I get by with a little help from my friends...

Time for the truth... I don't necessarily read every blog that I follow every single day. Once upon a time, I did, but not anymore. It's terribly time-consuming and -- even more detrimental to my productivity -- rather attention-stealing. It's hard to focus when you feel compelled to constantly ask "what's new over there?"

A.D.D. U.S.A.

I think that's kind of a symptom throughout society. I mean, obviously this doesn't pertain to everyone (well, the only things that do are "need food, water, air and shelter" and "yes, I danced the Macarena in the mid-90's") (you know you did!). But the overwhelming majority of people feel as though they need to know what's going on, regardless of how trivial. Or maybe because of how trivial?

If you think about it, the things that people feel like they "need" to be updated about are rather inconsequential... Who is getting voted off of DWTS? Which celebrities are breaking up now? Is that one kid with the funky hair still on American Idol? Who cares?

Now, I have my own trivial things I get caught up on -- Are the Brewers winning? Is Brett Favre really coming back for another year? Is that one kid with the funky hair still on American Idol? -- so I'm not trying to call the kettle "black." I just think it's something we all do.

NOTE: This is taking a WIDE turn from where I was planning on going...

Well, this gets me thinking, what's really important to stay on top of? As someone who writes, I'm actually a bit scared to ask that question. I mean, I hope people read what I have to say (even though I've learned to "not obsess about it, write the words that I want and then if anyone does actually read, that's super!").

It's not often I'm writing about extremely profound topics, though. Maybe I need to change that? I don't know... I need to think about it.

Where I'm Going With This

Anyhow, today I went around and revisited blogs, which I do periodically (instead of a-couple-times-an-hour). I caught up on some that I hadn't been to in a while and found some great content on one them which I'd like to spotlight.

There is a simply exceptional post over at The Write Words. Lindsey is a fiction writer and her post from last night is in regard to prioritizing one's time. This was a very apropos post for me to catch, since prioritization is tough for me. I get rather distracted with all sorts of stuff, some of which she mentions (keeping up with Facebook or Twitter, as examples).

Now, Lindsey has some methods which work for her and I'm going to steal one (You didn't know I was a thief? C'mon, I'm a writer. That's what we do!*). She comes up with a list the night before of things she is going to tackle the following day. Brilliant!!

Before signing off, I would like to mention -- for anyone who clicked on the second link, but not the first -- that Lindsey has a contest going with fantastic prizes, so be sure to check that out!

I apologize for the rambling today. Next one will be better, I promise…

* My Creative Writing Poetry professor -- the eternally awesome Jack Ridl -- told us that "great poets don't borrow... they steal." So that's where that comes from!!