Change With The Times

You can barely turn on the television, listen to the radio or read a newspaper or magazine when you begin the hear all of the dismal economic news. Many times it makes me want to shut it off and not fill my mind with such negative messages yet I don't want to live in isolation or with my head in the sand. Like many things in life, it is a matter of finding balance and changing what you can with the times where we live.

In recent weeks, I'm not driving every day to my mailbox where I pick up my work-related mail. While I haven't written about it often I do have a mailbox address. Some times I've received calls from writers who are in the area and have come to "drop" into my office. When they reach the address, they are confused since they see nothing from the outside of the building that indicates my name or office. They would not find this information since it is not my office but a local business with post office boxes. At that point, these people normally telephone my office because their plan of dropping into my office isn't working. It gives me a chance to ask them to physically mail whatever they want to send to me instead of dropping it by my office address. Some writers are overly persistent in such efforts to reach the editor or literary agent.

Because of the price of gas, I'm coordinating trips with my wife to run past the mailbox and pick up any mail or submissions. The mail tends to run in bunches so some days I get a great deal of it and other days there isn't much of anything. If you want to check out the cheapest location near you for gas, I recommend Gas Buddy. I've used it a number of times to check the price of local gasoline.

Until recently I've never been concerned that I find the most inexpensive gasoline station in my area. Yet with the rising price of gas and looking for ways to cut my expenses, Gas Buddy has become a useful resource. Are you constantly looking for ways to change and improve your writing routines? I am always on the look out for such innovative tools to broaden the reach of my writing and improve my own communication.

As another example, several weeks ago, I reworked my personal resume. I wanted my resume to reflect some of the skills which I've learned in the last few years. Yet my resume didn't match my LinkedIN profile--until last week. I reworked the data within LinkedIN so my printed resume and my profile are exactly the same and give a coordinated message. It took a bit of learning and effort to make these changes but the unified message is well worth the effort in my view.

Keep growing in your craft and business knowledge. It will pay off in the long run.