I learned today more about WordPress. Learned by setting up a WordPress practice site and experimenting with its features.
Diane and I woke up this morning in a parking lot near Sacramento, Calif. , on the property of the shipper whose freight we picked up today. We arrived at 9:00 a.m. local time as arranged but did not leave until the afternoon because of administrative difficulties. The freight was on our truck but we could not leave until everything was in order.
Once we got moving I mentioned to Diane that it felt good to be driving down the road with freight on our truck again. It has been a while. The run involves about 27 hours of driving, straight through.
While Diane drove, I studied WordPress. For those of you who do not know, WordPress is popular software (free too!) that people use to create web sites and blogs. I am moving to WordPress to bring my web site and blog into the 21st Century.
Note to Overdriveonline readers: My blog is published on the Overdrive site and on my own web site. The Overdrive site is state of the art. Readers there will see no changes. My site is primitive, which is why I am upgrading it.
This has long been a back-burner project. It and several others have come to the front burner at the same time since I started serious work on my book. Starting that book is one of the best things I have done for myself in years. It provides a focal point — a goal — that brings order to chaos.
Countless writing snippets, photos and files that have been accumulated over the years and stored at random here and there in my computer are perking up, like soldiers getting out of bed, into uniform and into formation; standing ready to serve. Previously scattered words, ideas, paragraphs and earlier works are seemingly on their own falling into place, standing ready to serve my readers when they are dispatched into their assigned places in my book. Putting this book together is easier and more fun than I thought it would be.
The book goal is also helping projects like upgrading my web site (which will support the book) that have been put off forever get done.
It is quite amazing. For years I have been pack-ratting stuff away and putting things off. But the instant I set a goal to complete a book, my desire to work on it burns and what was once seen as a depressing heap of clutter is morphing into a magnificent resource collection.
I’ve met several people over the years who’s personal, first-hand knowledge of expediting goes back to the very beginning of the trade. I have notes from chats with them and the long-held intent to interview them at length. That never got done because there was no reason, no goal, no book. But now such tasks are lining up and I know that I will interview these folks when I start writing that part of the book. It won’t be now or long time from now. It will be exactly when work on that part of the book begins. The goal is suggesting a priority of work that is almost writing itself.
A goal is a wonderful thing. It changes how you see things. It changes your motivation to act. It focuses your brain power on a clearly defined task.
