Summer begins

The kids I nanny for got out of school last Tuesday, but today is my first actual day of my summer schedule -- they had family in town end of last week, so they gave me the rest of the week off.  I wanted to get more done than I actually did -- freelancing, marketing, maybe even work on my novel a little -- but I didn't actually do that badly, either.  It's a start.

It's going to be a busy summer -- fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it.

Managing my time as a freelancer again

I've taken a few freelance gigs here and there, so once again I am managing my time as a freelancer.  This is the first time I've taken regular freelance work (more than just a one-off job) in a long time, probably almost two years.  With everything else going on in my life at the moment, I'm finding it challenging to maintain freelancing, marketing, and blogging alongside nannying and babysitting, and working on my novel has gone out the window entirely since I started freelancing.

Crowdfunding at its finest

Many of you are probably already aware of the amazing Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign, which was fully funded on its very first day.  This will enable LeVar Burton to revive the show online (which is where the kids are at now -- during my childhood, they were all watching TV) and make it available for free to disadvantaged classrooms nationwide.

Finding balance: Writing projects of my own

You may have wondered what I meant when I referenced my own writing projects that I need to make time for.  I actually have quite a few of my own projects, most of which have the potential to generate a small but steady income stream, so a healthy balance between freelancing and my own projects is definitely desirable.

Finding balance

Sometimes I feel like all of my writing endeavors are just too big for my life, so that every time I try to catch up on one thing, something else gets neglected.  It's like one of those children's games where every time you push something back in one hole, something else pops out of another.

I'm making progress, though, being more productive.  I just need to get a handle on being productive on everything and finding balance between all of my many different projects.  Also, I think I generally need to expect that I will be completely unproductive on the weekends, when my schedule generally fills up very quickly.

Birds, priorities, and just doing it

This morning on Facebook I saw the article "How to Think Like a Writer" making the rounds.  It was nice timing, because I am sitting down this morning for the first time in a few days to do some writing before I go to pick up the kids.

The advice in the article is really good.  I especially like the advice, "Just take it bird by bird."  The reference is to a paper on birds the author's brother was writing, but the advice holds true to all writers.  One sentence, blog post, article section, or page at a time -- whatever helps you to get your writing done.  Trying to measure progress by an entire article, book, or another finished project can flatten anyone's motivation.

National Small Business Week

I found out via Facebook that this is National Small Business Week.  I didn't even know that such a thing existed, but apparently there are events in a few cities, as well as a number of online broadcasts and workshops tomorrow (today, by the time you early morning people read this).  There were a couple other live broadcasts yesterday and today that I missed -- it might be worth checking into whether the recordings are available after the workshops are over.

From the post on White House Blog:

Today, companies like Twitter can help entrepreneurs start real conversations with consumers to build customer loyalty. Entrepreneurs can do business in their pajamas; all you need is a great idea, a marketable skill, a laptop and the know-how to use it. On our live stream this week, we’ll host workshops that explain how entrepreneurs can promote and grow their business in the mobile and digital space.