Progress?

Well, it has been a bit over two weeks since I last decided I was taking on this book writing gig so I figure I'm due for my first status update.

I'm behind schedule.

And not for any reason any of my Type A compadres would conceivably pin it on (upcoming PCI audit at work, tax time crunching, home improvement projects), but for a much better, more basic reason.

I've found that simply relaxing in my free time is far more pleasurable than I ever remember.

Not that this should be earth shattering news, but for the longest time I've always sought to fill my free time with (for lack of a better term) "productive" items. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing until taken to excess - which I probably have if I can honestly say that I forgot how good it feels to just chill out. Oh sure, I had taken individual nights "off" and chilled but the next night I would be back at the "productive" tasks - poker only being one in a long series of such things that I would pack in my 1-2 hours between the kids going to bed and me doing likewise. I honestly can't remember the last time I've taken as much "chill time" in one block as I've taken in the last two weeks.

All that being said, I still do feel the urge / need to fill this time with other things - and I surely will. I haven't gone Type B, but merely found that I need more down time than I had let myself take.

So, where does that leave the book? I have actually made some progress - getting basic ideas, topics, phrases, and other such mental pocket lint together. The method by which I am recording, organizing, and eventually structuring these into a coherent format is via a Mind Mapping tool. I am using FreeMind since (well) it is free and definitely meets all my basic needs. I fully anticipate having the basic structure / table of contents done "soon" but April 15 may be pushing it - it may indeed happen, but I'm not going to push myself needlessly to hit this date. I think that once I get over this "hump" that filling in the detail will be quite interesting - interesting enough to keep me motivated, anyway.

Well, back to relaxing with a Rye and Coke.....