Keeping my plates in the air

I have several different jobs and a couple of them mean dealing with a lot of sub-tasks which all have deadlines and various people I need to interact with. Some would say I'm the fortunate one, being able to set most of those deadlines, but it is a lot to keep a track of and a lot of responsibility and attention to detail. Juggling all of this can be a nightmare and and easily results in "dropped plates", especially if you tend towards being easily distracted and only fairly organised, rather than truly well organised.

People who know me might not believe it, but I'm only a fairly organised person (I like a lot of variety, my attention span can be short, and I get bored easily). I get organised when I'm overwhelmed, otherwise I approach life a bit more randomly—it's more interesting that way. 

It's ironic that I'm working on this post today. Actually I tried to do it yesterday but got overwhelmed by various other things like a storm that changed when I got home on my bike; a new, frustrating computer keyboard; and a boy who neglected to check his school email till nearly bedtime and insisted that he could only use my computer to do so.

Then today I'd planned to have the whole day at home working on getting on top of several jobs that were looming, but especially the OMF Japan blog. This morning I awoke to the news that I couldn't touch the OMF blog posts I'd been planning to work on most of the day because international headquarters are upgrading the web server. Yes, I'm being tested in patience and flexibility this week.

So, I had to face up to other things, like getting organised! It probably was a blessing as it forced me to face up to some other more difficult tasks on my plate. But it has been a somewhat overwhelming day, made worse by doing it while using my new Japanese keyboard and trackpad so that I can figure out if I can adjust to them (I'm thinking not).

However, my plan for this post was not to tell you about my day, but rather let you in on a secret weapon that I use to prevent dropped plates in my editing work. It's a website that one of my editing team introduced me to a couple of years ago: asana.com. 

It allows you to set up tasks and sub-tasks with due dates and, if you have a team using it, assign tasks or subtasks to people (or yourself).

Putting the magazine together gets very complicated, as I wrote about last year here. It's too complicated to just use a calendar, or a list on my phone, or even post-it notes. (Yes, I also use all of these things. To-do lists on post-it notes is one of my specialities. My boys know it too, I think I have several-years worth of post-it notes because they keep giving them too me. Actually, maybe not that many, but still a few!)

I have found Asana.com extremely useful and just this week have put it to use for the OMF Japan blog that I'm also managing. 

I know most of you aren't writers or editors, but you could use Asana for anything you're doing that has deadlines, especially if it is a longer term thing that needs you to do several steps over time to achieve it. For example, preparing for a trip or a presentation. Dates of your school-aged kids excursions or a reminder to do something a few weeks away that you're sure to forget. It really is an easy website to use, though like most things takes a bit of getting used to.

The trick is, of course, to look at the website often (or the phone app, I don't like it personally, but one of our Japan Harvest editors only uses it on that interface). Because I'm working with deadlines regularly I usually have it open in one of my tabs. I love the function "My tasks", which automatically shows you all that you have to do, and by when. I can keep tabs on my team (and writers) also, by typing their name into a box and finding out what they have due when...and following up when necessary.

Well, now I've had my fun in finishing off this blog post (started on my phone while I waited for my husband outside an electrical store yesterday), I need to get back to whatever else it was that needed doing...oh yes, the toilets needed cleaning and there was that email about our home assignment that I was writing and I've got to proofread our prayer letter. Hmmm. Back into the fray.

Confessions of a recovering conscientious student

I was a very conscientious student. "Conscientious" was one of the frequently repeated words on my report cards. 

David and I are a good couple, but our similarities
in the area of study-habits makes us less than sympathetic
to our not so studious boys!

I'm pretty sure my parents didn't know how lucky they were because I was also the eldest child (but I won't say anything about my sisters...). I'm a pretty typical eldest child: destined to want to fix things, be responsible, self-motivated etc. Though my oldest boy has played havoc with this birth-order theory!

To make it even more challenging for our family, David has the exact same characteristics. We hate seeing our boys leaving things to the last minute, not studying for tests, etc.

These last few days have been "culminating events" for high schoolers. That means they're on exam timetable and assessment has been scheduled. 

But not all are exams. I heard that the Economics class is going to a local Indian restaurant run by former CAJ parents with the goal of quizzing them about starting up a business in Japan. They'll finish their time there by enjoying lunch. I'm thinking the stats students (of whom one is my son), who have an exam at the same time, will be feeling a little ripped off!

But back to me being a recovering conscientious student. It served me well at that time, but it isn't a helpful characteristic when you're a parent it seems. Especially when you have kids who aren't that way. I've tried to be my kids "conscience" and it hasn't generally worked. It's just not something that's easy to turn off, though!

I'm trying, now, though. Especially for our eldest. I'm well aware that he's most likely not going to be in our house or even in the same country as us for tertiary studies, so he'll have to figure things out for himself. Hence, I'm trying really hard to hold my tongue these days.

Encouragement to keep running (or walking or crawling)

We are facing some very big, scary deadlines. In less than 15 weeks we will move out of this house in Tokyo, store most of our household and fly to Australia. Not for a holiday, but to work, for 12 months, and then return to work in Japan. This deadline has me overwhelmed at times. Particularly when I try to swallow it all in one lump. I've taken time to refocus my eyes on Jesus, this week, however and it's been a more-than-beneficial way to spend my time. One of the things I've done is reread parts of a book by a speaker I heard last year at a women's retreat. Below I've typed out one of the sections that made a significant impact on me when I read it this week. I pray it will impact you too and encourage you to keep running. "Come Closer" by Jane Rubietta, p 214-5 Come and Consider (what Jesus might say to you) "How I love you, Child. How I love you. I am by your side constantly, Your faithful guide. Keep running the race before you - Keep making a difference, Day in, day out. If you listen to your heart, If you listen with the ears of your soul, You will hear my heart berating Strongly, Cheering you forward, Strengthening you for The final kick across The finish. Meanwhile, the way is long And the road winding. But don't quit. Don't forget to invite Me to help yourun, To strengthen you, To cheer you on. Keep meeting my eyes, And you'll have all you Need for the race. And listen: Do you hear Them? The cloud of witnesses? They, too, surround You with support and Cheer you on, Though you can't always See them. Hold fast, Run well, And grab my hand. I'm not telling When the trumpet will sound, But until then, We have lots to do. Let's get loving." Thanks, Jane, for your insight and encouragement.