It has been quite the week, both online and offline. I feel like this is going to be even more of a “catch all” type of post while I try to remember everything that’s going on!
Time // 9:30 a.m.
Place // At my desk in my office, again.
Eating // Nothing yet. I am not sure what I want for breakfast today.
Drinking // Black tea, orange flavored, I believe.
Reading // I’ve had a flightly week with my reading. I decided to try something totally different last Sunday afternoon, so I picked up All the President’s Men, an account of the Watergate investigation, by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The book is very, very “inside baseball” when it comes to politics and reporting, but I’m really enjoying it so far.
But I’ve also be dipping in and out of several other books — I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag by Jennifer Gilbert, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, and Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, to name a few. I haven’t had much time to read this week, so I haven’t gotten very far in any of them. I’m hoping this week will be a little less frenetic… but that’s not looking likely.
Contemplating // On Friday, I participated in in 2013 Chick-fil-A Leadercast webinar, a leadership seminar broadcast around the world. This year’s theme was “Simple Lead,” so all of the speeches were about ways to work through complexity to lead more effectively. The speaker that most stuck with me was David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. He talked about the importance of freeing up “psychic bandwidth” to give yourself room to think by getting all of the “stuff” out of your head.
That really resonated with me — lately its felt like my brain is running in a million different directions — so I started reading Getting Things Done. When the boyfriend saw me reading the book he got this incredulous look on his face, pointing out that I’m the editor of a newspaper and maintain a successful blog… do I really have a problem getting things done? And no, I don’t really. I get a lot of stuff done. My problem is that, lately, I can’t seem to focus on anything because there are too many things in my head. And stuff that isn’t related to work or the blog — making a dentist appointment, for example — falls by the wayside all the time. I’m not far into the book, but I’m really excited about the idea of getting a system in place to get things out of my head in an organized, actionable way.
Cooking // I have not done much cooking lately, but I think I am going to try this recipe for Chana Saag tonight for dinner.
Blogging // This is maybe my biggest news of the week: Friday was my five-year blogiversary! I was so nutty this week I almost missed it and didn’t get to celebrate as much as I might have wanted, but I’m really proud of this milestone. If you click over to the post, there’s a little giveaway at the end too.
Shopping // The last thing I need is a new purse, but I want this one SO BAD. It’s the same size and shape as my current purse (a red version of this bag) that I love and get complimented on all the time. And my red bag is getting a little worn around the edges… so I might splurge this week.
Promoting // I have a post up on Book Riot this week about my addition to spoilers. It was a fun post to write, but be warned there are some spoilers in it for Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games trilogy.
Hating // Clutter! On Friday night I did a little bit of a book purge (I got rid of like 20 books) and cleaned my closet, but I’m still feeling distracted by all the “stuff” in my life. I need to keep working on this.
Wanting // I want to sign up for an online class, The Phone Photography Project, for later this summer. It’s only $39 at the introductory price, but it starts right when I’ll be on vacation and so I’m concerned I won’t participate as fully as I should. I’m probably going to sign up anyway.
Anticipating // I’m really excited to have a day without a to do list. I usually make one for the weekend, but since I had to work most of the day yesterday covering our local college commencement ceremony, I didn’t bother. I still have things to do, but nothing that can’t wait.
Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?
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Happy 5th blogiversary! It’s always shocking to see another year go by and we’re still around. I can’t wait to hear what you think of Eleanor and Park. It’s such a cute book. The Phone Photography class sounds like fun! Now I might sign up. Today I’m reading Hacking Your Education and maybe listening to Daring Greatly. Enjoy your day!
I know! I’ve never been truly tempted to stop blogging, but in the slow times it can be hard to remember why we do it 🙂 Let me know if you sign up for the photo class — it’s be nice to have an online buddy to check in with.
I LOVE All the President’s Men. I haven’t read it in years, but it reminds me that I’ve been wanting to pick up Nixonland. I need a good bout with some political non-fiction.
I love all the shoe leather journalism that Woodward and Bernstein do. It’s awesome. I’m hoping to finish that one up soon.
I know from being a newspaper editor in the past about not being able to focus and having too many things in your head. It’s one part of the job (well, several) that I don’t miss.
I enjoyed All The President’s Men, both the book and the movie. I know it’s one of my brother-in-law’s favorite books. He also is a newspaper editor and my sister was a reporter for years too. Yep, it’s in the family.
Yeah, having a lot of balls up in the air is part of the job. We’ll see how implementing GTD goes for work, but I think it can help for the rest of my scattered life.
5 years for you too? congrats – Mine is in June – 5 years.
Have a great week.
Congrats! Five years ago with a good time for book bloggers — a lot of us started back then.
I’ve never read All the President’s Men, though I really like the movie adaptation. I bet it’s fascinating.
I really want to watch the movie now. I’m curious how they translate some of the dry bits to the screen (or if they just leave them out!).
Clutter 🙁 Boo! I have such a problem with that. If you saw my desk you’d run screaming from the room. If you come up with a solution that doesn’t involve hiring a housekeeper I’d love to hear it, lol.
Mine goes back and forth from SUPER cluttered to just sort of cluttered. I’m in a super cluttered swing, right now. Sometimes when it gets really bad, I just put everything in a box to deal with later 🙂
That new bag is nice, though so is your new one. That said, it’s great to have a real reason to buy something you want. Your boyfriend has a point, but there’s always something new to learn, and as you’ve suggested by what you said, sometimes we get bogged down. I think it’s the book I’ve read about before, got a lot of good reviews.
The current bag is showing some wear. I’ve had it for a few years and use it nearly every day — it’s reaching the point where I could justify replacing it.
There are a lot of people who are GTD fanatics and recommend the system, so I want to see if it could work for me.
I worship at the altar of David Allen. I think it’s a great idea to read the book–people who already have tons going on definitely need the help even more. I’ve found that the app, Remember the Milk, has been the easiest to incorporate into his system. It keeps my head on.
I think that’s true — just because you get a lot done doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to do it better. I think that’s what I want, just a way to feel more in control of all the things swirling around, get rid of the mental clutter that seems to come along with all the physical clutter.