The Method Behind The Madness

LJ And PandaWho am I?

That’s me. I’m the one on the left. The human one*.

My name is Laura Earnest.

For many years I have been a student of productivity. I pursued the ways of doing things in the most effective and efficient manner. Because basically I’m lazy and I don’t want to work more than I have to.

I have been blogging about productivity for a really long time (over 10 years, which makes me a great-great-grandma in the blogosphere). The blog journey started with a fascination with PDA apps. Then I realized that all the trendy systems were just too complicated…people spent more time crafting how they worked to fit a system than the other way around…and SimpleProductivityBlog.com was born. In 2015 I wanted to look at productivity in life as a whole and so we all moved to WholeLifeProductivity.com.

But in 2018 something changed.

I realized that I had said all I really wanted to say on productivity, because the methods and tracking and systems weren’t enough. In spite of being organized and having my tracking systems in place, I still felt my days slipping away from me. So I took a hiatus.

While I was on that hiatus, I ran across the concept of “intentional living.” It’s a great sounding phrase, but it’s not enough to have intentions. After all, my systems and plans and lists are all about intentions.

And what’s that phrase about the road to hell?

So rather than looking at intentions, I decided I wanted to be deliberate. Deliberately choosing my activities. Deliberately choosing my projects. Deliberately choosing my actions, attitudes, lifestyle.

I don’t know where this journey will lead.

What LauraEarnest.com Is

I do know one thing after being in the blogosphere for so many years: pivoting a blog sucks. I’ve moved blogs once, archived and started new once. The one thing in common? Me.

Since I don’t know where this journey will take me, I don’t want to limit myself to a name with a pithy summary of the topic of the moment.

So the blog is coming home to roost, to my name.

More Random Facts About Me

  • Laura Earnest is a pseudonym. My “real” name is shared by a famous actress. ‘Nuff said. (No. I’m not her. I’m not related to her. Nor am I related to the football player who shares my real last name.) It is a family name, though, and one I feel entitled to use.
  • I am female. Wouldn’t think I would have to point that out, given the photos, but I was once accused of being a male chauvinist pig by a reader. Just want to make it clear.
  • My real given name is Laura, but you will see LJ. That is what I answer to in real life. Except I’ve been blogging for so long under “LJ” I can’t seem to go back.
  • I work outside the home. I have worked in Information Technology most of my working life. Except for the year when I had what I can only think was a midlife crisis and decided to give back – leading to a year of teaching high school math and a permanent teaching license. One year was enough and I went back to IT the next fall.
  • I lead a busy life. I work outside the home. I have a husband and daughter. I work with a group of Girl Scouts. I sing in a choir and a quartet. I participate in my spiritual community. I maintain a house and do most of the cooking and cleaning. I am pursuing my dream of becoming an author. There is never a moment when I have nothing to do.
  • I don’t have a staff. As much as I would like to have an army of minions, wishing hasn’t made it happen. I attend to everything around the blog myself. I do my own cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, gardening and laundry. (Well, not so much on the laundry. My husband is ex-Navy and requires everything folded just so. I can’t be bothered. So he does the majority of the laundry.) I am a normal person with normal concerns.
  • I am originally from the frozen tundra. That’s Northern Wisconsin to all you people who have never been there in the winter and felt the liquid in your nose freeze your nostrils together. Actually, it was pretty darn cold when I was there at the end of June a couple of years ago. I moved south of the snow line to get away from the weather. I live in a coastal city now, but I do not live “at the beach”.
  • I love coffee and chocolate. And really good cheese.

 


* My daughter decided her enormous panda needed to be in on the photo shoot, and so he has become a staple of one of my blog photos.

Save