Two Articles With Cheese To Go. You Want Extra Fries With That?

img credit: Richard Moross

I did it! I met the deadline! Both articles are now done and dusted. Emailed them off around eight tonight and bought myself a celebratory ice-cream afterwards.


The to-do list I've been making everyday has really worked for me and I plan on using it more often. I didn't stick to it as rigidly yesterday and today as I did on Saturday, but just having a list has helped rein me in somewhat, even if my timing has been out at times by a few hours. Without making and committing to the list, I think I'd probably still be stuck in front of the computer, dog-tired and pissed off with myself for leaving it to the last minute and risking another missed deadline.

I don't think the list would have worked for me quite as well if I'd written it at any other time of the day. Because it's the last thing I did before bed, I think that maybe it fed into my subconscious so that when I woke up in the morning, it had been programmed in.


It was really important for me to dive straight into writing the moment I switched my computer on. No checking emails, Adsense, MyBlogLog, etc. Just.Start.Writing. Distractions came, but instead of suppressing them, I let them out to play at controlled times, taking short breaks in-between writing, to check emails and browse the web. However, it was absolutely crucial that I started writing soon as I switched on the computer 'cos I found that it helped flavour the rest of the day.


Writing each article in sections was useful too – kinda like eating 6 small meals a day instead of 3 main meals. Rather than focus on the whole article and think "oh frikkin shittyohlay, I gotta write all that?", I focused on one section at a time.


The past couple of days haven't been particularly easy, but they've been a lesson.



2010 starts in about 6 weeks. I ain't waiting 'til then. Mine started 3 days ago.


Ebele.

Hello, Article. I Don't Like You. You Don't Like Me. But We're Gonna Have to Learn to Get Along...

When I have an article to write, I'll think about how much I'm not looking forward to writing it. The more I think about it, the more the 'not looking forward to it' turns into 'reeeally not looking forward to it'.

Eventually, that feeling turns to utter dread and becomes bigger than it actually is. In the meantime, I'm not writing anything, I'll look for distractions, time ticks by, my deadline looms and I end up feeding the very scenario I'm dreading. I become my own conspirator.

When I do finally sit down to write, it's with the added self-created pressure of a last-minute deadline or a missed one.

Then the disappointment comes. Thick. Fast. Scathing.


Yesterday, I tried something different. I have two articles to finish by Monday. Before I went to bed, I grabbed a black marker and wrote a list of what I wanted to achieve today.   Soon as I got up, I switched on my computer and started writing. I wrote the article in halves. / I'm easily distracted, so for the first half, I forced myself not to check any emails, sites or blogs until that section had been written. Then I took a break, checked my emails, etc. for an hour or so and then started on the other half.


I've now finished the article; a personal triumph as it was so much more than just the writing for me.


Ebele.

2010: Working My Butt Off to Become Debt Free and Financially Independent...

img credit: doug88888

2009 has been one of my hardest years on a personal and financial level. In 2010, I want it to be different. Rather than focusing on problems, I want to focus on solutions. This is a whole new way of thinking for me 'cos I'm used to zoning in on problems ...almost with mathematical precision. Sometimes I'll go the other way: complete denial. To the extreme.

Either way, it's a disabling habit.


I was in the bath the other day and I got to thinking: focusing on the problem doesn't make the problem go away. Nah-ah, it feeds it. Makes its eyes bigger, its teeth sharper.


My no.1 priority is to be in a healthier financial position by the end of 2010. Maybe I'll have to put some of my dreams on hold until then, and maybe to some extent I'll have to knuckle down and do things that aren't a particular passion of mine, but I so want the peace of mind and empowerment that comes with knowing that I don't owe anyone a single penny and that I can pay my bills not just some times, but all the time.

I'd love to have some savings aside and live comfortably, but if paying off all my debt by the end of 2010 is the only thing I get to do, then it'd be a job well done and I'd be soooo proud of myself.


My homework over the next couple of days is to take stock of all that I owe. Believe me, I need a few days because there are some bills that have grown little paper legs and hidden somewhere in the flat. But I'll find them.


I have dreams. Grand dreams. But this particular dream - becoming 100% debt-free – will be a thread that runs through 2010 until it's achieved. It's not going to be easy. I know myself better than anyone - I can be my worst enemy. But somehow, I'm just gonna have to learn (how) to be a better friend to myself.


Ebele.

October Earnings: Now That's a Bit Better...

I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't too pleased with my September earnings ($134.42). My ears did droop a bit. Told myself "ah well, it could have been worse - could have made a big fat zero", but hell, was still a tad disappointed.

Glad I've made more in October - $262.92. That's almost $130 more than Sept. Now if you'd like to step this way, earnings were as follows:

- Freelance Writing: $192.60 (I'm easing myself back into writing, but it'll remain a part-time gig as anything more than that will drive me round the bend)

- IM Report Card: $68.63 (read more about IM Report Card here)

- QuickRewards Network: $1.69 (read more about QuickRewards Network here)


Plans for November...

- carry on with freelance writing, IM Report Card & QuickRewards

- stay focused on Xomba

- do more paid surveys. Didn't do a lot of those last month.

- might dabble in one or two other things


Ultimately, I'd like to make more this month than I did last month, so fingers, toes and ears crossed.


Hope everyone had a good October - wishing y'all a super duper November.


I'm out...

Ebele.