Category: Self-improvement

Animals, Creativity, Environment, Faith, Frugality, Gratitude, Homesteading, Minimalism, Politics, Self-improvement, Writing

Public Office

Lisa Burbank

No, I’m not running for any election or government position. I’d be a terrible politician. And probably get myself bumped off due to my tree hugging, Bible thumping, no kitty left behind, tightwaddery views. Every petroleum based industry would be wanting to stick my head on the proverbial platter. So, no, not looking for a career in government any time soon.

“Public Office” is literal. I am currently sitting in a public coffee shop typing this up. The reasons are two-fold. The first is Charter Communications keeps jacking their prices up to where it has become too expensive to keep Wi-fi/Internet/cable TV etc. at home on a part-time income. Mom and I do not watch the boob-tube enough to justify the expense (though Mom is sure to miss her HGTV from time to time…), and I can’t remember the last time I saw a good, quality TV show. Though there is still the expense of a cup of tea at the local coffee shop, when doing the math, it is much less than Charter’s bill. (And before all the aunties start coming out of the woodwork with pitchforks after me, the decision to remove cable and internet from the house was Mom’s decision; she approached me with it). I know all about licensing expenses and insurance and keeping folks on the payroll, as Charter must do, but sometimes you have to take a stand and we’re doing it by withdrawing our business.

The second reason is part of the first because it has forced me to take the advice of other work/study-from-home friends who say they are way more productive sitting in a public place away from home distractions. And I certainly have them. While I’m a pro at ignoring the telephone, knocks on the door–whether the outside door or my home office door from Mom–cannot be ignored without appearing rude and/or anti-social. Here, I have one responsibility: to write. Whether it is schoolwork, blogging, or work on one of the three novels I have “in the works”, this is all I have to do. And, though it is only my first day in this “public office”, I’m finding my focus is much stronger. And that’s worth the $2 and change for a cup of delicious Chai tea…albeit it may knock the 30 lb. weight loss plan out of the ballpark.

May God bless you & keep you!

Addiction, Frugality, Minimalism, OCD, Self-improvement

We All Have Our Weaknesses

Lisa Burbank

I love learning. It is one of the reasons I went back to college in my late-40’s to earn my degree in creative writing, and now, at 50, I am two years’ away from graduation (Yay!). Yes, I already know how to write but, the perfectionist in me wants to be a better writer. And there is always room for improvement.

However, this same love for learning is also what trips me up when it comes to one of life’s most precious commodities: Time.

I am a sucker for the free webinar. Every armchair expert that comes out of the woodwork with a “free” webinar to teach you how to be a better person, to write a better blog, to earn more money, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and I am signing up. Granted, I have found some really awesome online communities that I belong to and enjoy. It has also led me to make some small but sound investments in some of the programs being pitched in these free webinars. But one must really be discerning.

I’d like to think that I am discerning. I may initially sign up but, oftentimes, I simply delete the email notification when it lands in my Inbox. It seems like a good idea at the time and I’d like to learn more about (fill in the blank) but, really, there are just so many hours in the day. No one person could ever watch all of these webinars. So why do I do this to myself? What is the compulsion to sign up for these events in the first place? And, funny, I actually feel a little guilty when I delete these notifications. Though the notification is probably on some automatic service and not hand-sent by the webinar’s host, still, I feel like I’ve wasted someone’s time and gotten their hopes up that maybe they’re snagging a new client somewhere down the road. Granted, again, some have won me as a client. And I have no regrets. I just haven’t figured out why I feel the need to sign up for nearly every one that crosses my path. I do this with newsletters, too. Again, there’s only so many one can read in a day’s time. It seems every so many months, I am going through my Inbox and unsubscribing to skeighty-eight hundred webinars and newsletters because my Inbox has gotten too cluttered.

Whatever the reason behind it, this compulsion has me firmly in its grip. “If it’s free, it’s for me”. If I subscribed to this philosophy with kittens, I truly would be the crazy cat lady!

Though we are a number of weeks away from Ash Wednesday, I’m thinking that may be my Lenten vow this year: not to sign up for any newsletters or webinars for those 6 weeks. It would surely free up a few extra hours in my week…hours that would be better spent being more of a writer.

May God bless you & keep you!