Counting on you

I still don’t know how to wrangle my to-do list into a schedule.

Oh, wait. No, it’s not that I don’t know how to do it.

It’s that I can’t find that perfect system. Looseleaf or clipboard? bound or spiral? printed calendar or original? with a sharpie on nice off-white paper? (That “hand-drawn” look is SO endearing.) or make one and copy it? a table in a Word doc that I can save? portrait or landscape?

Hold on. There’s more. Should it be different each day? or a Monday/Thursday schedule for the days the kids are here and Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday schedule for the other days? Does it include things to do around the house or just writing? Is that two different schedules? And what happens when the schedule is disrupted by, oh, I don’t know, anything?

Some of you are snickering. Some are rolling your eyes or yelling at the screen.

And some of you are adding your own questions.

Some of this nonsense is a result of the gene that pulls me into every office supply store I see. Yes, I have a basket of like-new blank books, a bin of assorted pens and markers, multiple binders and binding systems. Assorted pencil cups, desk accessories and lights.

But the bottom line is I fear failure.

I have started countless schedules and journals and programs. And I’ve abandoned them all.

I have more “daily quiet time with Jesus” books and guides that I could use up in my lifetime. Some unopened. All unfinished.

I’ve made checklists for myself that I can’t even find. I’ve joined writers’ accountability groups on Facebook from which I hide.

Read one poem a day. Get on the recumbent bike. Write for me/write for clients. Clean one room or purge one closet … or dust … ugh.

Not one of these things happens on a regular basis, every day, every week, every anything. Not one.

So when I think of designing a schedule for myself – a beautiful and thoughtful plan that will only help me – something that every mentor, coach, and successful freelancer requires – I fear that I will create it and once again fail.

I fear that it will end up like every other idea I’ve had about long-term success and commitment. It will simply fade away, only to be replaced by another failure.

And I spend an awful lot of time doing what I’m doing right this minute – thinking about how it just won’t work again, fighting back tears of discouragement and self-doubt.

But I refuse to give up.

So I have a new plan. And you can join the posse of those who offer to help. Here it is:

• Let me know what you think. You can comment below or contact me (there’s a tab for that). Could you check in weekly? Pray for me? Ask for updates? Choose one activity to support or follow?
• By the end of next week (July 1), I’ll send you my new, improved, beautiful – and entirely reasonable – schedule.
• You can make suggestions, give me the go-ahead, or quietly bow out – I won’t judge.
• We will make the Posse Plan based on your ideas and comments.

The die is cast. I pushed “Publish” and my request for accountability is live.

Good golly, Miss Molly.

I’m counting on you…some who know me well, some who are simply gifted as Encouragers or Administrators and some who might just need my help in the future.

Yes, I’m counting on you.

 

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 Click it to Tweet it