Clearly we can’t all be good at everything. But admit it, as much as you ARE good at, there are definitely some things you wish you were better at. Of course, it’s usually those things that niggle at us and make us feel “less than.”
I say we own up to what we wish we were better at and set these things free to go out into the world and annoy someone else!
Here are my 5 Things I Wish I Was Better At:
1) Plotting. I have my writing strengths…dialogue, humor, attention to details involving grammar, spelling, etc. Plotting, though, kicks my butt. When creativity was being handed out, I was clearly talking and not paying attention. I can’t plot my way out of a box. Mostly because that would require thinking outside the box. I may be able to come up with a clever idea, but when it comes to making that bigger, better, something that hasn’t already been done by 20 other people, I’m lacking.
In order to combat this, I got myself a Serena Robar. Every plot-challenged person should have herself a Serena Robar, for whom thinking outside the box is second nature. With help from my Serena Robar and a few hours of uninterrupted brainstorming, any sad and sagging plot can be revitalized. She claims I will get better at plotting and will no longer need her. I have my doubts.
2) Housekeeping. You know those beautiful houses portrayed in all the magazines? Yeah, so not my house. Not even close. See, I tend to prioritize my to-do list, and for some reason housework always seems to fall somewhere in the bottom third. The third I never get to because everything else is so much more important.
It’s not that I don’t WISH I could have people drop by unannounced. That would be heaven! On second thought, maybe not. I really hate unannounced guests, but I would at least like to have the option of saying, “Yeah, sure! Come on over!” without having to then do my impression of the Tazmanian Devil to get things whipped into shape enough not to need therapy to get over my lack of housekeeping self-esteem when the guests leave.
Alas, I can’t see this changing anytime soon.
3) Staying on task. If procrastination was actually a good thing, I’d be the best. Procrastination would be the reason there were no blog posts last week. Or that I was left writing my two iParenting articles mere HOURS before my deadline.
I swear sometimes I have ADD…the complete inability to focus on one thing for more than a few minutes without being distracted by something else. At least when it comes to things I don’t necessarily want to be doing. Like working.
Perhaps I have Selective ADD. Like selective hearing, except that I procrastinate or flit from one task to the next only when there’s something else I’d rather be doing than what NEEDS to be done.
For instance, I have a quota of work I must do every day. This requires 5-7 hours of input on my part. However, because I am so easily distracted (by the Internet, Twitter, talking to the cats, anything ELSE on my to-do list, clouds floating by outside my window), it generally takes me 7-9 hours to accomplish my quota…and yet, I don’t feel like I got anything else accomplished during the 2 hours I spend fiddle farting around throughout the day.
At least if I felt that I’d ticked a few more things off my endless list (other than housekeeping, of course), I’d be able to say I was productive during my time wasting. But no. I just waste time. This may actually be the item I would most like to be better at, because staying on task better would mean more time to practice my plotting. More time for housekeeping…okay, maybe not housekeeping, but definitely plotting.
4) Clothes shopping. Shocker, I know! Aren’t all women just BORN to be shoppers? That would be a negative. I hate shopping, and I truly believe it is because I suck at it. I can never find anything I like, and if I do, it doesn’t fit, looks crappy on me, or I can’t afford it. It’s very simple. This would be why I own 12 Old Navy Perfect Fit T-shirts in a variety of colors. It’s an no-brainer to replace them, and I don’t have to feel inadequate.
Except when it comes to style. Sigh. That’s a whole other branch of this particular thing I’m bad at.
5) Cooking. Yet another domestic task I am a failure at. I hate to cook only marginally less than I hate deciding what to cook. There are only a few things in my recipe repertoire that I’m any good at, and even those I can screw up royally if I don’t stay on task (see item #3) . Once in a while I force myself to cook something just to prove I can still do it. Like today. Today I made homemade noodles for Chicken and Noodles, a family favorite…
Um, I should probably go check the noodles though. I kinda got sucked into writing this blog. Hope they don’t burn!
What do you wish you were better at?
PS: One last reminder about the contest. Any donations made before midnight tonight will be in the running to win!
