So much to do, so little time!!

As it turns out I picked the best – and the worst – time of year to get a job. Best because it’s the priciest time of year, not only for gifts for Christmas but also because I’ve had to buy snow boots (the irony being that they won’t arrive any time soon because of the snow) and I’m having to think about a new coat that doesn’t just soak up the cold and wet. Worst because I’ve got about a gazillion things to do before Christmas and another gazillion to do before New Year. Made worse by the fact that I was going to get loads done this weekend, but snow ruined everything! I couldn’t meet my friends for present delivery, so that’s something to do this week. Then I spent three and a half hours trying to get home from Harrow on Saturday. It’s normally a 25minute journey!! We decided that as it wasn’t snowing, we’d go to get most of the food. Next thing we know – blizzard. Still, got a lot of reading done in those three and a half hours. Even if I couldn’t feel my fingers by the time I got home.

And I also have to work Christmas Eve, which I sort of don’t mind because I can go once the last person has been seen. There are no appointments available after 1pm so even if I’m there till the last appointment, it’s not too late. The problem I have is that I’m doing a late on Thursday and last Thursday I finished an hour later than I was supposed to. If that happens again and there’s travel chaos, I’m not going to get home until very late and I’ll have to be out at 6:30am the next day to get in on time. I also haven’t seen hide nor hair of a contract and no one seems bothered about asking for my bank details. I hate having to ask about that stuff because I can see how busy everyone is and I feel like I’m worrying them. But I’m going to have to ask today because it’s getting daft now. And I really would like to be paid at the end of the month.

And finally! My internet started playing up last night which somehow – don’t ask me how! – led to iPlayer deleting every download that I attempted to play. So I’ve lost the last episode of Live at the Apollo and the last two episodes of Holby City. No great loss I hear you cry – but it’s my guilty pleasure and I wanted to see the lead up to the great Connie Beauchamp’s departure!

To sum up: I am feeling very stressed right now. I can’t even think about that short story competition that I wanted to enter.

Inspirational posts

Here are a couple of posts that I’ve found inspirational. This first one is an old one that appeared in the howies catalogue a while back. I loved it so much that I ripped it out and stuck it on my wall. I’m working along these lines at the moment: Find your love

This second one is a new post, I got the link through The Do Lectures which I follow on Twitter: How BIG is your BUT? I’d recommend The Do Lectures anyway because although I cannot even imagine being able to afford to go, I love watching the lectures online. Some of the most inspirational stuff on the net, I think. Check it out!

What are your favourite inspirational posts? Or where do you get your inspiration from?

In other news I’ve have to confess that I haven’t looked for an agent for my novel in weeks. Yes, I know. Bad writer, how do you expect to ever get published?! So I’ve re-evaluated my time management. I’ve decided that given the time job applications take, how boring and eye-itching I find them, I’m only going to work on them every other day. I’ll try and average getting out about five on the days I work on them. The days I don’t work on them I’ll work on my own writing and on the agent search. At the moment I’m applying and then not bothering to do this other work because my eyes need a rest from the computer screen. I think this way I’ll still manage to get out plenty of applications and also work on other things. And hopefully having a day’s break will mean I’ll be fresher when working on personal statements and stories.

Any suggestions re: time management/agents/job hunting are cheerfully accepted!

Oh and if you’re interested in reviews, here's my latest: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller