The overwhelming theme of my week is “overbooked.”  I am overbooked in almost every possible way right now and not in a good way, like “I’ve been asked out by so many gorgeous guys, I can’t find enough days in the week to accommodate them.”  And not, “I have so many book signings and appearances on talk shows like Ellen and The View and the requests keep coming faster than I can book my first class flights.”  Those kinds of overbookings, I would cherish! 

Work – My day job is so busy right now that I had to have a meeting with my boss regarding my backlog and how long it would take me to get to it.  I am confident enough to state publicly that anyone who has ever worked with me in my trademark paralegal capacity knows that I am always on top of things.  I work very efficiently and am consistently one step ahead.  Lately, however, assignments have been coming at me faster than I can get to them.  The attorneys with whom I work usually do not require things on an urgent basis and so I have been trying to deal with stuff on a priority basis but even stuff that is not “time-sensitive” cannot sit unfinished indefinitely. A little backlog is actually a good thing because on slow days, I always have something to do.  I cannot remember my last “slow day.”  Currently, I have emails that I reviewed, determined as low priority and marked as “un-read” to be dealt with at a later date crowding my email inbox and causing that annoying “Your mailbox is almost full” warning.  We also assumed responsibility for a new client a few months ago and I have twenty boxes of files to go through and this is on top of my long list of deadlines and work that is generated from clients and attorneys on a daily basis.  I’m doing the best I can, but there were a few times over the past week when I wanted to run to the bathroom and cry. I haven’t done that since I was in my early twenties and a newbie at juggling so many assignments at a time.   My workload is officially “overbooked.”

Plans – I’m a social person and I love to make plans with my friends for evenings and weekends.  At the same time, I require a certain amount of downtime and don’t like to go out every single night.  I couldn’t afford to anyway.  Most importantly, I’m a writer if I’m ever going to make a dent in my fourth novel, continue to promote A State of Jane and Just Friends with Benefits and work on launch plans for Blogger Girl, I need to make the time when I am not working as a trademark paralegal.  Because of this, I often book my plans in advance.  At this time, I can’t really afford to be spontaneous since for the next three weeks, I already have plans booked for several times a week. In that same vain, my friends and I are suckers for all of those deals offered by such vendors as Amazon Local, Blackboard Eats, Thrillest, Bloomspot etc.  I currently have three unused deals that will expire in the next couple of months, along with several more that my friends purchased.  I’m not complaining about having a fun life, don’t get me wrong.  But damn, it’s exhausting sometimes and I wish some of my friends weren’t so cool – it would be so much easier to ditch them if they were lame!  (On a somewhat related note, to those friends who I owe emails, Jenny, Elke, I mean you, I’m sorry!  I’ll get to it.  At some point.)  My social life is seriously overbooked and I just don’t have enough time for all of those gorgeous guys who are asking me out on dates.

Books – I remember when I bought one, maybe two, books at a time and was able to read them immediately.  Those days are long gone!  I have so many friends who are talented authors and I want to support them by buying, reading and reviewing their books.  I’m not friends with Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, Helen Fielding or Lauren Weisberger but I can’t resist buying their books when they come out.  And then there are the sales.  As if $2.99 wasn’t cheap enough, I subscribe to both Book Bub and Ereader News Daily and barely a day goes by when I am not compelled to purchase a discounted book.  I mean, when a book that sounds good is only 99 cents or even free, how can I not buy it?  I have 49 unread books on my Kindle.  49 books!!  How does that happen?  I think I might need an intervention.  So, yeah, my TBR pile is so overbooked, it might bury me!

What about you?  Are you overbooked like me?  Feel free to share.  Unless you are overbooked with dates with gorgeous men.  That, you can keep to yourself! Show off…