Before Christmas, I seemed to have time after work to check blogs, tweet, and write every night, while still acting like I lived in a family. Now, I barely get home from work and it's time to get the children ready for bed. I stay up late to edit, blog, or write and I turn into Mrs. Cranky-Pants. I have little to no patience with anything (or anyone) and, as my guilt begins to grow exponentially, my husband gently reminds me (and I quote) that "You are not the kind of person who can burn the candle at both ends." Put into Google Man Translator it means, "You need to get some sleep before I can't live with you anymore."
I am bewildered. Where did all the time go?
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| Photo courtesy of Simon Howden/Free Digital Photos.net |
On the other hand, does it matter where it went? It is obvious that this lack of time is where my life is now, and if I want to meet the goals I set for myself in January, I need to adapt.
Just this week, I came across two tidbits of advice that I am hoping will get me some time to edit every day, while still remaining a happy human instead of an exhausted, frustrated, uber-cranky writer. Since I haven't been able to get any writing done this week (including any productive brainstorming for blogging ideas) I thought I would share these tidbits with you.
The Magic of Google Reader
For the longest time I kept hearing about Google Reader, but I didn't understand the time saving applications until this week. One of my biggest frustrations with blogging has been the inability to keep all the blogs I follow in one place. I signed up for WordPress blogs by e-mail, but it takes forever for each blog to load that way. I also had to go into several different applications just to read and support my favorite bloggers.
Then, lo and behold, I learned on Rachael Harrie's blog how to use Google Reader to categorize the blogs I follow into folders such as "Campaigners", "Favorites", and "Life List Club". This saves time because I can easily identify the blogs I want to read at any given time. But, the best was yet to come.
Last night I finally figured out, through Google Reader, how to subscribe to the RSS feed of WordPress blogs. I have everyone in one place! WordPress and Blogger are nestled together in Google Reader, living in peace and harmony. So, Life List Clubbers and Nina Badzin, if you noticed that I unsubscribed the e-mail function of your blogs today, it's because I have your RSS feed coming directly to Google Reader.
The Magic of Buffer
Also last night, I read a fabulous blog post by Michael Hyatt, "How to Become a Twitter Ninja in Less than 30 Minutes a Day". In the post, he related that he uses Buffer in Google Chrome to schedule tweets and/or share blog posts that he thinks his twitter followers would enjoy. Since I use Google Chrome, I checked it out. Sure enough, using the Buffer icon, I can share web content without having to log in to Twitter, Triberr, or Hootsuite.
Are you ready for this. I can log in to Google Reader, scan or read all the blog posts I subscribe to, share them through Buffer, and support my blogging friends, all from one application that has already downloaded the blog posts so I don't have to wait for them to load individually. Doesn't that sound like heaven? It does to me.
I have been organizing today, so I can't tell you for sure that Google Reader and Buffer will deliver on what it appears to be promising, but I'm hopeful. I'll give it a week or so, and then let you know what I think. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Do you have any technology or applications that save you a ton of time? Please, please, do share!
I LOVE google reader. I could not keep up with all my friends without it :)
ReplyDeleteTwitter...I'm still trying to figure out so I think I'm gonna take a look at Buffer :)
I always wonder how far I am behind the rest of the world when it comes to technology. I just tried putting tweets from blogs into Buffer, and I'll see how it comes out tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying it all goes well!
ReplyDeleteGoogle reader is a huge time saver!
ReplyDeleteI feel for you. I keep reminding myself it will be spring soon and I'll be better at managing my time because of the extra vitamin D. Sunshine is good for the soul, especially for a stressed out mom.
I'm so ready for spring! It hasn't even been a bad winter, but the length of the sunshine is so short... I'm like a sunflower - I'll go outside during the day just to turn my face to the sun and enjoy it for a couple of minutes. I try to do it when no one else is outside. ;) It's not enough to make a dent in Vitamin D, but I feel better, non-the-less.
DeleteI've recently realized I'm at the point I cannot get to everyone's blogs everyday anymore. Just too many. And I still don't understand how to organize blogs in Google reader, but I think I need to figure it out soon!
ReplyDeleteI so need to get to the point of acceptance that I can't comment all the time on everyone's posts. There is way too many posts each day. Last night I marked all the posts in Google reader as read, so I could start fresh. The futility of being able to read all posts all the time hit me when ten minutes later I had 74 new posts ready to read. (I am not exaggerating) I need to give myself permission to miss a few every now and then. :)
DeleteI don't have any technology to suggest but I so related to this post. Last year I was on fire. This year I haven't even finished reading a single book. I have NO time. I have no idea what the heck happened. I'm critting for someone and usually I'm done in a week. It's going on a month. I feel terrible. And I get uber cranky too! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commiserating! Maybe the space-time continuum shifted and we got shorted an hour or something!
DeleteI'm so busy I can't even begin to take the time to understand all the technology stuff out there. My skills are like those of a "Flintstone" cartoon character in a futuristic era. I know it's prehistoric, but to keep up with my favorite blogs, I just go to my blog's dashboard page and click on all the blogs I'm following and read/comment/share. For my favorite bloggers who have "subscribe by e-mail" options like yours,I always sign up so updates come into my e-mail. I find time to check my e-mail. So that, in a nutshell, is my "sophisticated" way of staying on top of things. Laughable, huh?
ReplyDeleteWe all have to do it our own way. :)It does take time to figure it all out, and I missed out on several days of writing to do so, but I'm hoping I'll recoup the time with having everything more organized!
DeleteI agree! It is so hard to make everything work. I was so overwhelmed for a while, I had to cut into my blogging time. However, it has freed up time to write and visit more blogs and get things done around my house and be with my family. I feel like there is more quality in all that I am doing. I also love google reader and those tips for twitter and such. Helps so much. I can't burn the candle from both ends. I totally need my sleep or else you don't want to know me. Sometimes it works, sometime it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteIt's that quality piece that is important to me, too, Leigh. (Especially when it comes to my family.) I don't ever want writing to make me an absent parent, so I'm very sensitive to not spending family time, but then writing makes me a happier person, too. I think you're right in the need to prioritize and then go with the flow from there on out!
DeleteHey, I didn't know that about Google Reader! what a good idea...I was wondering how to deal with the mass of blogs I'm following.
ReplyDeleteI can't find any tags from fellow campaigners for "11 questions" (see my blog) so I'm tagging you, if you've the time and space to answer! :)
Thanks for tagging me! I will play on Sunday - you ask some great questions!
DeleteI have to say I am really liking having all the blogs in one place!
Google Reader is without a doubt a blessing. I remember how amazed I was at the time it saves when I started using it.
ReplyDeleteOn another topic, the quotation you have at the top of the blog is too good to let it lie unattributed. So I Googled it. It appears that Benjamin Franklin should be given credit.
And one more thing... Time is finite. There's never enough to do everything you want to do or think needs to be done. But there are priorities. For me God and family are at the top of the list. Your extended family--including those of us who enjoy reading your blog--don't expect to be at the top of your list.
Hi, Jo! Thanks for the shift in perspective! That need to do everything definitely plays into what it means to me to be a good blogging friend. I know I don't expect others to put me at the top of their list, and it's a good point that the reverse is true. I just needed some help there to understand that lesson. :)
DeleteI never thought to Google the quote! I'll get right on that attribution!
Oh my gosh! Thank you for the link. I've been wanting to use Google Reader for the longest time because I'm playing catch up too! And it's so taking it's toll on me.
ReplyDeleteYay for learning how to do stuff I should've learned a long time ago!
That's exactly how I felt. So far it's working pretty good - but it's a three day weekend and I have a ton of time (comparatively of course). Well see how it goes during the week!
DeleteNice post! I have used Buffer and it's a definite time saver. I also love Hootsuite for keeping my twitter feeds well organized. I can see in a glance whether someone has sent me a message or anything else that catches my eye. I just leave it up - no need to log in and out.
ReplyDeleteI recently had the same conversation with my soon-to-be husband after crashing for 18 hours of sleep this weekend. His words were almost the same - you can't do that. The tough part is he is a restaurant manager so I end up staying up to see him before I fall asleep otherwise I'd miss him. But I definitely need to get to bed earlier than midnight or 1 a.m.
It is hard when schedules don't match up. There is always the weekends, I guess! Of course, then you're not really seeing each other if you're always sleeping, huh? :)
DeleteI realized that I am in teh same busy boat as you as I am only now reading this post! I should probably be writing my own post instead! I admire your ambition.
ReplyDelete