Time management for the clueless (me)

I need to write something…work on something…and yet I find myself hopelessly trying to keep up with all the clever, wonderful, interesting, (insert your favorite descriptive word here­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­) things that are posted on Facebook. I keep trying to keep up with the news, and find interesting articles to post myself.  I haven’t even checked my email for a couple of days at least. Sometimes I wish the internet had never been invented. I find myself thinking that at times, and yet It has been a big help too. I guess the big question is, how to organize my limited time to accomplish what’s most important. I need to ask myself the question, is what I’m doing with my time as important as what I could be doing with my time.

Self analysis is the key here. I have an agenda, and that agenda is to try and influence people to at least consider the alternatives in society. Is that more important than my other driving force to accomplish the writing and publication of a work of fiction that will stand the test of time? I always feel so guilty when I don’t work on my novels in progress, or write another short story, but is that what I’m supposed to be doing in life? Or is it to do something even larger, to be an influence in protecting democracy and freedom? That’s the conundrum I find myself in all the time.

And then there are the other things that pull me away from the important, some of them really important too. I’m love the outdoors, I’m a camper, hiker, hunter and fisherman—but that’s only the tip of the iceberg with me. Too many interests, too little time.

So, I’m considering what to do with the 45 minutes or so I have in the morning before I head off to the gym. The gym is a must. It keeps me in shape to do the things I love doing—all of them, even writing. So stopping my exercise program is not an option. I have those 45 minutes and I must decide what is most important to do with that time. It’s not much, but for now, it’s all I have. Perhaps I need to drop reposting the clever signage that accumulates on my Facebook page. I will miss it, but maybe I need to only view that stuff on my lunch break at work and call it good. If I don’t, there’s one thing that’s for sure—I will never accomplish all that I was meant to accomplish.