When your day is shorter than your to-do-list.

What robs you of your time to write.

My intentions to stay on track are great or that’s what I like to tell myself. Time management is a balance. A precise schedule that holds everything together. But there are days when no matter what I did, nothing worked out and these days would run into weeks. I had to find out what was robbing me of my time, so I made a list.

What took up time in my day.

Work, eating, cleaning, feeding animals, laundry, email, blogs and sleep. By the time I got home, cleaned up, ate and worked on e-mails I was exhausted. In my head, I had hours during the day to write. Why wasn’t it working out in my real life?

I found an article and it talked about writing out a time log. Spend a few days and jot down everything you do.  It worked out great and showed me how I was wasting so much time.  So I decided to share.

Preparing and writing your time log

You don't need to keep writing a time log permanently. It is sufficient to do it for 3-7 days.  When you write a time log, make sure you don't miss even the minor activities. Don't let your time wasters hide there. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into columns listed below.

• Time
• Activities
• Scheduled
• Interrupted
• Urgent
• People (involved)

Then continue with activities you would normally do that day. On the way, update your time log. Do it either every time you switch to a new activity or at some short time intervals, like 10-20 minutes. Add entries to your "Time" and "Activities" column, and try to put marks like "Yes" or "No" in the "Scheduled", "Interrupted", and "Urgent" columns. Where relevant, make short notes on what people you spend time with too.

 When you have your time log written, you can move to the most important part, the analysis. Review your records and try to get answers to the following questions.

• What percentage of your time is spent in each of the different areas of your life? How is it divided between Work, Business, Family, Recreational, writing?
• What percentage of your activities are important?
• Are urgent?
• What people you spend more time with?
• What percentage of your activities go as planned?
• What are main interruptions?

Then think of possible adjustments and action steps. For example:

• Are there any activities you can cut back on?
• Is there anything you can delegate or simplify?
• Can you save time by grouping related tasks, like shopping?

Once you see everything you do on paper, it will amaze you on how you can add a little more time to your writing.

My time is better spent now on getting my book ready for its release.

If I knew then 

YA. To be released late 2014 through Black Opal Books.

Angel dreamed of a life of freedom. One filled with love that didn't come with a price.  She hid the pain until Jax entered her life. Can he give her what she needs to let go of the past or will he leave her with a bigger challenge that will change her future?

Angel fought to keep her family safe from the evil that threatened to destroy her. She made sure she was always the one in front of her sisters when her Mother yielded her wrath. Keeping the danger that surrounded them a secret.To lessen the blow she lived a lie that everyone believed, except for one. He was her only source of happiness until one day he was gone. With nothing left, and no one to turn to she must outrun her past, and overcome the secret that she fights to hide, before her Mother destroys everything she has left to hold on to.

Rescued from the Dark

Published through Black Opal Books

BLURB:

What if you woke up from a nightmare, trapped in a world of darkness, with no memory of how you got there? Rescued from the Dark is a passionate, gripping story about FBI agent, Jason Michaels, confronting his duty to his country, and struggling with his feelings for a woman with no memory of their love.

Undercover Agent,Jason Michaels, infiltrates the terrorist cell and risks everything, even his life, to save the FBI intern who stole his heart, then walked away. Once Mercy wakes from her coma Jason struggles with the fact that she does not remember what happened, but anguishes with the idea that she believes their unborn child belongs to her ex. Jason soon realizes the terrorists vow to get her back to claim their secrets locked in her memory, no matter what the cost. In a race against time, Jason and Mercy struggle to fight their attraction, and put their differences aside, as they launch a manhunt to save their country and each other.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFYANMK 

B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rescued-from-the-dark-lynda-kaye-frazier/1114500674?ean=2940016369129

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/285303

KOBO: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Rescued-from-the-Dark/book-mS6P9bqlx0ifOjztxuBrmg/page1.html?s=BNbii4WZ40uUHUgelR46hg&r=1

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-rescuedfromthedark-1061653-152.html

            BOB: http://www.blackopalbooks.com

Lynda Kaye Frazier

http://lyndafrazier.blogspot.com

www.lyndakayefrazier.com

Facebook- Lynda Kaye Frazier- Author

Twitter- lynda_kaye

Writing is my passion, Reading is my Love.

Our eyes, the windows to our world that we destroy a little each day.

As I got older, my eyes got weaker. Something I blamed on age. It never crossed my mind that it was my lifestyle. Boy was I wrong.

I went to the doctor, and had an eye opening experience. No pun intended.

I work during the day as an ultrasound tech, which means I am in front of a computer, with the lights dimmed for eight hours.

Then at night I’m in front of the computer working on my next story. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, I found out how wrong my lifestyle was for my eyes. I was told that my eyes had weakened over the last six months, mainly due to overuse, and strain. Now I understand strain, but how do you overuse your eyes? I can’t take them out, or elevate them with an ice bag. I know, bad medical humar but I couldn’t help it. After some research, and a long lecture from my optamologist, I found out that my eyes will continue to get worse unless I make some changes.

I love my job, and I love to write, as do so many of you. So I’m going to give you a list of things that will harm your site, and a few things we can do to keep our eye’s healthy so we can continue to enjoy our writing, reading or whatever we love to do.

#1

Focused staring is the number one reason for the loss of vision. What does that mean? When you stare at something your eyes blink about 3 times slower than normal. So when you’re watching TV, a movie at a theater, your computer screen, or reading a book, your eyes become dry and this creates damage to your eyes over time.

There are things you can do to reduce the problem, other than avoiding these activities all together. Which none of us want to do. When watching TV, take breaks during the commercials. That doesn't mean to stare at your computer screen during commercial breaks.  Get up, look away, anything that takes your focus away from the screen. Watching a movie at a theater is different.  Try to glance around the theater every once in a while. Maybe force yourself to take that annoying bathroom break during a slow part of the movie. You may have to get creative here, but find something to do that doesn't require you to stare at a fixed object. You can apply these principles to your computer time, reading time, etc. A random fact, there is no evidence to suggest that reading in a darker area causes any more damage than reading in a well-lit room.

#2

The sun's rays, or ultra-violet rays, are the number two reason for eye problems. The ultraviolet rays that come from the sun and tanning machines do massive damage to our eyes. Sunglasses with UV protection are an absolute requirement for everyone, in my opinion. The sun's UV rays bounce off of many surfaces. They also pierce many surfaces. Just because you are turned away from the sun or are driving in your car doesn't mean that you are protected from those damaging rays. In fact, it is usually the most common situation where the sun damage takes place. So buy some sunglasses that have UV ray protection. This will keep your eyes healthy, and you looking younger longer. A little FYI, when you squint, you deepen the crows feet around your eyes making you look older.

#3

As if there were not enough reasons to quit smoking tobacco. Smoking is the number three cause of loss of clear vision. Smoking cigarettes causes macular degeneration, which is a problem where the part of our eye that sends the signals that it receives to the brain degenerates. Over time less signals get sent  and our eyesight becomes poor. There is little else to say here except quit smoking, we all know how horrible it is for us.

#4

Injury to the eye is the fourth reason for loss of vision. This can be work related from chemicals or debris in the air, to pollutants or sports injuries. The best way to prevent an injury is to wear protection while working, playing or doing anything that could possibly put your eyes in any danger and if you do damage your eye get medical attention as quickly as possible. Especially around the Fourth of July. Fireworks have sent so many people to the ER and left many with permanent eye damage.  

This is a short list of the top things that can cause damage, but our lifestyles can to. We are so in tune to our social media that we find ourselves in front of a screen all day.

Here are some useful points to remember.

Don’t stare at one object for too long

Blink often

Keep your eyes moist-use drops if needed, and stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water.

Look away from your screen, book page or anything that you have to focus on.

Wear sunglasses

Feed your eyes. They need proper nutrition and vitamins to stay bright.

Get enough rest. Sleep is the only way we give our eyes a break.

Reduce stress. I know, easier said than done. But stress raises your blood pressure, which increases pressure in the vessels in your eyes, causing a decrease in blood supply. A big factor in site loss.

And most important, see your eye doctor once a year. If you do have any changes in your sight, catch it early.

The eyes are the windows to your soul and you don’t want anyone pulling the shades down before you're ready.

So protect your site so you can finish reading all those books on your to-be-read list, and write all those books you want to write.

New Years Resolutions that went all wrong.

Last year at this time I had my first contract and was working diligently through all my edits, getting ready for my release in February.
The days rushed by and before I knew it New Years had arrived.

2013 was going to be my year. I had so many plans. Release my new book on February 16th. Have my second book ready for submission by March and work towards my third by the end of the year.
I had goals.

Well father time was not my friend.

It is the beginning of September and I am three fourths of the way through two books. So close to the end but life keeps getting in the way.

As writers we realize the best made plans can go so wrong so we must be flexible.

If we push, the words won't come, or at least that's the way it works for me.

So I made a list. of ways to stay on track

1.  Set up a calender and mark out time to write.

This gives me a schedule so I can't say I don't have time.

2.  Keep a journal 

This keeps the ideas flowing. If I happen to sit in front of the computer with nothing to write I grab my journal.

3.  Plot my success

I no longer mark out on the calender when I want a book done. I mark word counts. Each scheduled writing time I plot my total words written. 

4.  Set a goal to write one more word than the last word count.

Each scheduled writing time I attempt to hit just one more word than the last. This gets me one more word closer to the end.

5.  Find a tangible prize for each goal you have set.

Mine is a new book. I am a writer, but I have always been an avid reader. 

My goals are still tangible this year, just more towards the end of the year.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated towards your goals? 

I'm off to write more words for today. Like I said earlier it's September and another New Years is right around the corner.

Until Next time

Lynda

www.lyndakayefrazier.com