Priorities!

My poor and neglected blog...I really try to keep up with it but it's almost as if 'what's the point' if nobody is even reading it? But, regardless of that it is cathartic for me to sit and write whatever is going on in my noggin from day to day. So, for that alone, I keep plugging away at it. This whole thing brings me to my point as I know I do have one..what was it again? Oh yeah..priorities! I have been having this very discussion with many of my fellow etsians lately. We all consider ourselves artists. With that we all seem to lack a bit in the priority category. It comes with the territory I think. After all, that is why we want to be artists..so we don't have to deal with the conventional day to day priority grind. If we are slacking off in any way then we reserve the right to call it creative 'thinking' instead of what it really is..slacking! Far too many of us lately have devoted way too much time on various websites like flickr and the etsy forums doing anything but creating! But, as artists trying to sell our wares, we instead call it 'promoting'..instead of what it really is and that is just a bunch of women shooting the shit so to speak. Yes, it's true that spending some time on these sites in a promotion capacity is beneficial to our shops, crafts, sales and bottom lines but...and a big one here...is that these cyber meeting places can suck the hours out of every day if we do not prioritize our time! In all good conscience I have sworn to myself that I will put myself on some sort of schedule. I will devote certain times of the day to promoting..some for just creating..some for ideas..some for listing etc...but it never seems to work for me. I am one of the biggest procrastinators I know so a schedule for someone like me is almost taboo. Plus, there is no one here in the day to give me that push I so need..but I also like not having anyone here nor do I like being pushed in any capacity. So you can see my conundrum...I have put myself on a figurative carousel of hell..all the while spinning around in a self-induced whirlwind of guilt over not having the discipline to keep myself on any schedule let alone a prioritizing one! Someone stop the ride, please! The one big problem I am finding with having an etsy shop and being able to be home to create the items to put and sell in that shop is that I really do enjoy it all. I just need to find that happy medium between it all. I like being home void of people and conversation and all the craziness associated with a regular 9-5. I love being available at a moments notice for the dog or the kids. I like working in my pj's if I so choose! The worry about it all going away if I don't get it all together and soon is what continues to fuel all my feelings of guilt over having priorities...If only I could sell that on etsy! I know a lot of people wo'd buy that! So, I am going to give myself some good advice..whether or not I follow it is a whole other blog entry..I find for myself that if I write things down..a grocery list, a list of things to do..that need to be done etc..is when I am the most productive. There isn't much better that being able to have a list and then being able to cross things off of that list! It's such a feeling of completion..My 'list' will be for a schedule of time...and what I need to get done within that time....kind of like those class schedules we had in school. We knew where we had to be at such and such time..how much of our time needed to be devoted to that block of time and what was required of us within that block. So if I have to treat myself like a junior high student for awhile..then so be it! I will keep you..me..abreast of my progress. If I do not write another entry for some time then that only means my method for prioritizing has succeeded! So that's my rant for this day..other than this issue all else seems to be going well in the life of craziness. My parents will be here soon and I still have a very long list (only a mental one thus far!) of things that need to be done around this house before they arrive! They put no pressure on my home being clean or perfect in any way but you know how it is when anyone visits, let alone your parents...The house needs to be uber clean and all those odds and ends that are yet to be finished needs to get done. The 'rents don't get this way often and it will be the first time they see our new home so...well..you know what I mean...just not enough hours in the day is there?