Letting Go of Something Old to Create a Space for Something New

[smallhobbit]

This is my response to this month's story_works Take a Leap challenge.

Firstly, although not technically within the timescale, my work have offered me reduced hours from the beginning of November to the end of March, which is good.  They've also agreed to me using some of my leave to reduce the hours worked for the last two weeks of October, so then come November I'll just drop one day.  Which should indeed give me some space for something new.

To begin with, I looked at social media and reduced the number I'm following on both Twitter and Instagram, because while I want to keep up to date with friends and certain useful organisations (like the county roads) and a few arts organisations, I really don't need any more negative information.  I am on Facebook, but only use it to keep track of the daughter (there are a lot of horse posts), plus Brownies and Bundles use it for messaging.  In addition I've removed a few from my Dreamwidth list, although not, I hope, anyone who comments here or with whom I have regular interaction elsewhere.  (If you think I'm ignoring you, then do shout!)  All of which is designed to free up time I can more productively spend with other people.

I did consider taking an online dance class, but that would mean dropping my daily walk (time considerations) and I much prefer the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.  Later in the year I may reconsider.

My big decision though is to cut back on the amount of writing I do.  Again that's more of a streamlining.  I shall be continuing with my favourite challenges fan_flashworks , whatif_au , story_works plus various drabble/ficlet communities but I intend to be more selective with other challenges.  Up to now, I've been challenging myself to write as widely as possible, hence signing up for a wide variety of exchanges, but from now on it will be more a case of 'Do I really want to do this?'  So there will certainly be seasonal challenges, like spook_me , yuletide  and chocolateboxcomm but my intention is otherwise to be cutting back.

Because I want to spend more time on crafts.  There's so many things I want to knit, plus I'm continuing to cross stitch and there simply aren't enough hours in the day to do everything.  I've also discovered that whereas I have to concentrate when I'm cross stitching, if I'm doing some basic knitting I can listen to podcasts/audiobooks.  Which is a decided bonus.

There's still time left this month to continue to get rid of the old - have I mentioned the pile of books I need to sort?  And it's about time for my annual 'I haven't worn this for over a year, do I really need to keep it?' but 'I may come in useful' failed purge.

Comments

[rusty_armour]

It's great that you've been able to get reduced hours at work and can stay there until March. It may not be exactly what you'd planned, but it seems pretty close. :-)

It sounds like you've been doing an excellent job of getting rid of some of the old to make way for the new. Social media can be a real time drain. I recently left some of the many Facebook groups I'd joined because I found that I was following too much already. I might take a page from your book and do a bit more purging, especially when I belong to multiple groups on the same subject (e.g. Sherlock Holmes).

I'm a slow writer, so I'm always impressed by just how many writing challenges you engage in! Saying that, I think you're wise to streamline the challenges you decide to participate in and go for the ones you enjoy the most. Writing should be fun (when it's not frustrating as hell) and being a bit more particular about your challenges is a good way to free up some time.

I hope this purging will give you some extra time for crafts. It's nice that knitting allows you to listen to podcasts/audiobooks.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - yes, it's as good as I can expect.

I've found that social media can also be a mood drain if I'm not selective in what I'm doing - it's great for chatting with friends, but surrounding myself with bad news is not productive.

I'm going for the writing should be fun - the frustrating bit is inevitable, when you can see a little light but it's impossible to reach it ...

Well, yesterday evening I did lots of craft and no writing, and told myself that was okay, so I seem to be making progress.