Category Archives: work

Write While the Heat is In You

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“Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.”
~Henry David Thoreau

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I haven’t written anything of worth in months now.

I can’t say I’m proud of this. But I can admit that it’s the truth.

Which of course isn’t easy to admit. Even if we’ve be told for however long, that admitting there’s a problem is half the battle. Though I wouldn’t actually say that not having much of a desire to write is actually a “problem”.

But I digress…

You see,  for years, I blogged 3-7 times a week. I had my personal blog (here) and my business blog (there). I was constantly in creation mode. My mind was always spinning.

I was making lists of ideas to write about. Lists of ideas to shoot videos about. Lists of ideas to speak about, to train on. Et cetera. I was always creating in my mind.

And then one day, that stopped.

I felt overwhelmed.

I felt like I no longer had anything to say.

I felt like I didn’t have anything original or inspirational or even motivational to share.

And when you make a good part of your living helping others to identify and clarify their passion, to find their voices and to get out there and share that with the world…well, not having anything to say, that just becomes embarrassing.

So I went into hiding. I disappeared from so many places that I once felt so comfortable.

I dimmed my light so that only the nearest and dearest to me could see it. And even then, I think they’d be hard-pressed to tell you that they saw me at all.

You can shine even in the darknessBut now I’m feeling that desire again. Thoughts and ideas are starting to flow.

The curiosity is back.

The desire to work with women is back. Heck, the desire to network and expand…is back!!!

I can’t make any promises that I’ll be posting here, at this particular website all that much. But you’re more than welcome to join me over at my other site…where I have some big plans….that I still need to wrap my head around.

Oh Noz…It’s Shiny Object Syndrome

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Did you know that there’s such a thing as Shiny Object Syndrome?

Have you ever had one of those days where you know you have work to do, you’re trying to get something done (oh, I don’t know, like a newsletter or a blog post…let’s just say), but you find your attention being pulled in 20 different directions?

Did you know there’s actually a name for that?  It’s called Shiny Object Syndrome.  And boy howdy do I seem to have it this week!

You see, it’s not quite ADD or ADHD where you can’t focus on anything longer than for a few moments.  It’s more like while you’re trying to focus on a particular task, your mind gets pulled into another direction and then another.  It becomes really frustrating when you have something that really needs to get done.

I’m set up for jury duty next week so I’m trying to get ahead on things like blog posts, newsletter articles and status updates and tweets for my business.  But somehow, instead of focusing on the tasks at hand, I’m out there thinking about a whole bunch of other, non-business, non-task oriented things…

  • How the dog needs to be groomed and will that help to finally get the fleas and his itching under control?
  • What are we going to do my husband’s upcoming birthday and when will I have time to buy his gift and should I wrap it and does that really matter?
  • What should I get the little nephews for their birthdays and is there an easy and inexpensive way to get them something?  What do little boys even want?
  • Where is that book I wanted to give to my friend for part of her baby gift?  If I can’t find it what do I get instead?
  • Why did I donate all those baby gifts last year thinking that all my friends were done having babies?
  • When will I have time to get all these gifts?  Is it possible to buy everything at one store?  Target maybe?
  • Can you believe it’s birthday season already?  From this week through the next 4 months I’ll have over 10 gifts to buy for family…yikes!
  • What can I do to do to get the garden in better shape and with all this rain, when will I have the time to do that?
  • Will the Square Foot Gardening class still be going on in the rain this weekend?
  • Will ordering some worms be enough to salvage the dirt, or will I need to do more?
  • What am I going to wear tonight to the Sassy City Fashion Bash and will it rain and how will that affect what I’m going to wear?
  • what’s for dinner and when am I going to get around to washing the sink full of dishes if I have work to do today and somewhere to go tonight?

Oh Lordy!

Hopefully now that I’ve gotten all these raging questions out of my head I’ll be able to get back to work on the 3 other articles I’d like to write today before heading out.

I Don’t Feel Like It and You Can’t Make Me!

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I feel like Seth Godin wrote today’s post “I Don’t Feel Like It” just for me.  For a while now, I seem to have been either fighting myself or holding myself back.  And whenever I stop to question what the hell it is I’m doing (or in this case NOT doing) I find myself falling back on the “I don’t feel like it” whine.

All I can say is NO MORE!

We’re going to tell a new story now.

I don’t feel like it

What’s it?

Why do you need to feel like something in order to do the work? They call it work because it’s difficult, not because it’s something you need to feel like.

Very few people wake up in the morning and feel like taking big risks or feel like digging deep for something that has eluded them. People don’t usually feel like pushing themselves harder than they’ve pushed before or having conversations that might be uncomfortable.

Of course, your feelings are irrelevant to whether or not the market expects great work. Do the work. Ignore the feelings part and the work will follow.

It’s Official: School is Over!

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schools_out

About an hour ago I finished grading the last batch of assignments and turned in my online grades.  Man, it feels good to be done.

The best part…I’m off until late March.  The even better best part…I get to go to SXSW without having to worry about missing any classes and feeling any guilt.  Awesome!

Which of course means I’ll be able to settle back into blogging and working with clients again.  Can’t wait.

I’m really looking forward to doing some blog redesign for a couple of my blogs.  I’ve got an idea of what I hope to accomplish and will need to learn a thing or two, but I’m quite excited.

I’m also looking forward to doing some back posts about things that I never did get around to writing.  I’ve been to a couple cool events: car launches, local events, Got Milk latte parties, cupcake tours, you name it.  I can’t wait to get caught up.

But first up, a meeting tomorrow with a friend about a new business proposition and then a vacation shortly there after.  Woohoo!

And if I find some time, I might actually get around to getting my Christmas cards and gifts in the mail in a timely manner (maybe…but probably not).

So how are your holiday plans coming along? Have you decided to give up on anything?

It’s Mid-Terms Week Here in LA Blogger Gal Land

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Let’s start with the obvious…I haven’t yet written up my review of the U2 show. I have a video to upload (complete with Collin Farrell sighting), but I you know how crazy long it takes for upload into YouTube. I’ll get around to it.

The second and somewhat obvious…man it’s cold here! Mind you, when Southern Californians say it’s “cold” it means it’s dipped into the mid 60’s or so during the day and the chilly 50’s at night. We’re crazy like that, I know. But we’ve actually had to turn the heat on these past couple nights and pull out the comforter. Next up, sweaters. Woohoo! My friends back in NM and CO are experiencing snow. Lucky them.

I gave my first mid-term (I think my first mid-term ever) this week. Overall, the kids did great. Since we’re a computer class, they basically just had to copy and format a document from scratch including uploading and sizing an image. It sounds easy I know, but it took them the full hour and a half to get it done. But they did it and did it well. Which means they got it and that feels good.

Next week we’re working on searching the web for info. So if you can think of any wacky or relevant things that the kids can search for in their scavenger hunt, feel free to leave suggestions in the comment section. I figure it’s a fun way to learn how to use the Internet beyond just Facebook and email.

Today I had them search for all sorts of discounts that they can get with their student ID. They were thrilled when they got to the page that talked about the restaurants that give discounts locally. Then they got even more excited when they realized that they can get travel discounts as well.

Like my TA pointed out, you really do forget that sometimes the stuff you know, isn’t the same sort of stuff that someone else might know. I mean it seems so obvious to us, yet so many people still have no idea about so many of the useful things you can find on the web.

And totally unrelated, as I sit here watching Ghost Whisperer while typing this out…why would they put JLH in such a beautiful grey backless dress if they’re just going to show her purple bra. It just looks tacky as all get out.

Oh yeah…local gals…don’t forget to register for your chance to win aFREE microZone Treatment at Dermologica in Santa Monica

Calling In Sick

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sick

I can’t think of the last time I called in sick.  Then again, I’ve been working from home now, in one form or another for the past 8 or 9 years now.  In which case, I’ve been in charge of my own schedule.  And if I was feeling under the weather and couldn’t make a meeting or client visit, I’d just reschedule.

Not today.

The hubs has been working some loooong hours on a relaunch and typically has been coming to bed between 2:00 and 4:00AM.  Mind you, on days I teach, I get up at 6:00. Some days I sleep through his arrival to bed, on other days I’m not so lucky.

Today shortly after he came to bed, I realizied that I was feeling pretty crappy.  It seemed like last night’s dinner wasn’t agreeing with me.  I tried to ignore it.  I worked on getting rid of it. About 45 minutes later, the chills and the metalic taste started in.

Not a good sign.

Needless to say (without boring you with the details), around 4:30 this morning, I emailed in to my boss and my teaching assistant letting them know that I wouldn’t be in.  I then emailed my kids part of the day’s assignment (emailing attachments) and went back to bed to shiver some more. I figured with all this talk about swine flu (whatever) and knowing that a friend of mine currently has the flu, that it would be wiser to avoid interacting with my students and stay home.  Well, that and I was a little fearful of that commute over the canyon to get to work and back should I actually get sick.

Turns out it was a wasted sick day.  I never actually got sick.  I woke up at 8:00 and felt just fine.  I guess my healing work worked after all – I’m not surprised as I’m getting much better at allowing it.

But now I feel guilty for calling in.  Like I was a slacker or something.

I will say though, based on the emails the kids sent me, my TA did a much better job with the assignment that I would have done.  I totally forgot that I’m not just teaching these guys HOW to do something, but WHY it’s useful out in the real world.  So I think they had a great lesson without me.  And I guess all is good.

Days Like This Were Made For a Hammock

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hammock_LivinginMonrovia

Today, in the sunny San Fernando Valley, it’s a breezy 84 degrees.  It’s the perfect sort of weather to hang out outside (in the shade). If I had my dream house, with my dream backyard, the boys and I would be working out on the patio or swinging along on a hammock.

Sadly, we have no shade trees, no lounge chairs, no hammock and well, no patio or even a backyard to use.  Such is apartment life.  Of course, that hasn’t stopped the boys and I from spending some time just relaxing out on the front stoop.

And I know that I’ll have that laptop ready, relaxing backyard in no time!

Photo by Living in Monrovia

Caution: Mentalist at Work

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mentalis_filming
It sure was nice to take last week off from blogging (outside of the one Michael Jackson/Forrest Lawn photo post).  Better still to have taken the time off on all three blogs (and the contests).  Granted, it wasn’t something that I actually planned to do, but it still felt good.  I refused to let myself feel bad about it either.

I basically spent the week working on my upcoming teleseminars.  After having spent the week before recovering from yet another damn sinus infection, I needed to get focused pretty quickly.  I got a lot done, even if I made some mistakes here or there.  Or more to the point, I discovered some mistakes that I made with some of the stuff I was working on.  Either way, still feels good.

Now I need to just create some time to catch up on some friends’ blogs.  When I finished teaching in mid-June, I thought I’d have so much time to finally catch up with work, with blogs, with life and still have fun.  Well, as I seem to have learned (again and again) those damned sinus infections kick my butt physically and make it so challenging to even think straight.  And they seem to take just as long to recover from.  But trust me, you will see me posting comments on your blogs again!!  I promise.

And speaking of those damnable sinus infections, I finally had my CT scan today.  I think I honestly spent more time talking about the CT scan and researching what to expect, than it actually took to have the actual scan.  I honestly didn’t know that it would be quite so quick and painless.  I look forward to getting the results and figuring out what might be the reason I keep getting such nasty (and painful) infections.

As for now…well, now I think it’s time to get started on dinner.  Cooking in this high-90’s heat is always a challenge – whether I’m feeling 100% or not.  Wish me luck!

What a Day…

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So I had planned to spend some time today talking about my friend that’s about to be on Oprah.  I’m not sure of her air date (and they’ve asked that she not leak anything just yet), but today is her big “reveal” with Nate.  The goal was to write about how cool blogging is and how it can lead to some amazing opportunities (like getting on Oprah) and all that good stuff.

But then it happened.

I spilled my entire cup of tea on my iBook.  Well, in my defense, not just on the laptop itself, but also the arm of the couch, the floor, my computer bag, a pair of shoes and yes, the laptop.  It was working fine.  Then, it wasn’t.  Now, it still isn’t.  I can’t seem to get it to turn on and get active.  It turns on, but kinda freezes on the apple logo and doesn’t seem to go any further.

So now we’ve got my desktop Mac growing some vertical lines every other day or so and now a recuperating laptop.  Doesn’t seem to be all too good of a day in computer land here at the Casa de BloggerGal.

The good news?  Yes, there is good news.  Remember that faculty discount we discussed a couple weeks back? Yeah, well, that makes this whole experience a little less painful.  A little.

So now I’m going to step back from the computers (except for the two blogs I’m still working on – one we’re getting Oprah ready, the other for a company I’m working for) and maybe take a break from technology for a bit.

Maybe tomorrow you guys can help me to make some headway with my birthday planning.  Until then, I do hope that you all had a happy Easter.  Oh and if you need a little fun today…go microwave a Peep or two!