Archives for March 2007

Thirteen Things about re-organizing my days

This is Thursday Thirteen #36

1…. Get a better sleep schedule – because of my illness I tend to stay up late or have trouble getting to sleep at night. As a result I tend to sleep in late in the mornings. I have to get out of that cycle in order to get organized. A better sleep cycle might also help make me feel better too.

2…. I want to dedicate at least one hour a day to visiting the blogs and web sites that I enjoy.

3…. Several reasons to visit other sites – one of them is that I don’t want my friends to think I’ve forgotten them. Bloggers like feedback, and I can’t expect to keep getting comments on my sites if I don’t start getting into the habit of visiting sites and letting other bloggers know that I like what they are doing.

4…. Another main reason to leave comments on sites that I visit (new and old) is of course to help bring some visitors back here. People do click on links in comments, or visit people that leave them comments. I’ve discovered some bloggers that I really like by clicking on comments that they’ve left me.

5…. I feel that some of my sites – this one is the worst- are getting cluttered, and I’d like to set aside at least an hour each day to work on maintaining my sites. Some are going to have new themes installed soon, but if I don’t make the time to do it, it will never get done. My gigantic web site needs a total overhaul. It’s so big it will take a solid week to redesign. I need to get working on stuff like that.

6…. It’s still winter here, but it is warming up. Again, I’d like to set an hour aside each day to get outside for a walk or bicycle ride. If I’m ever going to get back to work I need to get back into shape. As a nurse I lift, turn and even catch people all the time! I’ve got to be in shape so I don’t injure myself too! Plus, getting outside and getting some exercise will be good for me not only physically but mentally too. I spend far too much time indoors lately.

7…. If I can’t get outside for a walk or some outdoor activity because of weather or because of how I’m feeling I still need to try to do something indoors to increase my activity. I have one of those balance balls – maybe I should start using it?

8…. As the weather gets even better and my garden starts to come back to life I’ll need to add at least another hour to my schedule for garden work and garden maintenance. Gardening is good for the soul. It’s also good exercise- at least the way I do it. Remember I’ve coined the phrase “Extreme Gardening”.

9…. Since I’m still not back to work, the internet is my work place. I need to set aside a specific amount of time to work on my sites and to work on the type of things that help me earn money. Namely paid blogging. so ….

10…. I’ll set aside at least three hours each day to write articles for my various sites. I have 7 blogs and 2 websites that I actively work on (ok the websites aren’t daily work, but they do need some attention). My husband only has two blogs but I do help him maintain their design etc. I like to write articles in advance when I can. Why? Well some of my sites need me to stay on top of things – like the gardening site for example. I need to put a little research into some of my posts if I want to have quality information on that site. So setting aside some time for research and writing articles in advance helps me ensure that the quality of posts on each of the sites is good. I don’t like posting just because I should – and I don’t like posting drivel.

11…. Having articles for my sites written in advance helps on those days when I’m not feeling well and just can’t make myself write anything. It also helps when I’m working on my paid blogging posts because I have some good posts already in draft to put around the paid work.

12…. Working on the sites in order to make money needs at least three hours a day. At least on good days when there are decent writing opportunities available. I haven’t been doing as much paid blogging lately because I’ve gotten very picky. I want to write about things that suit my many sites. So hunting down worthy items that I think my visitors will appreciate takes some time.

13…. Ok so how many hours do I figure my days have to be? 1 hour for commenting and socializing, 1, hour for exercise, 1 hour for site maintenance, approximately 6 hours for writing, researching and paid blogging and an extra hour during gardening season so that I can keep the garden in top shape. That’s not too bad. 9 to 10 hours a day working from home and improving my health. That’s not too bad. Notice I didn’t list house-keeping? Oh oh … well some days there won’t be as much maintenance or writing needed on the sites so those days will have their extra hours devoted to keeping the home clean etc.

Sounds like a plan. I already do a lot of this, but it’s scattered throughout the day. Some of it, like the paid blogging will still be scattered here and there because the opportunities to make some money pop up at different times of the day. I think that if I can get myself to start working on this schedule I’ll feel a little more organized and perhaps a little healthier.

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