Do you focus on one thing? Or do you multi-task?

Clearly, there are advantages to each.

When you focus on one thing, you get done faster. It’s like running a race with your eyes on the finish line–no room for any thought except getting there as quickly as possible. No room for distractions. No room for anything else but getting done.

Sometimes, though, you can’t focus because external influences get in the way. To continue the analogy, your shoelace comes undone, the lanes on the track are laid out oddly so you cannot simply run, but need to watch where you’re going. So … some real-world reasons for multi-tasking? You have to keep an eye on the kids in between writing e-mails. Your computer needs to reboot, so you take advantage of the time by starting supper, or washing the car. You work on your blog post while your article package is printing.

In situations like these, using your “extra” time to do something else is thrifty.  Instead of sitting there, staring at the computer screen while Windows does its thing, you’re getting the laundry folded. You’re saving yourself hours in the car at rush hour by working at home, but need to take time out of your day to stop childish feuding over who gets to pick the channel on television.

You’re not wasting your time, you’re squeezing as much as you possibly can into every minute.

But here’s the downside … if you multi-task, it’s going to take you longer to get everything done. Even though it FEELS efficient and thrifty, it is, in fact, a time-suck.

Every time you turn your mind in a different direction, you’re losing your train of thought. See if this sounds familiar: You write a couple paragraphs of an article, click save, and while the computer is thinking, you glance in your inbox to see if you’ve gotten any emails. There are two, one from a friend, one from a business associate. You know the one from your friend will only take you about 45 seconds, so you open it, read it at a glance, throw together a quick reply and hit send. Then you figure you’ll check the other email, to see if it’s something you can do quickly–it turns out to be about a 5 minute time investment, just answering a question, but it takes you some time to type out the response. No big deal.

You take a quick glance at Twitter on your way back to your article and … it’s only been about 6 and a half minutes since you were there, but you’ve done four other things since you looked at this article. Now you need to remind yourself of what you were writing, what your next paragraph was going to be, and re-pick up the threads of your argument. It might only take you a few seconds, but … if you had just plowed directly through to the end without getting distracted, you might have been done by now. Or, at least, you would have been six minutes closer to the end.

But, you might be arguing, I got four other things done. Done! Off my plate. No longer cluttering up my inbox. That’s Accomplishment with a Capital A. … Isn’t it?

Maybe … but was it really worth it?

Let me spell it out this way. Suppose you have four projects to do, each of which should take you about a week of time. It’s obviously the same amount of time whether you do project #1 from start to finish, then project #2, then #3 and #4, or if you rotate one day for the first project, one day for the second, one day for the third, and so on. And, in fact, you might be thinking that the second scenario is better–touching each one briefly before moving on, making sure that all are being worked on, none are being neglected, and you’re making steady progress on all four of them.

But … if these are money-making projects, well … you’re losing money. 

If you had focused on getting the first project done, completely, and then moved on to number two … the first one, meanwhile, would have been moving into the next stage of revenue-raising–whether it was an ad campaign to attract new clients, a job that a customer would be paying for–if you got one done FIRST, you’d be getting your money (or new clients) by the time you were working on that fourth job.

Whereas, when you work on each of them, a little at a time, you’re going to complete them pretty much at the same time … a full month after starting, which means you wasted at least three weeks when you could have had some money heading your way.

Is it really worth it?

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Bring Your Work into Focus

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Pondering

(Continued from last week.)

So–the “great” and “grand” thing first.

First, there are parents and children. When you go one generation “out” from that, you’ve got Grandparents and Grandchildren. (Just like you called your parents’ parents Grandma and Grandpa, your children will call your parents that…. give or take a grandparental nickname or two.)

The next generation “down” are greats. As in, great-grandchildren. If you’re lucky enough to have enough generations in your family, your grandparents are going to call your kids their Great-grandchildren. And your grandchildren will be their great-great-grandchildren.

Now, how about that first, second, third, fourth cousin thing?

This basically counts generations from the nearest, shared relative.

Each, complete, level of “branches” on the family tree is a new level of cousinship (if there is such a word).

Starting from any happy couple, their children are siblings (brothers and sisters), and their children are first cousins.

Children of first cousins are yet another generation away from the original pair, so they are second cousins, and their children will be third cousins, and their children will be fourth cousins, and so on, and so on.

As long as you’re on the same “level” of branches, you’re “equal” cousins.

So–what about cousins that are the once, twice, three-times removed?

This comes into play when you have relationships that cross generations–that are on different levels of branches.

The children of your first cousins will be “once removed” to you, because they are children of your first cousins–kind of like cousin level one and a half. But YOUR children and those children will be second cousins (because they’re the same generation).

Similarly, if you start with a pair of second cousins (A & B, who share great-grandparents), then when A has a child–that child is Second Cousin Once Removed to B … but when B falls in love and has kids, his child and A’s child will be third cousins.

But what about Aunts and Uncles?

When you’re talking about aunts and uncles who are from earlier generations from you, you add “greats” to each generation above your parents’ siblings.

When you’re talking about children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of your own siblings, they will be niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, and great-great-niece/nephew.

See? It’s really quite simple!

Now, here’s a little quiz:

1. If your father’s brother has a grandchild … what is that child’s relationship to you?
2. What do you call your great-grandmother’s sister? (Assuming she’s still alive for you to talk to.)
3. What will your grandchildren call your brother’s grandchildren?
4. What will your children call your Aunt’s grandchildren?
5. Quick–If I mention your second cousin once removed … how is he related to you?

(Answers: 1. First cousin once removed. 2. Great-great-Aunt. 3. Second cousins. 4. Second cousin. 5. My grandfather’s brother’s great-grandchildren.

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MM: Six Degrees of Separation--Once Removed

But then there are writers who write because they want to, they’re driven, they’re inspired.

So inspired, perhaps, that they try to write an entire novel in a month. (Sound familiar, anyone?)

Here’s my question for you, about your writing … and I don’t mean the kind that puts dinner on the table, but the more optional kind. The blog posts. The journal next to your bed. Poetry you scribble in your darkest hours. The kind of writing that you do mostly for YOU.

Does it matter to you if anyone reads it? 

Much of this kind of “I wrote it for ME” writing is not meant for public consumption of any kind. It’s written as a release, a venting system for the writer. Or it’s a way of experimenting with new styles or techniques. Brain-storming to come up with ideas or work out a problem. All of which is helpful, but NOT what you want the world-at large reading.

But, what about the things you write that you’d like other people to read? A blog post that only gets 5 hits rather than the 50,000 you think it deserves? The deeply-felt letter to a friend that doesn’t get a response?  Does it dilute your sense of accomplishment and well-being if something perfect that you’ve written does not get read by anyone else? Or is it satisfying just knowing you’ve written it?

In other words–If a Writer Writes in the Forest and No-one Reads It, Does it Count?

Okay, everyone … discuss!

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If a Writer Writes in a Forest...

Quick–if your grandfather’s sister’s son has a grandson … what relation is he to you? To your grandfather?

Raise your hands if you’ve ever been confused when someone referred to your “first cousin once removed on your mother’s side.”

I thought so.

So–let’s clarify this shall we?

The basics are simple–grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, cousins. You probably don’t really need help with these, but we’ll go over it anyway.

When two people meet and fall in love, they get married and have children. These tiny people are then known to them as their Sons and Daughters, and when they grow up enough to talk, they will call the people who created them Mother and Father (or, collectively, their Parents).

As time goes by, the children grow up and then they meet other people, fall in love, and have children of their own. These children, being a further generation away, will call the original couple Grandparents, and will be known to them as Grandchildren. (Because, of course, everybody knows that the “grands” are so much more wonderful than the “regular” parents and children–probably because you don’t usually live with them.)

This new generation of children will call each other Cousin. That is, the children of siblings are First Cousins. And they will refer to their parents’ siblings as Aunt and Uncle.

All this is pretty straight-forward, right? Unless they were adopted, most people grew up with at least one of these close relatives, even if you only saw them on major holidays.

It’s when you start adding in further generations that it starts getting complicated.

When your siblings have children, they become your Niece and Nephew, and you become an Aunt or Uncle. This is the exact relationship you had with your own parents’ brothers and sisters, so it’s not unduly complicated, just from the opposite “side” than you grew up with. And when your niece or nephew has kids, they–since they will be one generation further along–become your Grandniece and Grandnephew.

Your first cousins, though–when they have children, they do not become your “grandcousins” because there is no such thing. What they are are your First Cousins Once Removed, and they will be Second Cousin to your kids and to your siblings’ kids.

Yeah, see, I told you this was where it started getting sticky.

Which is exactly why we’re going to continue this next week … this is much too long for one post!

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MM: Six Degrees of Separation

(Because, you DO know that we all have fabulous potential, don’t you? The rest of this post will be fairly pointless if you don’t believe that, in which case, why don’t you go sit over there in that little chair off in the corner while the rest of us chat.)

Joanna is absolutely right. We all owe it to ourselves to be the best we can be. More, we owe it to our readers.

“When thinking about writing and responsibility, let’s not forget this part.  Your responsibility to shine. To lift the lid off.  To write your most brilliant, sparkling stuff.  To move mountains, and soften hearts.”

But, what happens when you get distracted? Or you lose focus? Instead of creating your own light, you get distracted by other, shiny, brilliant posts by other people, like a crow seeing a new dime on the sidewalk? Or, instead of one, bright, solid glow, you generate random sparkles that fizzle out before they can do anything but shine for a moment.

It’s like the difference between watching fireflies blinking on and off in your backyard on a warm, summer night and basking in the glow of the sun (with, naturally, appropriate sunscreen). They’re pretty, but they are fleeting … like a good idea that got away.

The way I see it, these are two sides to this problem–and they both come down to the same thing.

• If all you are emitting are random sparks, like fireflies, which glimmer briefly and then fade, they won’t ever add up to anything.

• If you are letting yourself get distracted by the wide, shiny world, you’re never going to focus long enough to take those sparks and coax them into flame.

In other words, you’re so busy doing so many different things–reading posts, taking lessons, writing e-mails, catching up on Tweets–that, while you’re busy all the time, you’re not accomplishing anything. (Welcome to my world.)

In order to truly shine on your own, to glow and inspire all the world with your words, your confidence, and your conviction … you have to focus as much light as you can. Whether you reflect it, like the moon, or create it, like a lightbulb, you need to DO SOMETHING WITH IT TO MAKE IT YOURS.

Ultimately, nobody can write like you can, nobody can spin words quite like you. If you don’t power your own writing, nobody can … so don’t let distractions stop you!

Now … if I could only listen to myself … because, lately? Focus is my main problem … the Shiny Pebble Distraction Syndrome run amok.

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Ooh, Shiny!

Okay … birthday cake for everybody!

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Celebrate!

You’ve seen the milk ads, right? “Got Milk?

Have you noticed that there’s no “subject” to that sentence?

Two words– a verb “Got” and a noun which is the object of the sentence, “Milk”–but neither of which is the subject of the sentence.

That, of course is “You.” As in, “Have you got milk?”

The very simple explanation for this is that the subject is understood, even though it’s not directly stated.

If somebody shouts “Run!” you can more or less assume that they’re talking to anybody in earshot, rather than taking the time to say “You in the yellow necktie, run!” It doesn’t make the sentence any less clear, really. It gets its point across.

If you are struggling with three bags of groceries and a kind person asks, “Need help?” you needn’t criticize him for his bad grammar–in reality, it’s just as good as his manners. The “You” is understood.

Of course, you can’t do this for every sentence that has “You” as the subject.

That last sentence, for example, would make no sense if I left out the “you.”

“Can’t do this for every sentence” simply doesn’t make sense. Who can’t? The cat? People under the age of 21? North Dakotans?

As rules of thumb go, never leave off the actual Subject of your sentence unless it’s quite clear who and what the sentence is about. But if the time and circumstances allow?

Go for it!

(Anything obvious I missed? Leave a comment and let’s talk!)

(And, in case you missed it, the last three sentences were all object lessons, just for you.)

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MM: Got Subject?

Isn’t it exciting? I’ve made the list of SOBs (Successful and Outstanding Bloggers) over at Liz’s Successful Blog.

Thank you, Liz! It’s really just an honor to be nominated…

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Well, I'll Be...

Are you waiting for a train of thought that isn’t coming?

There you are, sitting at the station, waiting. And waiting.

And waiting.

But no train ever seems to come.

You’re not sure why, exactly. All the tracks are there, you’re ready and waiting … but there’s nowhere to go.

Maybe it’s not the train station’s fault?

Maybe it’s your fault for not going where the trains are.

Um, you know the old expression about being “all dressed up with nowhere to go?”

If you’re content to sit at a station that isn’t in service, how can you expect to get any service?

You have to go and FIND the service.

You can sit there as long as you like, but it’s not going to bring the train to you.

(This inspirational message is brought to you by Business Block, the sister company of Writer’s Block, whose motto is “You can’t build it if we don’t come.”)

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Train of Thought to Nowhere