Doing Too Many Things

A different kind of Weekly Roundup

I wanted to title this post, “Doing Everything Everywhere All At Once” but that was too long. So instead of referencing a movie, I’m referencing a cartoon by Allie Bosch.

Pop Culture Reference #1

I have a tendency to self-sabotage by being over productive. Like most people, I feel that I’m not doing ‘enough’ and that I need to be doing ‘more,’ for a variety of often nonsensical and incorrect feelings-based-reasons. I already had an inkling I was pushing myself towards burnout, and but The Second Great Shoulder Revolt™️ of 2024 last week pushed me into reflective mode.¹

Pop Culture Reference #2

I was up in Maine last weekend, and had a chat with my brother where we talked about, among other things, food delivery services. As I recited all the things I was doing that made it absolutely deplorable for me to cook, my brother said to me, “Yeah, you’re doing a lot.”

So, let’s review all of the things I am doing currently:

• I have a full time 9-5 job

• I am writing a book

• I am teaching classes outside of working hours

• I am running a short story group through a local writing organization

• I am writing this newsletter

• I am still petsitting a variety of small furry animals

That’s 6 jobs right there, which is so many jobs and also not reflective of the other stuff to keep me alive and healthy (exercise, friends & social engagements, food, reading, meditation, and so on, which to be clear - I am also doing.)

That is too many things. No wonder I don’t have time to cook (nor, honestly, do I want to. The pandemic killed that urge in me.) No wonder my shoulders hate me. Unlike the comic from Hyperbole and a Half , I cannot do all the things. On top of all of that just being a herculean amount of *stuff* for any one person to accomplish, I’m doing it in a body that hates hot weather and fights with its joints on a daily basis. In the immortal words of Joan Didion, ‘The Center Will Not Hold.’

What does that mean going forwards, then? I’ve started culling my inbox, unsubscribing from unnecessary emails. I’m being pickier with who I take on as a petsitting and teaching client. And, with regards to this little corner of the Substack universe, I’m going to cut back my posting schedule.

That time I actually met Allie Bosch at Skylight Books in LA. Peep how sad the curls are.

Starting in July, I’m going to be doing my weekly roundups on every other Friday instead of weekly. I’ll still keep to my Tuesday posting schedule, and migrate the monthly Artist Interviews to a Tuesday post instead of a Friday one.²

I’ve enjoyed writing for Substack, and I want to get back to a place where this feels like fun, not like an obligation, which is the territory I’m wading through right now.

Not much will change from your end. This was mostly an exercise in reminding myself that I can change my mind, that I’m allowed to adjust based on new data, and just because I can’t hold to my original idea, doesn’t make me a failure. (I told you, there are weird things going on inside my head.)

The one downside to this is that I will have one less venue for parading around my extensive mug collection, which does deserve to be showed off. Which honestly, if that’s the only con, then may we all be so lucky in our decision making.

I hope you’re not sweltering in heat wherever you are, and come back on Tuesday, where I’ll be doing a mid-year autopsy of my 2024 reading goals. (Spoiler alert: it will not be pretty.)

1. The first was in May when my shoulders did the exact same thing. I have already bought an industrial sized heating pad.

2. Which I am also behind on - I did my last interview in May and still have yet to transcribe it. Too many things.