Of the many things that keep me busy, sharing discoveries on this blog is one that I enjoy. On the other hand I spend countless hours photographing, formatting and composing what appears here. In addition to this blog I maintain several websites including my eCommerce site RebeccaBaer.com, my art licensing site RebeccaBaer.net (okay, so I'm not terribly original with those website names), my store site ArtisanLifeAndStyle.com along with FB, Linked in... You get the picture. Enough already! Developing original content isn't so hard. My brain is always exploding with ideas, more that I can possibly accomplish. As I wonder where my time goes and try to determine how to insert more hours in the day, I find that I still only get twenty-four.Fooey! The alternative is to try and cram fewer tasks into those hours, which brings me to the title of this post.
When our youngest was in middle and high school we turned to homeschooling (One of the best decisions ever!). She was an excellent student but easily distracted. I cannot count the number times we repeated the word "focus", as in "focus on the task at hand". I was reminded of that recently and decided that perhaps I need to focus. How can I spend my time most effectively? What must stay; what can go? Add to that, on what do I want to spend my time? Well the answer, first and foremost, is designing. Designing is my first love. Whether painting or enhancing my work in Photoshop I truly enjoy what I do. It is also my livelihood. Designing stays. I'll spare you the step-by-step details and suffice it to say that my blog really only entertains me. I like cooking, creating, figuring out coding workarounds, etc, and like to share my discoveries with you. The reality is that all of this does nothing for my time management, although it might help some others save a bit of trial and error. My last post before this one was for making homemade sauerkraut (once again it turned out great btw, yum!). That was a few months ago. It's not that I haven't had an original thought since then. I have them all of the time. Other things just take priority. Before Christmas I had been considering making some changes to the blog, especially how often I post and what the focus of it should be. Then I received a Christmas card from a family member who said such lovely and encouraging things about my writings (thanks Kendra!) and I began to have second thoughts. So I did nothing. Now I can't just leave the blog dangling forever so there are going to be some changes. If you've read this far thanks for sticking with me while I ramble.
Brilliant ideas like my instant hamburger bun pan (okay, I'm proud of that one--and it's super popular) I may not be able to keep to myself but I make no promises. The same goes for code workarounds.
This leaves "foodie finds" and "made from scratch" tabs. We've discovered some quaint shops and markets along with independent eateries in our travels and love putting them out there share a good word on their behalf. These honest commentaries do get traffic and hopefully have given the purveyors a boost. After all, word of mouth is the best advertising. If I add any foodie finds in the future, they are likely to be few and far between."Made from scratch" features my original recipes or sometimes my adaptation of existing dishes. These won't go away. I refer to them frequently and know that others enjoy access to these as well. New additions will be sporadic though as writing and sharing recipes cannot be a priority for me. As I mentioned above, designing is my principal task and must be where I focus my attention. Incidentally, I have a few tabletop collections on the horizon that feature my work, which brings me full circle. What better vessel in which to serve one of my recipes than dinnerware bearing my art. How fun and exciting is that?
