Monday mornings

5/10/201010:24:28 AM Link 2 comments | Add comment

I start Monday mornings with a 6:45 Toastmaster meeting at a nearby IHOP. If you can open your mouth and make intelligent sentences before 7:00 a.m. then it should give
you an advantage in speaking at more civilized hours. That, at least, is the concept. I have a great club and enjoy the meetings and the talent of my fellow members.
Then, at 8:00 a.m., most people leave to go to their jobs in real offices surrounded by fellow workers. I head home, to a bedroom converted to an office and no staff. I AM
my office, my peers and my support team. This is not the best work environment for an extrovert. And, for some reason, it hits me hardest on Monday mornings as the week looms in front of me like a highway in the Panhandle: vast, endless, with no clues of what lies ahead.

Some people, I am told, are excellent self-managers. I am not one of them. I find myself too easily distracted by the NY Times website, phone calls, email, watering plants just before they die, or revising lists of things to do (instead of doing the things on the list). Clearly I need a boss, but that does not come with the territory. Maybe this blog will require me to report in to the cyber-galaxy on my progress and, even if few are reading, I'll have the illusion of accountability. That will give me the feeling that someone is watching and waiting for me to do what I need to get done. Today that will include making at least ten marketing calls, proofing the magazine for the Wesleyan Homes and adding names to the pictures that go with it, writing ten thank you notes for those who have made gifts to Mother's memorial, and responding to those who answered an ad I put on Craig's list for a very part-time assistant. Unfortunately I left out the word part-time (which I've now edited into the ad) and got seven responses from people eager for a full-time job at the insufficient rate I am offering. I am embarrassed to contact them, but I will do so today.

I'd like to end this blog, my virgin entry, on an upbeat note. That last sentence will have to do. I finally started a blog. Procrastination has ended. I now know I can do this and I think I may like it. I wonder if anyone will read it or respond. If they don't, then I'll call it a journal and check that additional TO DO off my long list.