Getting things done

 Tensions have been high at home this week. I had several deadlines to meet and things felt a little overwhelming. I was struggling to manage my time, and I wondered which goals should be taken care of first. I am due to leave for Port Elizabeth, which is now called Gqeberha to visit my parents. But I remembered an experiment that one of my lecturers at my tertiary education did for us. 

He placed a large glass jar, some large stones, and sand on the table. The task was to fit all the stones and sand into the jar. He first started with the sand and then followed with the stones. Unfortunately, not all the stones could fit into the jar. Then he emptied out everything and this time he started with the stones. When he poured the sand in, it all sifted through the gaps in the stone and every last bit of the sand found space in the jar. You may have already heard of this experiment, but sometimes we all have to be reminded of the simplest messages. 

My friend Daleen reminded me of it a few months ago. She said, “Kim, while you are trying to get cash flow in to take care of your family, remember your personal goals. If you do not, at the end of the year, you would not have written a single book.” I had spent so much time trying to juggle so many things and then worrying when I could not get into the “zone.” So I buckled under this week and bulldozed through, getting the first draft of the 4th book done this week. Of course, it needs the normal 2 or so rewrites. But now I feel so much calmer because I know that the book I promised fans has gotten through the first milestone. I sometimes wonder if that is what Nadine feels like in my series, the Chronicles of Nadine. There are a lot of people expecting things from her and she has multiple tutors. It is rather like a tug of war with an octopus. It is a little hard to grow into the role of diplomat when a King is trying to kill you and a darkened Whisperer is trying to destroy all the dragons and your tutor has enough issues to keep a psychotherapist in business for a year.


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