“So Where Have You Been?”

As the band currently known as Brokenworks plays in the background, a explanation for the lengthy silence here. It’s a bit of a three-parter: distraction, illness and revelation.

1. Distraction

You’ve doubtless heard the term “work smarter, not harder.” Just because I enjoy being a rebel I decided to go the other way for a while. Several weeks ago, I decided it was more than necessary for me to while at the day job focus exclusively on said day job. Little or no Twitter, same for Facebook and doubly so for blogging. It’s bloody difficult to do much along these lines where I’m located anyway, since courtesy of cubicle design and location I’m wide open to every pair of eyes that wanders by. There’s also the factor that I am getting paid to work, not talk to others through social media although this is actually a small part of my job in marketing. So hunker down I did. Everything else could wait until a break, or lunch or when I got home…

… totally brain-fried because I wasn’t taking breaks. Lunch, yes. But it’d be three solid hours before and five after of nothing but work, work, work. Gotta stay productive. Which was true. Gotta get organized. Also true. Gotta beat myself into a walking zombie doing all this.

Might want to rethink that part, dude.

I was getting more work done… to a point. I was becoming more efficient and organized… to a point. However, neither was reaching the level they should have given the amount of effort and energy devoted. Also, I was so empty afterwards the writing I had decided would be done only at home wasn’t getting done at home. Words were coming in spritzes and spurts.

Now, add this to how there are times it’s difficult for me to write period, and what you have is a quite effective one-two punch. To the downward spiral my writing schedule went. For everything: Facebook, Twitter, blogging and the two Examiner columns.

And oh yes… Christ Soul Rock & Roll. Along with promoting the current book. This was especially true for the former.

Not good.

I needed an intervention.

I got one.

2. Illness

I got sick.

Oh boy, have I been sick the past several days. Deep persistent cough, shortness of breath, sweats, chills, fatigue, and at different times loss of appetite, severe (ahem) intestinal issues and periods of disorientation.

And the reason for this?

3. Revelation

The only thing missing has been God sitting outside my bedroom window with a bullhorn yelling “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!!”

I realized I was doing things the wrong way at work, needing to better set up different processes and then click through them by rote. And speed up by slowing down. Take a freakin’ break. Say hi to Twitter and Facebook. Sneak in a blog post or two if time permits. Find a way to deal with the lack of privacy. But don’t burn yourself out.

I also realized I needed to get back to doing what it is I’m supposed to be doing.

I read a solid piece of advice a couple of weeks ago: “The best way to keep from fulfilling your plans is to announce them.” So I won’t, other than to reiterate a commitment to completing the next book as swiftly as possible. In fact, through a lengthy set of circumstances so utterly boring to anyone save the pure techhead it now has its own laptop. Geek details available upon request.

Anyway, that’s the reason behind the silence. Hopefully it won’t happen again. (And if you don’t mind, Lord, I really could live without this flu or whatever it is. Please. Sir. Thank you.)