During my wonderful chat with my friend Stephanie, I started explaining what I perceive to be the primary problem with my focus, and subsequently, my achievement (or lack thereof). I am interested in too many things, all at once. I want to sew, knit, crochet, bake, cook, learn French, Spanish, & Italian, write books, go back to grad school for an MLS, no wait, an MFA.
And I am not really moving toward any of it. But I am interested in all of it. And I would love to achieve even some of it.
My energy is so divided that it’s like fireworks – a bang and then everything just shoots off in different directions. And, maybe, something pretty for a few seconds – but ultimately it just fizzles out without making a lasting impact.
What I need to do is FOCUS – all caps – so that my energy is more like a cannonball. A boom, and enough oomph to leave a mark. It might not be pretty, but it will do something.
So, that brings me to my word for 2012: FOCUS. I have been doing a decent job of focusing on the blog, and I hope to keep that going. My first area of focus for 2012 will be… sewing! I took a 2-hour class once and I absolutely loved it. I am signed up for a 10-hour class that starts next month (which is also next year!!) and covers the basics over a 4-week period.
Ask me how it’s going, if you don’t hear about it.
Mrs. Thor 
Maybe you need to set a rigid schedule. Make a list of everything you want to do, then carve out a specific period of time each week to do each thing.
Me and schedules are a tricky thing. If I make it too rigid, I won’t be able to stick to it. Then I fall into the guilt spiral thing. If I make it too relaxed, I waste lots of time, and I know I could do more. I am trying to find the middle ground.
Maybe program it into your phone so you get a little reminder. Like every Tuesday at 6 you bake something and every night at 8, you sit down for an hour and write. Then you don’t really have to THINK about it. And give yourself permission to miss something here and there if you get busy doing something else. Or if you’re doing something else creative, then it’s OK not to do the thing you scheduled. Or something,
I was also thinking, since the Facebook thing doesn’t seem to be working too well, maybe we should set a phone date every week or every other week to just talk about writing.
I would love a phone date to talk about writing! And I like your suggestion about the phone reminders.
Oh, and these math things you put on your blog? Not nice! I actually had to THINK about what to add to 5 to get 6! lol
Renee – it could have been so much worse! I had to choose whether or not to include multiplication and division!!!
This is the solution to my massive spam problem for now. My other captcha totally crapped out, and this was the easiest one to read after that.
You know, even though I’m in crazy land down here, I couldn’t “not” respond to this. Your lack of focus is not an attribute of “Amy.” It’s more like a description of the air around you, that is actually just a function of you being so full of life and curiosity. A friend just told me that she was a Jack of all Trades, Master of None, and I had to tell her, “Look, that’s only a bad thing if you aspire to middle management, where some boss doesn’t want you to be out there pushing the margins. Being a Master of None, is actually just code word for, “I don’t need your money so much that I’m going to be making buttons just outside of London the rest of my life, Okay!”
Nevertheless, FOCUS is sort of my buzzword in my private time as well. If only because I want to experience more and enjoy life more than I already do. Here’s to a better year ahead!!
Thanks, Allie. That’s a perspective I really needed.