I’m supposed to blog – at least weekly, if not daily. I’m supposed to read other people’s blogs and comment on them. I’m supposed to tweet and facebook and linkin and chat and comment on the loops I’m on. I’m supposed to be updating my website on a regular basis. And establish a newsletter for my fans. I’m supposed to keep up with my homework for the class I’m taking and write the synopses for my next book and do the promos for the one that’s coming out. I’m supposed to read books – a lot of them – so I can keep up with what’s current in the publishing industry. Plus I’m supposed to read even more for my job so I can write up critiques and reviews as part of the job.

And I’m supposed to be writing my next book.

All this in addition to trying to clean out my m-i-l’s house and get it ready to go on the market. And work. And do everything that goes with having a more-or-less normal life.

So where do I find the time for it all? The answer is, I don’t.

I have to pick and choose what works for me. I have found that by scheduling things on a more or less consistent basis, I am able to do more, but often that schedule gets tossed out the window the moment I get out of bed.

By using a “do this for one hour” (or whatever length of time you designate), I do tend to get more done. I believe it’s a kind of business management system. I read (or write, or clean, or surf or whatever) for the designated length of time, then I go onto another task. I work on that task for a while, then go to another. The problem with this type of management is that nothing ever seems to get done. I’m one of those people who needs to see progress, and yes, this style does make progress, but it doesn’t “finish” the task.

So I’ve modified it to fit what works for me. If I have too many things to do for a particular day, I use the do this/then that method. But if something is close to being finished, no matter the timing, I will finish it.

And that’s the secret to accomplishing something. You need to be organized, but also flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions as called for. It’s that way with writing as well as life.

And now it’s time for me to finish blogging and get to the next task on my list. So far, today has been a good one and I’m crossing multiple things off my list. We’ll see how the rest of the day goes.

How about you? How do you find time to do everything that needs to be done in your life?

Seriously, I’d love to know.