Overload Management by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: If you follow me on the socials, you know I just got back from two weeks at the family cottage in Nova Scotia. This was a remarkable trip for many reasons, but the biggest was that it was the first vacation I’ve been on in YEARS where I wasn’t working while vacationing. Not gonna lie. It was glorious! 

I ate ice cream, walked the beach, chatted with our resident seals, visited the neighboring baby goats, sheep, and cows, went thrifting, attended art shows, ate out, did crafts, read books, watched the Olympics “Go, Canada!”. Now that I’m back, of course it’s “Go, USA!” And spent time with the Hooligans and my mom, all of whom can turn Yahtzee into a blood sport, but I digress. 

Naturally, to maintain balance, life has a way of making you land with a thump upon returning from time away. I received news while on vacation that I can’t share yet but is pretty frigging great so we’ll put a pin in that. And I came home to all of those pesky life details. The battery in my truck was dead, one of my outlets wasn’t working (it’s the one for the coffee pot so CRITICAL!), also there were tuition bills to pay, and a massive decluttering project to finish and I realized in my post vacation haze that I didn’t want to do any of it because my to do list felt too long and I was on overload. 

This happens to me every now and then. I get lost in the ever growing to do list, causing an inability to get certain things done. Why?! Then when I finally do the thing I’ve been putting off for WEEKS, it takes ten minutes. Again, why do I do that?

In the case of my return home, AAA came out with a hilarious driver/mechanic named Jeremy (think of a character from an Evanovich novel) and the battery was replaced in minutes while I took notes for a future character because Jeremy was...OMG, too perfect!

How about you, Reds, do you have certain things that you put off and then they’re no big deal? How do you motivate yourself to get the minutia done?

HALLIE EPHRON: Wait a minute… you have a TRUCK???

Jenn, you are a constant source of amazement.

I write lists. And keep my list on the kitchen counter and write tasks into my (paper) datebook. And then sometimes I get confused and think because I wrote it down, I did it. 

JENN: Yes, I do drive a truck. LOL. A 2007 Chevy Silverado.

I bought it in 2017 in anticipation of the Hooligans moving and it has come in quite handy over the constant residential shifts of the past five years. Oy.

LUCY BURDETTE: The vacation sounds perfect. Then life has a way of paying you back for being away, right? I’m totally overloaded right now. A thousand blogs to write to launch A POISONOUS PALATE, book 15 to finish, a big triple birthday party to host next weekend with various family staying for a long weekend–it’s all good but can feel like way too much. I have a paper list with empty squares next to each item. When I finish something, I can check it off. If I fall behind, it gets a star (oops, lots of stars right now!) I also put things in my e-calendar so I can pay attention day by day. Most important, try to enjoy moments right in front of me. The other stuff will get done, or it won’t. But I won’t get these precious days back.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am so overloaded that I missed a whole week of keeping track of anything in my planner, and that makes me crazy! I have to list the things I have to do and prioritize them for every day, then either move them to the next day or check them off. Watching the Olympics after dinner this week has been a great way to just shut all the pressures out. And we discovered we love Speed Climbing. We didn’t even know there was such a thing!

Speed Climbing! How did I miss this? This would definitely make the to do list seem less daunting. LOL. 

RHYS BOWEN;  overloaded is a good word to describe my life at the moment. I was on the faculty at Book Passage mystery conference and the moment that ended I swung into high gear for my book launch next week.  By Thursday morning I had done five hours of Zooming with groups this week . My cheeks hurt from smiling too much. I also had paperwork from my retirement accounts to fill out and express back. Trains and planes to book for the Europe trip,  and did I mention that my knee that was operated on suddenly started a burning pain necessitating a visit to ortho and a cortisone shot . 

My son came home from a trip to the San Juan islands showing me photos of tranquil bays, plates of oysters and canoeing. Grrrr. Why am I not doing that?  And I put off entering expenses in my spreadsheet until the last minute!

Kayaking! YES!!! A much better way to ease overload!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: For a while I juggle, checking things off my careful daily lists and dated lists and deadline lists and checking three calendars and doing events almost every day and editing book 15 and (trying to think of 16, yikes, I got nothin’) being so proud of myself being able to do it ALL, and  and then there comes a day when I say, out loud, THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE!

(Oh, and Rhys, I sent in my February booktour expenses. LAST WEEK.  And I was still proud of myself.) 

But….I just tell myself–the only thing worse than an impossibly overfilled schedule is an empty one. And then I’m fine, I just do the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.

Although the funniest moment was the day a few months ago when I thought–hey!  Wait! I did it! Everything on my list is done! 

And then I realized I had not written one word of my book. Oh. That. Never mind.

How do I unwind? Huh. I am not good at that. (And I have news, too, more to come on that. No, it’s not as big as whatever you're thinking, but it’s very nice.)

JENN: Looking forward to hearing all about it, Hank!

Okay, Readers, what do you do when you are on overload? And how do you convince yourself to just GET IT DONE?

Time of Death by Jenn McKinlay

 Recently, I went through a breakup. It was a standard "it's not you, it's me" situation where I felt that I was becoming someone I didn't want to be and so it was time for me to end it. Before you panic, it's not me and the Hub. He's awesome, we're awesome, we're absolutely enjoying the empty nest chapter of our lives together. 

No the breakup was between me and Twitter. I'd originally joined in 2009 and just had my FB posts repost over there and I literally never ever went on the platform, much like 80% of the population. But then I demolished my FB to make a professional page, and I started to use Twitter and Instagram more regularly. Little did I know how cranky it would make me. Don't get me wrong, there are some spectacularly funny posts on Twitter, which was mostly why I stayed but it's also a real platform of divisiveness and yelling into the void. 

So, I woke up one Saturday, opened up the little bird app, saw all the ranting and raving and performative outrage, and thought Nah.  Then I declared the time of death on my relationship with Twitter and deactivated my account. I didn't plan it. I didn't overthink it. I just tapped out. 

I'd like to say it was like a miracle and I was suddenly more productive and everything was sunshine and buttercups. It wasn't because you can't escape the news. BUT I found my anxiety dropped significantly and the time I normally would have spent doom scrolling, I used to do the projects I'd been putting off like replanting the small forest of draceana I've been growing in front of the arcadia doors (three plants have morphed into eight) and painting the spare bedroom. Yes, technically, I'm still choosing the color but I'm getting there!

Of course, now we have the rise of Snapchat and Tik Tok to contend with and I'm just going to lead with...no, just no! I love my family, friends, and readers, I do, but honestly, I do not want to be connected to everyone 24/7. It's exhausting!

I genuinely believe that there are two commodities that the world will suck right out of you if you let it--your privacy and your time--and I am determined to "reclaim my time" and maintain my privacy because, really, why would I just give it away in a toxic space that does nothing for me except give me the occasional laugh? 

How about you, Reds and Readers, what social media platforms have you had to break up with? How do you manage your time on social media? What do you think the future of all this connectivity is?

Managing Time Online

LUCY BURDETTE: As you guys heard yesterday, I went seven days without email, phone, texts, and Internet last month. Seven days! Remember when none of us had any email at all? But I was nervous about it. I like staying connected. And once you get connected, you worry about what you're going to miss when you're not. But on this trip, there was no choice. So to get ready, first I unsubscribed from a lot of newsletters and promotional emails. Then I put all my yahoo groups on hold.

Then, goodbye Facebook.
 
So long Twitter.

I'll miss you Pinterest.

Don't forget me, Gmail.

Oh, what will I miss while I'm gone Jungle Reds?

During the trip, it was interesting to notice the many times when there was a pause in the action. These were times when I would've been thumbing through my email messages, my text messages, my Facebook posts, and so on. And there were plenty of times when questions came up about Cuba that ordinarily we would've Googled, but we had no Wi-Fi. No Google maps to check directions.

The experience was good in some ways: I was forced to do what the yoga teachers are always advising— stay in the moment. And it was good to realize how much time does get eaten up with all my various social media networks. And then to notice how my free time might be better spent unspooling knotty problems in the book that's due next month. Being online is a time sink!
So question for the day red, how do you manage your time online? Are the rewards worth the cost? Just don't say you're going to quit coming to the blog…

HALLIE EPHRON: We went to a nature preserve on Trinidad (the fabulous Asa Wright Center) and I remember sitting in the room, just sitting, and feeling so peaceful and centered once I'd gotten used to being disconnected. On a day to day basis, I do not manage it well at all. Oh, I know HOW to manage it. I just don't because e-mail and messages and facebook... they're like a narcotic. Worst of all, they make you feel like you're doing work when you're not. (Like now...)

RHYS BOWEN: My days have to start with email, the Facebook, then Jungle Reds, then sometimes Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon to check my stats. Only after all that can I have breakfast and start to write. The problem is that social media has been so incredibly good to me and for me. I never dreamed that I could say something and have ten thousand people respond to me instantly. One post recently got 16,000 visits. And I actually love getting feedback from my readers, hearing what their Christmas traditions are, their favorite books.

Earlier this year I was on a cruise and only checked e-mail a couple of times. I can't say I missed it or stood at the Grand Canal in Venice thinking "I wonder what's happening on Facebook now." But I've found that the one day I ignore my emails I find three messages from editor or agent saying "The printers need to know by tomorrow" or "we've had a request for an interview from xxx and they can only do it on xxx."

So I stay connected.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, Rhys, yes, the dreaded missed email. ALWAYS. And I guess I am now accepting the reality for me--that it's a part of my life that I'm not really interested in undoing. Don't get me wrong--getting control of it is a beast! Because i can so easily get lured into Facebook and Twitter and doing "one more thing!" and making one more comment--and it's fun, you know?  

I now set a writing timer, for 30 minutes, and I don't allow myself to do anything but write. Then I can check emails. That lets me relax because that I wont miss anything,but my monkey-brain won't swing off to something else until the timer dings.Then I get five minutes, and I set the timer again.
(I know--everything that's important I learned in kindergarten.) 

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  I got so far behind on email and social media when I was on book tour that I'm still trying to catch up. (Hank, you are amazing. Could you share a little Hank-being-in-a-dozen-places-at-once-ness with the rest of us, please???) Maybe I'm having such a hard time catching up because I find I don't really mind being unconnected--although I miss keeping up with my friends on Facebook and seeing what's happening on Jungle Red... But more and more often I'm taking an unofficial "internet sabbath" on Sundays, and there's a great sense of freedom in not checking my phone all day. The phone for me is a worse time-sink than the computer. Is that true for everyone else that has smart phones, too? 

Reds, how do you do it?? Tips? Nightmare stories? We'd love to hear!

Preventing Writer's Cramp, or, Control Your Social Media So It Doesn't Control You: a guest blog by Elizabeth S. Craig

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Social Media. We love it. We hate it. We dash from Twitter to Facebook to Tumblr to Pinterest, trying to fit in a little paid writing along the way and not ignore our family members too much. Sound unmanageable? Then you need to meet Elizabeth S. Craig. Elizabeth writes three - count 'em, three - series: the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley as Riley Adams, the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. Her blog, Mystery Writing is Murder, has been named one of the 101 Best Blogs for Writers for three years running by Writers Digest. She helps run the Writer's Knowledge Base, a search engine dedicated to writers' resources. Her writing-related Tweets are must-reads for every author, published or un-, and, oh, yes, she still finds time to volunteer at her children's school.

Good grief. I feel tired just typing all that. Contrary to what you might think, Elizabeth says she doesn't accomplish all this by cloning herself. Instead, she uses time management. And she's here today to share some practical advice on how to control your social media...before it starts controlling you.

The Reds had a great roundup on social media recently—and it really got me thinking about the love/hate relationship we writers have with being online. It’s a fantastic way to connect with readers and other writers…and subtly promote our books, which was the reason we got on social media to begin with. But how do we keep from spending all day online? How can we have an online presence and still protect our writing time?

I’ll admit it’s tough for me—I love my online time. Here are seven ways I’ve found to work around my social media fixation...and still find time to write my books:

Write first. It’s great knowing that I’ve got my writing goal knocked out first thing. This means I get up before five a.m. to do it, but I get that smug feeling the rest of the day, knowing I’ve written. The writing I do later in the day is just icing on the cake. 

 

Use a timer. I’ve gotten so I live by my timer—it’s easy for time to fly by when I’m online. Usually I use a free online timer to help me track my time. 

 

Automation. Automation gets a bad rap, but it’s incredibly helpful if it’s not misused. You can use a program like Timely or check out this Kissmetrics infographic to figure out prime time for your followers on Twitter and Facebook.

Use an editorial calendar for planning your blog posts. Schedule blog posts in advance. Blogging is an important part of an online presence and many writers use a blog as a home base online. But you can burn up a lot of time trying to decide on topics to post on. I use my Google calendar as an informal editorial calendar. When I brainstorm an idea for a post, I go ahead and put it on the calendar (it’s easy to drag and drop, too, if you want to rearrange the order of the posts. It’s also helpful if you write a couple or more posts at one time—once you’ve written one post, go ahead and start the next while you’re in post mode. Then you can schedule posts in advance and not be in a panic when it’s your day to post and you’ve got nothing to say. 

 

Dedicate specific times to check email and social media messages. And then try not to check messages in-between.

 

Make old material work for you. If you have old blog posts in your archive, you can bring new readers to your blog by pinning top posts on Pinterest (careful here…bring out that timer. Pinterest is especially addictive.) New visitors to blogs appreciate seeing a list of the most popular posts in a sidebar (it can quickly help them brand you and your blog.) You can even update some of your more popular older posts and repost them. What are your most popular posts? Use the free Google Analytics program to learn your top content and what’s resonated most with readers.

Limit the number of social media applications that you use. We don’t have to have profiles on every app. If we stick with the ones we like best, it’s easy to keep them updated and we won’t spread ourselves thin over multiple platforms during our allotted social media time. Some applications (like Goodreads and LinkedIn) really only require updating whenever we’ve got a change (a new release, a new website, etc.)

 

If all else fails—taking a look at the calendar and an upcoming deadline works  wonders, too!

 

How do you keep your social media time in check? And, thanks for hosting me today, Reds!

  

 

Elizabeth’s next book, Quilt or Innocence, releases June 5th. Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series as Riley Adams, and the Southern Quilting mysteries and the Myrtle Clover mysteries under her own name. She blogs at Mystery Writing is Murder. You can also follow her on Twitter as @elizabethscraig and friend her on Facebook.