Welcome to Treasures Washed Up on the Shore!

I honestly can’t promise that every word that floats through this blog will prove a treasure. But it will be lovely to have a place to converse, express ideas, and highlight some resources.

For starters, in April I pondered my experience with income tax prep (joy joy). Here’s the post:

For the past several days, I’ve been steeped in a great American pastime—preparing my income tax returns. After trying out a new calculation software, and completing 95% of the work, I didn’t feel comfortable with the results. So I decided to start over, using my familiar, used-for-the-past-ten-years program. Our returns have a lot of ins and outs, and trying to answer those computer-screen interview questions was a challenge. I’m convinced the government pays people specifically to make this whole process as complex as possible.

What I noticed is that, until I hit that ‘transmit’ button to send the forms on their virtual flight, I could hardly think about anything else. This sort of focus tends to be a norm for me; if there is a big project hanging over me, it’s hard to devote time and emotional energy to other priorities. A driving force propels me along the path to completion.

When I finally arrive, it’s like dropping a weighty backpack at the end of a long hike. Freedom! It has been a joy to celebrate a day of reveling in completion energy. A few things went by the wayside for a while, but it has been worth it.

How about you? How does hyper-focus show up in your life (or does it)? When you have a big project with a definite deadline, are you able to moderate your focus and work on other priorities (including creative ventures) as well?

What is your strategy?