Happy Halloween! These cute wooden ghosts were outside The French Hen, a boutique, in Downtown Terre Haute. I need them for my porch.
1. Terre Haute takes its Halloween very seriously with not one, but TWO nights of trick or treating. And in actuality, tonight will be our third night of trick or treating. We spent Friday evening at a trunk or treat at Sophie’s school and then a trick or treat night for kids in downtown. We went to a few homes and passed out candy last night, and plan to go out again tonight. I just love the family-friendly — and Halloween-friendly — spirit in Terre Haute. Am I in the right town, or what?
By the way, I LOVE the trunk or treat concept! Why wasn’t this a thing in San Diego? Or was it and I just had no idea?
2. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and every year I think about whether I should take the challenge. If you’re not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it’s a way to write a 50,000-word novel in one month by writing approximately 1,600 words per day. I signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo several years ago and didn’t make it beyond the first day. I may attempt it tomorrow, especially given I have the first and last chapter of my novel written. Maybe this will be a good way to motivate me to write the middle? We’ll see. …
3. Given the choice between more time or more money, which would you pick? That’s the question this New York Times article posed. I’m sure most people’s knee-jerk response is time. Yet one thing I’ve learned about money — and struggles with money over the years — is having it can actually lead to more time. A profound lesson for me was when I understood Suze Orman’s words that having money gives people options. And in this scenario, I think the options lead to time.
4. We’ve all heard that multi-tasking is unproductive. KJ Dell’Antonia, former editor at New York Times Motherlode (now “Well Family”), takes it this up a notch. KJ wrote about how she changed the way she works to only focus on one project per day. She may occasionally split the day into two projects, both at different times.
I often have multiple projects to do each day, and I start every work day with a numbered list of tasks. But I’ve realized having six things on my “to do” list isn’t always realistic. I’m trying to pair it down a bit, and stick to only a few and devote more time to each (like KJ suggests). How do you handle multiple work projects and tasks?
5. Finally, I’m launching my first email newsletter and I’d love it if you sign up to receive it. It will be a monthly email with tips about writing, marketing, links to great resources, and more fun stuff. So if you’re at all interested in hearing more from me, please sign up. I promise I won’t spam you.
What’s going on in your life? What are you thinking about on this last day of October?