Multi-Tasking and Hand Wringing
Good news - I finally got 6 ebooks uploaded to sell on eBay. It’s a start, and now I have the process down, so it shouldn’t seem so intimidating. I’ve put “upload at least 5 books” on each day’s task list (if I don’t have a list in front of me, it’s much easier to find other things to do).
Bad news - it’s taken me this long to finally get that part of the process done. I’ve written before about my propensity to wring my hands and let worry take the place of action. But, no more! I’m calling an end to that behavior right now.
Part of the handwringing this time has been my participation in the Cookbook Giveaway. I haven’t given in to the urge to keep my aweber page open so that I can refresh it every 15 minutes to check the stats, but I do look a couple of times a day. So far, 70 people have signed up to my list and downloaded the book. That means I’ve promised 70 people, so far, that I’d be sending them a newsletter with some tips about cooking. EEKS! Now I have to actually come up with a newsletter! It’s not that I don’t know the topic; I think I may know too much about it.
Sounds odd, doesn’t it. Here’s the thing. I’ve been cooking so long and been trained so well that I don’t have a clue what aspect of cooking might make for an interesting newsletter. Do I start from the beginning (this is the pan, put water in, turn on heat, wait for boil) or go into sophisticated techniques and recipes and hope someone asks for a different level. Oh well, I guess since it’s the holidays I can start by building around edible gifts. Thing is just to start, right?
I’m also working on getting a chefjudi web page going. I need to figure out how I want it to look (web page or blog?) and I need to find things to both give away and to sell. That selling is the whole point, after all.
When I was in the working world, the actual go-to-an-office kind, I had no problem multi-tasking. I have to get back into that mindset. For now, it looks like my best bet is to set aside a block of time that’s exclusively for one project. For example, I need to find cooking-related affiliate programs, so I’ve blocked out 2 hours today to do just that. Then, I have another 2-hour block for working on my ebay listings. 1 hour for working on the chefjudi newsletter, and 1 hour for the ebay newsletter. There’s also a webinar this evening about computer and internet law that I want to attend. Can’t decide whether that’s work or pleasure, but it’s still part of the to-do list.
Who said you can sit at your computer for an hour in your pajamas and make a $million? That’s obviously not the truth, but there are plenty of people out there willing to sell you their $27 or $97 or $497 book/system/course with those claims.
It may be true that in a couple of years I’ll be able to run things without spending a lot of time at it. But for now, for me, there has to be a considerable amount of time spent actually being productive.
On that note, I’d best get back to it.
