(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 33)

Believe it or not, I’m still settling into the rhythm of freelance life.

That’s part of the beauty of being a freelance writer - at times the rhythm can be whatever I’d like it to be.

For so long I was in the teaching rhythm and September always marked the beginning of the ‘buckle-down’ period…and with the girls on their school schedule I just kept that mentality.

But this year, really for the first time, I bumped that up to August 1st.

I mentioned this in passing last week - I set August 1st as a re-start date this year.

Partly that was because I organized myself differently…and part of that organization involved having the office back to where I need it to be.

Back in 2019 I told you about the first office set-up…and then a year and a half later things had changed and the office was down a desk.

For a long time it was on my mind to replace the office desk…but then I got used to using the smaller adjustable standing desk and desks weren’t all that available because of supply chain issues and I just didn’t think about it for a while.

And then we came back from our vacation in July and I decided it was time to get the office back on track.

The main thing I need the desk space for is my calendar.

I tried a wall calendar for the beginning of this year and it didn’t work for me. I went back to the desk planner…but I needed the desk space on which to place the planner.

So the girls and I took a trip to IKEA last month because they needed some items for their rooms, and I took a look at the desks.

I found the one you see above - it’s simple, so if I decide it’s not permanent, that’s fine. But it’s exactly what I need right now.

The drawers house all the things I didn’t really have a place for after I got rid of the other office desk. and I’m back to having the desk space I need so I don’t feel like everything is just piled up in a disorganized fashion.

What you see in the picture above is the more organized side of the office. I have to move some stuff around to record some lectures, and you’re looking at my video backdrop there…that’s why it’s so relatively clean. That chair is new, too - I got it this week. I’m hoping it will be ergonomically beneficial.

There’s a lot of wall space I can decorate if I so choose. And that bookcase was the first thing I got after I got rid of the desk. It led to less piling up…but it (obviously) has no desk space.

I’ve been using the planner to plot out daily assignments - it’s like I always say, the fact that I’m so busy that I need to be this organized means the work is going really well.

Overall - so far, so good. For the first two weeks in August I’ve met all my work deadlines - both the ones that have been given to me externally and the ones that I have imposed upon myself.

That’s important because usually I’ll end up sacrificing my self-imposed deadlines when the external deadlines approach…and it’s good that I got it all in.

Which now that I’m thinking about it isn’t entirely true - I may not have met all my self-imposed deadlines.

Because usually I like having the Sunday Paper written by Friday night so I don’t have to worry about it over the weekend.

And here I am just starting it on Saturday night.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

“Melodrama” - Lorde
“Night Visions” - Imagine Dragons
The Imitation Game
You Only Live Twice
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Devil Wears Prada
Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion

Made a concerted effort to watch more movies this week after what felt like too few last week. Maybe I over-did it. (But I did meet all those work deadlines so I guess I did OK.)

Notes

*I’m hoping once I figure out a training schedule for my running that I can get that all written down in my planner too. My ultimate goal will be to have my days planned out so that I don’t waste precious minutes around the girls’ school drop-offs and pick-ups - whether those are running minutes or working minutes.

*The Jets barely started their preseason before they had a quarterback injury. I was starting to get excited about football season. Now I don’t know how to feel.

*Luckily the Mets have kept it up.

*Social media links are below. I’m back to some pretty regular running, so I’ll be back to some pretty regular Instagram posting.