Welcome to December and all the hustle, bustle and delight of the Christms season. In Canada our usual frenzy of shopping, wrapping and shipping has been upended by the strike at Canada Post. All the little tokens I had assembled to send to my faraway family, now sit in a box, waiting. The absolutely best Christmas present I ordered for my godson, sits in a post office 3000 miles away, waiting. The special baking I do for my brother sits in the freezer, waiting.

All that waiting is getting me down, especially as the two sides in the strike aren’t even talking to each other. Then again, Advent, is a season of waiting, so maybe I should take advantage of that “waiting” time to plan the rest of the month.

As I’ve written about before, I’m a great advocate for making lists. I make lists for the grocery store. I make lists for Christms presents and Christmas cards. I make lists for writing tasks. I even make lists for coffee with friends. Sadly, my list-making has fallen by the wayside as I’ve been overwhelmed by too many items to put on the lists. But today I read about an “Advent Jar” which seems a wonderful visual for setting priorities on my list.

The idea is to take a pint jar and fill it with sunflower seeds and seven walnuts.(The example at right uses rocks and sand but the principle is the same.) It won’t take more than one try to realize that if you put in the sunflower seeds first, there is no room for the walnuts. But, if you put in the walnuts — your top priorities–first, then the sunflower seeds can find space around them.

My desk already has too much clutter, so I’m not rushing out to find a pint jar and sunflower seeds, but I’m using that visual to think about my priorities and hone my lists into managable order.

  1. As a writer, one of the walnuts in my jar must be time at the keyboard. 
  2. Another walunt is my obligation to others. If I took on a task, I must show up and finish it. 
  3. Walnut three would be reading. I’ve just finished a large tome that my book club chose for discussion. It was not a work I enjoyed and it was very long. I set myself a goal of 40 pages a day in order to finish it in time. While I didn’t enjoy the story, the writing was beautiful. Reading the work of talented authors is like taking a writing class.
  4. Relationships. For writers, readers and everyone else, our relationships are central to life and writers need a life. It is important to prioritize time with the people who nurture our spirits.
  5. Giving. As much as we gain from relationships, we must also give to those relationships. Call a friend who is hurting. Have coffee with a colleague who struggles. At this time of year especially, take a gift to someone who is lonely.
  6. Social media. Not my favourite way to spend time, but posting regularly on social media will raise an author’s profile. If we want to sell books, we must engage on at least one social media platform.
  7. Write a blog.  My blog makes me adhere to a schedule, encourages me to research a number of topics and connects me to readers. Not all authors maintain a blog but I do, so I must make it one of my walnuts.

Now that the big items, walnuts, are in the jar, I can pour in the seeds of less importance. Things like tidying my desk, organizing research notes, doing laundry, buying groceries, playing with the cat, singing in the choir, caring for my health . . . All activities that bring me joy, and there is room to fit them around the big things.

Just like lists, life events will impact my priorities, but the idea of starting with the big ones first can reduce the sense of overwhelm that listing every single item that needs doing in a day may generate.

I’ve given you my seven “walnuts” but each of us is different. What are the important things in your jar of neverending tasks?

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