have their blog up for months before something in it hits home with a viewer or two. There are no hard and fast rules about when your blog will be discovered. But it is fair to say that, if by say three months it has not attracted even one viewer, then it is pretty safe to kill it off and start again.
You do not have to post every day. You might want to only post once a week. But should you leave it for any longer, it will get buried in the pile of new ones that are being established and have a far harder time getting any viewers at all. Every day is good to start out, even more per day if you have the content. There is time, when you get established, to drop back to once or twice per week.
Give your viewers new stuff to think about. If you rehash and rehash, everyone, including you, will get thoroughly sick and tired of it and all scramble to find something else to take their attention. If you have been blogging about your one-year-old, have a little change and talk about the dog or the cat and the interaction that goes on between the toddler and the dog or the cat, and incorporate a bit about how all three interact.
If you are using your blog to try to sell items, have a look at some of the successful ones before setting up your own. I know, there are a stack online already doing that. That's fine. Why not develop your own style? Fiddle around with it until it is what you want, not what you are told is needed. It does not cost you anything to read a blog usually, and, if it does, you should be able to glean an understanding without forking out any hard-earned cash to buy a subscription you really don't want.
Let me know how it goes!
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