So, it was all going wonderfully well. It was hard but I was managing. And then one little email set off a nuclear bomb.

Let me explain.

On New Years Eve I sent off a whole bunch of submissions to a whole heap of places for upcoming festivals and whatnot. Actually, more festivals than whatnot. Anyway, one of these was a festival at a University in Georgia and the initial application was to submit a synopsis of the play that you wanted to submit for consideration. Easy. Done. When I pressed send and sent my application to the other side of the world and then some, I had a very rough, very bad first draft of the play I wanted to submit. I somehow got it into my head that I would have about a month to get the next draft together before I got a yay or nay to whether they wanted me to submit it.

It was three days later that I got a lovely email saying sure, send us your play. Ah ... No worries.

So for the last two days I have been chained to my pen getting the next draft of this little masterpiece ready for public consumption. Everything else went out the window, all the daily tasks, all the weekly tasks, the list itself, as I went hell for leather to get this done.

And it's done. And I really like it.

Half of me is happy as the proverbial pig in mud that I just worked and worked until it was done. The rest of me is like, I screwed it all in less than a week.

BUT, here's what I have done since I sent off the masterpiece this morning:

1. I have caught up with the play readings.

2. I have laughed and laughed.

3. I have caught up on my daily diary.

4. I am working right now on catching up with the blogging.

And before the night is done, hopefully I will have caught up with the marketing tasks, and all the other things that I need to get done before Week 2 is upon me.

I am still way in this. THIS is going to happen.

Mini-Review

I was starting to feel a little, well not depressed, but a touch Deputy Downer after the first two days of my grand experiment. It wasn’t that the initial thrill was wearing off or that I suddenly wanted to quit or anything but there was as a definite WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? going on in my head. And a bit of YOU ARE NEVER EVER GOING TO GET CLOSE TO COMPLETING ALL THESE THINGS and a few YOU ARE A COMPLETE IDIOT thrown into the mix just to make sure I got the message.

So I thought I would step back for a couple of minutes and see just what I have accomplished in the last two days and what I am doing that is getting this list done and did.

1. Daily Tasks

There are 9 daily tasks on the list at the moment:

1. Read/Watch a play every day
5. Write for at least 1 hour every day
17. Complete a marketing task every day
19. Blog every day
32. Take a photo every day
45. Find something to laugh at every day
66. Take 5 minutes a day just to sit in silence and do nothing.
67. Tell myself something nice about myself once a day
101. Write down everything I do.

Nine tasks sounds like a lot of things to cram into days that are already overstuffed, but I guess that is the point of this year – to make my days the way that I want them and not let all the minutiae become the dominant force. I really don’t want to lie on my death bed and convince myself that I was so happy I didn’t write that play because I focused more on having clean undies.

And so far, so good, although the two that are really trying me are 66 and 67, which probably says a lot about why I need this massive intervention into my life. But I’m working on them, I’m doing them and that is what is important.

The easiest so far has been number 45. Go figure.

2. The Beginning of other tasks

I have also began some other tasks, or in the process of starting some tasks that are going to be long-term.

49. Keep a plant alive for at least 6 months.

This I started yesterday. For Christmas, I received from work a basil plant, or more accurately, I received soil and basil seeds. Yesterday, seeds went into soil and now we wait.

6. 210 Submissions

Well, I have one submission done. Only 209 to go.

2. Read 100 novels.

I’m reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel at the moment. It’s fantastic, even though it is 600 million pages long. I’m hoping a lot of short novels get published this year or else this is going to be tough.

34. Quit smoking.

I am trying very hard at this. I’ve definitely cut down but the quitting thing is tough, tough, tough. I soldier on.

46. Count to 10 before I lose my temper.

This got tested last night when the Boyfriend screwed up dinner. I counted to 10, I still lost my temper. So technically, I did do it but it didn’t work. This I will have to improve on.

102. Keep emails under control

At the start of this year, I had over 1,000 emails in my inbox. It’s now down to 661. You do the math.

103. Less TV.

Small story: I really wanted to watch a movie on TV last night. But the play that I was writing and submitting wasn’t finished. I chose the play. No TV last night. VICTORY!

105. Limit my drinking

Last two nights: Two beers. That’s limited in my opinion.


3. Weekly Tasks

There are six weekly tasks:

20. Do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes.

This is tough. I HATE exercise. HATE it, even though intellectually I know that it is a must. I’ve been walking a lot but it’s always to do something. Get the papers, go the shops. This is not really exercise. So I need to work on this.

36. Eat vegetables at least 3 times a week.

Made a salad last night to go with the dinner that was almost ruined. VICTORY!

48. Learn a new word every week in the general throw of things.

Not yet …

62. Indulge in something wicked once and only once a week.

Ferrero Chocolates – that was the easiest thing in the world. I can’t believe I have to wait until next week for something else.

89. Read a screenplay once a week

Not yet …

109. Read at least one short story per week.

I read two yesterday, neither which set me on fire but still …

So that’s not too bad for two days. If only I could figure out how to add about 12 hours to every day, I would be just cruising.