Making time to journal: Priorities

There just aren't enough hours in the day. Therefore, I cannot journal like I would like or what I would need. 

Busy! Hah! You wish you were just busy. Busy doesn't quite describe your life, does it? 

Does this sound familiar?

How do we find more time to journal in an already full day--never mind all of the interruptions that get thrown at us?

First and foremost, I think it is critical we look at our priorities. Do you even know what they are in your life? List them in order now. 

If it took you longer than a minute, I suggest stopping and really thinking about this. Your priorities should be so fresh in your mind at all times that you can list all of them in priority order in less than a minute.

Why is this important?

It's important to know your priorities, and the order of them, so that you can play your day, week, month, quarter, year, 5 years out, 10 years out, and 20 years out. 

And, if you know your priorities, if anyone asks you to do something, you can go through your priority list. If it fits in line with your priorities, you can say yes. If it doesn't, say no. But, if you say yes, does it push any of your other priories out of the way and shuffle the order of your priorities? If so, think again  you might want to say no. Your priorities must stay the priority and keep in the order you have decided. The top three to four always come first. Period. End of discussion. Your other priorities  you can cut a little slack with and not be so anal about  But, your top three, you must keep the top three--except in life and death situations. Other than life/death situations, you should keep your priorities. Period. 

Your priorities dictate everything you do. 

Go ahead. List them now, if you haven't already. Then, put them in priority order.

Now that you have your priorities straight, and in order, I have a couple of questions for you.

Do you believe in God? Is he number one? He should be.

Are you married? Do you have kids? What priority order did you put them in?

If your kids come before you spouse, you need to rethink your priorities. Who will be there, after all, when the kid leaves home? Who do you go to bed with at night? Who did you make a commitment to--by choice? Just saying.

Also, did your kids or spouse come before you in priority order? If they did, think again.Who was there when you were born? Who will be there when you die? Who is with you all the time? You are.

I am not saying to put yourself first in a narcissistic way. No. Rather  self-care should be the part of yourself that comes here in the priority order. If you don't take care of yourself, you aren't any use to anyone or anything else. 

So, your priorities should read something like this:

1 God (if you believe)

2 Self-care

3 Spouse

4 Kids

5 & on... Work, family .. Or whatever else you have. From here down, it's very personal. 

Journaling is part of self-care, by the way. As a matter of fact, journaling is the best part of self-care you can do, besides eating right and exercise. 

If your priorities are in order then your time should be filled with more free time than busyness. Why? Most busyness is because we forget what is important in our lives. We suck up too much of our lives with the unimportant and the things that are not our priorities.

Let me give you a hint as to how you can tell if you keep your priorities straight. If you open up your calendar/planner/schedule, it should reveal what your priorities are. If your calendar does not reflect your priorities, changes need to be made. Start today. Do not delay. This is critical. 

That being said, if you haven't kept your priorities straight, it will take a little bit of time to eliminate the unimportant from your schedule. Put your priorities on your calendar now. Go out a year with them. Then,in another month, go out another 6 six months. In another month, go out on your schedule another 6 months. Do this until you have a minimum of 5 years planned--where you are keeping your priorities straight. 

I know. How can you go out 5 years when you don't know hat's going to happen in 5 years? It's easy., If you are keeping your priorities straight, and are living them, you have at least a couple of hours of free-time in your schedule every day. On the weekends, you have at least three or four hours of free time. That's how you can make these plans out 5 years on your calendar. 

Then, keep your calendar out at least 5 years from here on out. Every month, add at least a month on your calendar so you can keep your priorities.

So, how do you make time to journal? See all of the above.

But, until you can devote an hour at least per day to journaling, you need to start to add it in your schedule--until you can devote at least an hour each day to it. So, how do you do that?

I said it before and I will say it again: Start with one sentence per day this week (at least). Then, next week, add another sentence per day. Then, the following week,a dd another sentence per week. Keep adding a sentence until you are writing pages per day and at least an hour per day. 

Another secret is to steal time. Did you know that each of us has 30-60 minutes per day of wasted time... And even more than that if you add commute time. We wait in line, we wait on hold on the phone, we sit on porcelain, we wait for an appointment, we drive, we have breaks during our workday, etc. Journal at these down times. We can write in a journal or speak into a voice recorder. Use your commute to speak into a voice recorder for some journaling. Then, type it up when you get home or on the weekend. 

Just adding those times can add pages of journaling each day. 

There was a time when I worked full-time, wrote full-time, and helped a friend raise her two boys and watched them for four to five hours a night, and I was still able to journal pages per day. It all depends on your priorities. 

I know if I journal, I have far more to offer those I love and to do the things that are my priority. After all, I am healthy and more energized. I can think clearly and am far more content. 

How do you journal more? Keep your priorities straight and steal the time. that's how. 

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

* My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013: Journaling & Memoir

* The Journaling & Storykeeping Encyclopedia of 2013

The Journaling Path Blog Network: http://thejournalingpath.blogspot.com

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

What are your journaling plans for 2013? A journaling exercise or prompt

So, what are your journaling plans for 2013?

What do you want to work on? 

What is your dream?

What are your goals? 

What do you hope to accomplish? 

What do you hope to change?

What do you want to focus on in 2013?

How will your journal help 2013 be your best year yet? (And every year thereafter, may it also be said that it is the greatest year of your life yet.)

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013: Journaling & Memoir

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Priorities and 2012 and 2013: A journaling exercise or prompt

* List the priorities in your life for the year 2012. 

* Put them in priority order. Number them.

* Go through each item and review and analyze how you lived up to keeping it  it your life. What did you do well in keeping it a priority--and in its rightful order? What did you not do so well?

* What would you want to improve next year? What will you want to repeat next year? What do you want to change for next year? 

* What are your priorities for 2013--in numerical and priority order? 

* Why is each item your priority? 

~ Stacy Duplease

Journalkeeper, Writer, & Author

Returning to the Basics: A Journaling Exercise

I do not know about you, but sometimes, I need to return to the basics. I need to simplify things again in my life and get down to the bare-bones of what really matters in my life--my priorities and everything that surrounds them. 

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, I find the basics are what I need to remember first and foremost. It's times like this that cuts out all of the superfluousness fillers in my life--and the stuff that does not really matter. This is also true as we close out 2012 and start the new year of 2013. 

WHAT ARE THE BASICS?

* The basics are your life's priorities.

* It's when you keep things simple.

* It's when you cut out all of the filler in your life.

* It's getting back on track. 

* It's doing what you are supposed to be doing. 

* It's not being so darn busy. It's cutting stuff out of your schedule, permanently  to allow room to breathe and for spontaneity. 

* It's focusing on what really matters in your life--and only living for those priorities. 

THE PERFECT TIME OF YEAR

This is the perfect time of year to revisit your priorities and see how you lived them over the last year--and how you did not. It's also perfect to plan for the next year and how to live your priorities. 

WHEN DEALING WITH THE TOUGH STUFF OF LIFE

When you are going through hard times in life, it's also really important to get back to the basics. 

PRIORITIES

In previous blog posts, we have looked at these, but we had a different frame of mind than we do after Sandy Hook. So, take some time to do this again. I guarantee what you find important today will be different than what you thought the last time you thought of your priorities  Tragedy like Sandy Hook tends to bring a whole new perspective in our lives. That's why it is so important for us to re-evaluate our priorities and what really matters in our lives today. Things have changed. (Boy, have they!)

How do we see the world now because of it? 

JOURNALING EXERCISE

* Do a Steam of Conscious (SOC) journaling entry for at least 10 minutes about what really matters in your life today.

* Make a list of all the priorities, and what really matters  in your life: People, events, things, actions, sports, etc.

* Number your priorities and put them in sequential order.

* Do a SOC about each item listed on your priority list. Why is it, or are they, on this list? What does it, or do they, mean to you?

* What do you need to eliminate in your life so you can keep to these basics in your life--and keep always in mind what really matters to you?

* Journal any thoughts you have--or anything else you want to journal. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease) 

Journaling is...

Journaling is writing the story of your life.

It is where you share your memories, lessons learned, and goals. 

A Journal is where you remember the past, live intentionally in the moment, and plan for the future. 

A journal is a story of your life and all of your: thoughts, prayers, emotions, choices, dreams, people, possessions, challenges, faith (and lack thereof at times), critters (pets), stress,   experiences, grief, photographs, births, art, books, realization, anniversaries, movies, new beginnings (starting over/trying again), TV shows, counted blessings, to do's, frustrations, music, work/employment/career, celebration, venting, death, marriage, separation, divorce, creative thought, song, poetry, happiness, friends, family, school, church, military life, exercise, food, recollections, homes, houses, vacations/travel, etc. 

Journaling is where you learn and re-learn your priorities and live them. 

So, again, I say that journaling is writing the story of your life--and everyone and everything your life includes. 

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper Author & Sci-Fi Writer

The Story of John Arundell and Roanoke (A Sci-Fi Time Travel Novel)

& the Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

I am tired

There is something I've come to realize. I'm tired. Worn-out. Burned out. And need a break.

I also realize I have let my priorities slip.

What are my priorities? 

~ God (prayer and Bible study)

~ Husband

~ Home

~ Personal Journalkeeping

~ Teaching/Writing about Journalkeeping & Memoir Writing

~ Writing Fiction/Novels

The truth of the matter is my personal and professional first love is journaling. Period. End of story. 

Yesterday, I started to reassess. Today, I've done more of it. 

I am going to take a break and get back to my professional first love. Hence, you'll see that in this blog for a while. I am not sure how much of a break I will need  I still am burning with the desire to write the sci-fi series based off my ancestors. But, for now, I need to journal--and devote great amounts of time to that. So, I am.

Starting with the post after this one, you are going to get a lot of information about journalkeeping (journaling).

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Sci-Fi Writer

The Story of John Arundell and Roanoke (A Sci-Fi Time Travel Novel)

& the Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Priorities as a Writer

As a writer of Inspirational American Historical Ancestry Romance Fiction, I cannot help but realize how critical it is to take care of my body (the temple of God) so that I am able to write. The healthier I am in body, mind, heart, and spirit, the better writing I have the potential to do. However, it is absolutely essential for me to constantly polish my craft as well.

 

So, how do I do it all? Is it even possible?

 

The most important thing I can do is establish my priorities (in priority order).

 

My priorities are:

~ God, prayer, and Bible study

~ Eating Healthy (I am in the process of losing weight and eating healthy since I am hypoglycemic--which means low carb, high fiber and protein).

~ Exercise. I am a runner. In March 2012, I was not one. I never ran before in my life (unless it was raining and I did not want to get wet--or if chased.)

~ My husband

~ Writing my fiction books

~ Writing my blog posts

~ Writing my writing devotional

~ Learning and honing my craft.

 

My priorities have not been in the proper order lately. I have decided today, it changes. Also, I am going to make sure to study my craft through reading books and applying on a more intentional level. I want to devote at least ten hours per week to learning.

 

I also have decided to write at a pace of 2,000 words a day so I can get more of all of the above done--and not feel guilty for doing so.

 

Now, it is time for the healthy eating thing while I go cook dinner. Then, I will study some more and get a little more writing done on book 1: FAITH AND JAMESTOWN before I turn in for the evening. (Hmm. That sounds to me like coffee is necessary as well.)

(Photo Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)

 

Stacy Duplease
Historical Fiction Writer of:

Inspirational American Historical Ancestry Romance Fiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Family Treez USA

Email: familytreezusa@gmail.com
Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction   

         
 

How?

How do we have a loyal faith to God and his Word in today's times?

Is it possible?

How much work and sacrifice will it take?

What does this even look like today?

Why make our faith a priority anyway?

These are just a few of the questions we will look at on the blog.