Puddle Jumping

IDEAS: Deadlines, Jobs and Goals

Monday, already? Where did the time go? What happened to my promise, "every-other day or so--at least"? I knew when I initially wrote that, that there would be a time when that might be a problem. But I wanted to at least have a goal in mind, even if it was only a self-imposed "DEADLINE".

So what is the big deal will goals and deadlines anyway? On Facebook, my writing friends stress about their writing deadlines. Many of them use a daily journal so that when they aren't working on their manuscripts, at least they're writing. Some are working on "assignments" from their agents or publishers. Whether it's personal or professional these deadlines are constants in their lives.

My friends that teach have Monday through Friday deadlines--lesson plans, copies, research, grades. Often these deadlines overlap into the personal deadlines of Saturday and Sunday jobs.

And then there is that word: JOBS. (That sneaky, little five-letter word...teeheehee.) Are deadlines only part of jobs and professional lives or do we try and slide them in as part of our personal lives as well? I believe that this may be the root of all deadline-related stress. We have pushed ourselves to be a corporate-world machine. In this JOB, day-to-day living, we have imposed DEADLINES on even the most mundane and simplest of things. "I must finish the laundry on Saturday, by noon." "My car's oil needs checked on Thursday evening, or else it will not get done." When, in reality, if we simply think of these as GOALS instead, the stress of missing them wouldn't be as terrible.

So I didn't post any writing last Wednesday or Thursday as I had planned, but my GOAL is to write. I want to write more, share more, and create a personal and professional place for my writing.

Whew! That feels better already.