Not Enough Time in the Day

How strange for me to say that there "isn't enough time in the day" for me to get everything done that needs to be done. I don't have a real job, spend all my time (supposedly) playing with beads, and yet feel like I'm leaving too many things undone. How is that possible?

So I thought I would try and break down my day.

I wake up, have coffee with Elaine, and watch the beginning of Good Morning America. After she leaves for work (at about 7:15) I sit for another 20 minutes or so and then go into my studio. First thing I do is put on music - depending on my mood I play folk, reggae or celtic. Then I attack my email - from last night until this morning I had 331 new emails. I am on a couple of very active email groups and there are times when I am shocked by the quantity of email. Imagine if it were snail mail - I would be recycling tons of paper a year :)

Okay, I've made it through my email, now I'm paying bills, looking for craft shows to apply for, letting the dogs out, in, out, in etc. Now it's time for breakfast! I usually play solitaire on the computer while I have my cereal. So now it's 10:30 and I still haven't created anything. By 11:00 I am ready to work. If I have pieces that I've started, I try and finish them before starting something new. If I am starting from scratch, I will open and close my bead storage drawers until something strikes me and I can play around with different gemstones and silver until the right combination hits me. I think today I will work with Citrine.

Now I am focused!! Oops dogs want to go out. Phone rings and it's a friend I haven't spoken to in a while.

Okay I'm back......focused.....humm not sure I still want to work with the Citrine, maybe Peridot, or Amethyst. Here I am starting over again figuring out what I want to do.

Of course it isn't always like this. Sometimes I can sit down and spend the day creating. Especially if I am making earrings - I can make a number of pairs in a day. I sell a lot of earrings and when I have a large stock of them it takes the pressure off me. I feel freed up and can do what I love which is to create necklaces. Necklaces are like a large canvas to create on which appeals to me.

Of course, there are other things I do during my day in the studio - photograph my pieces for the web, write descriptions for each piece, catalog them, update my website, twitter my daily thoughts, try to keep up with my emails, read blog entries, write in my blog.....the bead goes on.

Truthfully there is nothing I would rather be doing with my time. I love what I do.