Listing

Today has been all about the lists. I outlined the day, identified tasks for the week, prioritized the month's projects by creating a realistic personal schedule, researched and listed likely publishers for the two side projects I'm working on — although, as an aside, is something really a "side project" if I can reasonably expect to get paid for it down the road? — asked my Children's Writing Workshop students to list goals for the remainder of the class, and filled out/passed on one of those "4 things about me" emails. (What, I can't take a 5-minute break to tell friends that I like cheeseburgers?)

Why all the listing? Well, it just seemed like the thing to do. I have several work-related live events this week (e.g., a meeting, a writers group, a speaking engagement, and a schmooze-fest), so today's activities have helped put me in the right frame of mind to step outside the house as a professional. Guess it's a calming thing for me.

Now, I'm not shy, nor do I suffer from any particularly debilitating social anxieties. I enjoy interacting with humans, and I happen to adore leaving the house. In fact, former live-action colleagues have wondered — aloud, and somewhat loudly — how my social self fares in the potentially isolating world of freelancing. The truth is that I do miss many aspects of working in an office environment, not the least of which is the increased opportunity for chit-chat (and lunchtime cheeseburgers).

But — more to the point of the truth — I have gotten used to working for myself, with myself, by myself, and despite myself. Took to it immediately, I must say. When I'm working, my first thought has always been about seeing the end result. If I have a job to do, I want to do it. Working alone gives me the unbelievable gift of whittling away at a task with few interruptions and getting to see things through to the bitter end on (mostly) my own terms. I get to live a working writer's dream. And I like it heaps and bunches.

However, for a work-from-homer, a 2-hour outing where you need to "be" your professional self can seem like a HUGE wrench in the workweek. That it feels that way is laughable, really. But there it is. So list I did today. And list again I will do in the future.