Busy vs. productive vs. frantic

The other day I updated my Facebook status with what I'd accomplished that day: wrote 3 chapters, drafted 1, cleaned out a closet, etc.

Someone posted back that I seem to get so much done in the course of a day, far more than she, and she's surprised because she's not working full-time and I am.

I think that's why I can be so productive. You know that old expression -- "if you want something done, give it to the busiest person in the room." I work full-time, which means I have very little free time. I tend to organize my free time very carefully. I get as much done as I can and I don't waste much time doing it.

I'm also up and moving by 5 a.m. every day, weekend or weekday. If I'm up by 5, then I can exercise and get ready for my work day, which starts at 6. I work (off and on, admittedly) until 5 in the afternoon. Because I telecommute full-time, I can take time in the day to get the groceries, do the laundry, and do those other errands that would normally suck time out of my weekend.

So when weekend rolls around, I have time to do what I want to do -- which makes it look like I get a lot done, but really, it's just a matter of organization.

Let's face it: if I didn't get organized, I couldn't produce 28 books in 7 years. Those are just the ones that are in print. I've got 4 more ready to go.

Now let's see ... where's that To Do List for the weekend ....

J L Wilson
(28 books and counting)

You'd think I would have this figured out after 6 years

I have a lot of books out (28 or so), and I have struggled with how to direct people to information about each book.

For a while I had a page on my web site that talked about each one with links. Well, that got too long very quickly. Then I set up a page with just New Book info, but the old books are still out there, available to purchase, so I felt I was neglecting them.

I finally came up with what I think is a workable solution: individual book pages. Here's an example. I have these linked via the Shopping page on my web site. Now when I have a new book out, all I have to do is link to that one particular page.

I should have thought of this years ago! I guess I didn't think about the problems managing dozens of books.

Silly me....