I struggle with this balance all the time. I'm definitely the visionary. I think of lists as the Manager, though. When I'm in Visionary mode I'm writing much more prose-like stuff than lists would be.

What I find challenging is that I'm mono-maniacial. In that, when I'm in Visionary mode I'm all there. And when I'm Technician mode, I'm all there. I don't seem to be able to wend in and out of the modes readily. I dive deeply into one leaving the others behind.

Someone mentioned a Wife. I've wanted want for as long as I can remember....

I'm going to check out that book. I appreciate these thoughts coming off a burn-out week of write-write-writing. I have submissions that need attending, as well as soul-tending that's really the source of it all to catch up on. I would like to be better at holding it all together in the presence of deadlines and crunch time.

May I just share the thing that, even though I'm not using nearly all of it or doing it consistently, and despite the fact that it is too cutesy and acronymmy for words, has nevertheless saved my life and my sanity:

www.flylady.com

You'll see. XO

I'm super sure you saw this, but Maggie Masons menu planning post is so good that I go back to it all the time: http://mightygirl.com/2007/05/11/i-heart-menu-planning/

Other then that, I'd say, take small steps, and don't be too hard on yourself. I'm one of those super organized, budget-y, manager, lets think of a business plan and get it all on paper types... and you know how I do it? It just comes really easily to me. I'm happy when I do it, and unhappy when I don't. But I can't take the kind of picture you can, for example. That does not come easily to me. So, my biggest suggestion would be, pair up! You don't have to do it all, and it's silly to try. Find someone who's naturally good and this sort of thing, and bring them on board, at least for your business. The advantage you have is that you've got a huge platform in this blog, so if you decide you want someone like this, and you reach out, you are going to get it. It's going to sound like a super interesting project to someone, TRUST me. That's how my brain works, and I'd be like, GAH, great project NOW! So, do what you do best, and find someone else who does the other stuff well. :)

I am embracing structure and loving it! I've always been a free spirit and thought that lists and schedules were just the man trying to hold me down. But as I juggle motherhood, running a business, finishing school for and launching another business, and running a household, structure has become my best friend. I'm definitely checking out that book--it sounds like I need it.

In terms of the meal planning, you won't get to do the big cooking fest every weekend. But if you get it done one or two weekends a month and stock your freezer, it helps a lot. We also keep our freezer and pantry stocked with items that we can make in minutes, like the frozen brown rice and jarred simmer sauces from Trader Joe's. Add a can of chickpeas and some frozen garlic naan or samosas and yum, you have a fab dinner. It's not the most cost-efficient, but it's cheaper than takeout. We also make homemade white whole wheat pizza dough in the food processor and do fancy for the grownups (sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts) and plain cheese for the toddler. Making your own pizza sauce is pretty easy and it freezes well, but you can also buy it. Another quick weeknight dinner that pleases everyone in our family is whole-grain pasta with petite peas and parmesan. One pound of pasta, one bag of frozen peas (cooked in microwave or on stovetop), and a nice sprinkling of good cheese, plus some salt and pepper for the adults. With fruit or salad on the side, this is a pretty good meal.

We also have a heavily-used panini maker, since that's easy to adjust for each person's tastes and very fast. I am really appreciating whole-grain bread and good cheese more, especially with some soup on the side. The slow cooker is good, too--I've been making mushroom risotto in ours lately, in addition to sloppy lentils and other legumes.

I absolutely love to cook, but have had to accept that at this point in my life, I can't spend ages in the kitchen too often and I have to take some shortcuts that help me keep everything working. I do get to make a more elaborate meal once a week or so when I can convince my daughter to stand on her learning tower and play with dried beans or play dough, though.

So true! Thank you for this valuable insight.

In recent visits to other states to visit fellow blog friends, I've been told by both ladies that having me there with them is like having a wife! Our lives fit together so easily. My being in their homes was amazingly comfortable and unpretentious.

I think those of us in our own businesses need the same kind of presence and support. A wife, of sorts, to come along side us and help out - intuitively knowing where things are and what needs to be done.

Sharing the joys and the burdens of our journey - sometimes without even having to express what we need - is profound, life-changing stuff indeed.

What a great post--the business part is so integral to running a business, especially being a technician. I'll probably blog about this one over at http://www.creativelyselfemployed.com/blog.htm soon. Be on the lookout!

Great post, again, A:)

What a great post--the business part is so integral to running a business, especially being a technician. I'll probably blog about this one over at http://www.creativelyselfemployed.com/blog.htm soon. Be on the lookout!

Great post, again, A:)

I could not agree more. And I will seek out this book.

One of the main challenges in my business is actually making (fabricating) the products. Very recently, I've taken the steps to cut down on that time and ramp up my visionary and management time.

I'll definitely pick up the book in hopes that it will keep me focused in this direction, in a way I can live with. I'm glad I found your blog, you're a thoughtful writer with a lot to say. Thanks!

susy

This is a wonderful, wonderful post filled with wisdom and inspiration. Thank you! I had heard of this book and I am putting it on my list of books to read. P.S. I wore my Superhero necklace today for the first time in way too long and I'm in love with it all over again!

I think as long as we keep it in perspective lists are great. I find the issue is that they can provide extra pressure for what we should be doing. The reality is that we all do the best we can, this has become more real for me since my husband was diagnosed with a progressive terminal illness. The time we have with those we love can be cut short..embrace every moment and do what you can. My goal now is to videotape the Q&A session with my husband so my girls can appreciate it later.

Fantastic post - very inspiring!

Finishing The E-Myth is one of the things on MY list. haha

I tend to fall into the manager category, always figuring out the systems, but never quite getting around to finishing the technician part of the tasks, or playing with the big-idea dreams...

Sounds like a few lists to map where I am with those parts of me might be just the ticket.

Thanks!

A wonderful post. I've been meaning to check out that book, and will soon. About a month ago I started keeping a journal next to my bed, and at night before I go to sleep I put my lists in it. My list of dreams, things to do the next day, things to do a month from now, whatever is going around in my head. It's been great to get that visionary time I needed so badly; like you, I've just been doing and it was wearing me out.
I may be ordering one of your bullseye pendants as a graduation gift to myself, I love it's simplicity and it's exactly the type of jewelry I like to wear. :)

I am a list maker too. I love the lists. I am taking a class right now and we were asked to to make a list of goals for our photography careers. I just stare at the paper...and don't write anything on it. I forgot that this is time for me to be a visionary and I LOVE that part of my life/career. The dreaming part. I'm off to write my list
( with my superhero pendant on for added magic! )
xox
*c

I have been making lists for about 3 years now and really all it has helped me do is better define what I want to do when I grow up, not that I am complaining. However with the economy and me being a new mom I feel like those dreams and lists of ideas are slowly closing in on themselves and being forgotten. I do review them from time to time and I try to assemble them in one place to find them later. Even my husband is supportive by reminding me that I left them all over the house and not to forget the important information on them. But what has been bothering me the most lately is my inability to go from being a dreamer to being the inventor.
So I can’t help but ask you Andrea, how did you go from being the dreamer to the inventor and make your ROI?

PS thanks for this post it is just in time!

I too am a list maker! I get depressed when I am always doing and never having time to stop and dream and write my lists (thoughts, hopes and dreams). My 18 month old son is my priority and my marriage and my home and friends and there is rarely time left for my art and for healing the hurt from my childhood. Yet, I am making these decisions to use every minute the way I do so sometimes I have to let the laundry go and making meals go etc.,etc. and just be in the moment. I find now, that in that space I just need to breath, sometimes exercise and sometimes cry. That gets the anxiousness out and the lists help at the end of the day if I have the energy. Sometimes the lists seem overwhelming as I realize I just can't get to those things right now, I don't have the time or the money. So, now I say mantras like, "we are doing great right now just the way things are and when I can do more I will." I think of my map and I realize that where I am is right here and that is good enough! YOU ARE HERE. Does this make sense? xoxo Leia

Yes to the lists. This reminds me that I, too, have gotten so busy doing things I have not made lists or collages or other displays in a long time. Thanks!

On the food thing: I have this friend in Colorado who doesn't really cook, but has a kitchen that totally transformed my experience of cooking dinner. He bought a LOT of beautiful, clear, glass containers with airtight, hinged lids. More than I would have allowed myself to purchase before I saw his. Different sizes. I got mine at IKEA.

His are lined up along one long shelf; I have them on a rack of four metal shelves. The big ones always contain a variety of grains: quinoa, different rices, cous cous, etc. Smaller containers have spices, boullion powder, coconut milk powder, raisins, nuts. Some have beans, too.

Then, I go at least once/wk to a market for veggies. Finally, keep on hand an assortment of easy-to-store protein (tofu, good frozen fish, cheese, whatever y'all like).

Every night cooking = playing with the stuff from the containers. Grab a grain, slice up a bunch of veggies and some protein, mix up the spice combo as per anyone's hankering. Could end up as green curry, tabouleh, ratatouille, a rockin' cous cous, an unnamed specialty all your own. Almost never takes more than 15 minutes.

It's kinda like melding the artisan and the manager, too. Also pretty photos could be taken of all the lovely glass containers filled with lentils, spices, wild rice, etc.

Wishing you fun with dinner... thanks for the great post.

So true. thanks for this. I do love list making but you're right about the finding where you are first. never thought of it like that before.

wow! i love this post. thank you!

ok, weird. i thought i just posted a comment to a semi-stranger whose blog i recently found. but no! we met you a few weeks ago at zorian's birthday. augusto and i live in oakland with our kids stella and otto. we played with you in the sandbox at the little farm.

so if you want to do that leftover exchange... i'll ask your neighbors too :)

It sounds like you need a Wife. As in the archetypal VisionaryManagerTechnician. I want one nearly every day.

Long ago I was in a food coop of sorts. We met every Monday and traded leftovers so we didn't have to eat one pot of chili all week long. I was single, but busy with work and art (I was a jeweler then). How little I knew of my future, how much I'd need it now. I've been fielding the idea to some friends...

As for the lists, I'm one of those people who add one or two things I've already done to my To Do list just so I can cross them off. I think I'm too task oriented to allow a list to bring out my artistic.

Thanks for your post. It inspires me to turn up the artistic volume in a mindful way. Maybe I'll try a list that doesn't need to be checked off RIGHT NOW.

i would be so lost without lists. your words are perfect...lists make me feel grounded. my daily to do lists, my big dreams lists. they're constantly floating around in my head and then spilling out onto the page. lists as maps. yes indeed. my archive of lists is a map of my life.

oh, and you may already know of this place, as you are a kindred list lover, but in case you don't, check out listography.com. it's fantastic. you can see some of my lists here: http://listography.com/tinarina

What insight you have and thanks for sharing it. I really laughed out loud when you asked "where are these people and how do you do it"? I've been wanting to prepare good, healthy food ahead of time but it isn't happening. I do cook, a lot, but I'm doing it almost daily and I want to cut back the prep time and spend it doing something else. Wouldn't it be great to have a weekly gathering with great woman where you could all prepare your meals for the week and enjoy each other whilst you are doing it? Make nutritious food to nurture your family and you get to nurture the woman in your life.
Making lists is also calming for me. I get it out, I can see it and somehow it just feels better, more possible.

great timing! now i know why i have been feeling a little lost lately. the list... gotta do the list, i love doing them in the pass. oh, btw, happy mother's day weekend andrea!

Andrea -

Thanks for sharing. I am about to start my own business and I have been reading this book. I have been reading your blog for years and bought my first superhero necklace from you four years ago :-)

I will be placing an order soon for the bullseye pendent. It looks killer on everyone so far!

good idea, i think i will take you advice.

Boy does this post hit the nail on the head for me, as chief bottle washer/technician and manager of my little enterprise.It's the walks to and from the pool (whenever I get myself to go) where the visionary comes out and plays.
Without those walks, the visionary wastes away..
So easy to forget that.
Thank you for this post and for the book rec.
Carolg

MOVED by your thoughtful writing ... as I always am. I am a technician at heart. NOT an artist, but a list maker and a worker and a doer. It is hard for me to step back and become the visionary. I need to do that. And I will. Thank you.

On the coaching side, not to mention as the mama, this is me! And now, I've gone overnight from running alongside the bus of my husband's business, throwing in sandwiches and cheering him on, to getting on the bus and sharing time at the wheel. And all week I've been saying how we're both more the vision people and need the managers. I've heard another version of this, as well - the rabbi and the prophet. The rabbi is the manager, writing and interpreting and implementing laws; the prophet the visionary, standing on the street corner, calling out to anyone who will listen and even those who won't.

A timely post to read. Thanks for the glimpse.

And the question, by the way, "Who are those people?" I think it crops up anytime there's something that is challenging or doesn't come naturally - I at least find myself feeling convinced that there are "those people" who do it all seamlessly, manage all the roles. Then I talk to folks and realize "those people" don't exist, or that we are all them.

Such a long comment!

xo Jena

i'm on it, sister. as always, it seems like our minds float in the same ether...list making is something i have been dreaming about lately. weird, to dream about it. now, to do it.

Andrea, good to read this. It's got me thinking.

I do have a suggestion on the food/meal front. Super helpful for me has been recipezaar.com (save recipes to your shopping list and then you don't even have to make one - just print). Here's a DETAILED account of a few 'cooking on Sunday' sessions: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=222392

Lots more on this site and in the OAMC (once a month cooking) message board.

so funny...I had just stepped away from my desk at lunch today to do just this. (I often wonder how some women just seem to be able to do everything and not feel overwhelmed). Lists have become my new best friend this year:)Love what you say about making list helping us find ourselves on a map. That exactly how I feel:)

i so look forward to your blog entries. thanks for writing! i took your media cleanse challenge awhile back with a result that lists are awesome and necessary in my life. and that i could actually think clearer and make lists once my head wasn't clouded with my computer. thanks for showing me i can take it even a step further and makes lists about anything and everything

(http://rofam.blogspot.com/2008/04/internet-strike-defined.html)

Bravo!