Read all about it!

I need to dedicate more time to reading since I have at least 5 or 6 topics I want to learn more about . . . and quick. So much going on right now it is difficult to split myself in so many directions and feel I am dedicating proper time and attention to any one subject or project.

• A new part-time job that hasn't been so part-time. Lots of hours.
• A seriously long list of home management and improvement projects
• Potential to start a consulting business assisting new small businesses with their marketing and other communications needs.
• A child who started preschool and returned to dance classes thanks to the part-time job.
• Looking for ways to foster her drive to learn to read without making her nuts.
• Trying to lower my husband's stress level which has been at peak for the last few years due to a constantly changing work environment.
• Squeezing in time to lower my own stress level while building self esteem through exercise.
• Oh and then there is the search for delicious yet healthy recipes the whole family will enjoy. 

The list just keeps building. A woman's job is never done.

Working Title

A talented friend asked me to guest post on her blog today. I am flattered to say the least. I know she is asking several blog authors to contribute, a cross promoting idea she has, but still I am touched to be in their company. Being a fan of her blog for quite a while now I find myself freezing up at the prospect. Fear! One of the biggest causes of procrastination. As my mind works on an ever growing list of ideas I am also working on an extensive press release for a company I am consulting for. Plagued with writers block I am so frustrated. Work like this use to be so easy for me. What happened? Husband reminds me I am out of practice and he is right of course. Getting back into the swing after not working for a year and a half is difficult. Of course, having a five year old constantly making demands while you try to focus doesn't help either. And then there is the guilt that trying to focus time on anything but my family is selfish. But most of all I think I spend too much time in my head.

I am very visual.  My imagination is a creative one and I visualize almost constantly. This habit makes me skilled at multitasking which can be great. I can reorganize my closet in my head while doing the dishes. But it also means when my five year old isn't interrupting my train of thought you can bet I am interrupting myself. Because my mind is constantly working I also have a gift for procrastination When your mind is accustomed to working on so many ideas at once it is hard to focus on just one thought and nothing else.

The ability to multitask came up in conversation with a gentleman who I would definitely describe as a smart, highly successful and accomplished entrepreneur. Even he admits that the ability to multitask is purely a gift only bestowed on women. A skill heightened when a woman has children. Men just can't do it. They can't focus on more than one thing at a time and they can't plan ahead very easily either. It's a miracle men have ruled the business world as long as they did. I replied that multitasking was not just a gift. To a woman with kids, working outside the home or not, the ability to multitask was a matter of survival. Especially when you consider we women are primarily responsible for creating and raising our species' children you can fairly say that multitasking is do or die. So we do.