Chapter 59 Blocked

Now that I have gathered all of the pertinent books for my purpose and am ready to make the Dante catalogue a priority, I’m having a hard time writing it. I guess I could call it writer’s block. (Read: horrible, horrible bout of procrastination.)

This inability to focus is not for lack of reference books, lack of bibliographical information, or even lack of interest in the subject. I love these particular books, but I also love having a book business, so it’s time to offer them for sale. When I thought about why I was having trouble completing my catalogue, I discovered that having one’s workplace in one’s home can be a problem. For instance, I start typing and realize I have really important household chores to do, like re-organizing the kitchen cabinet that holds pots and pans or getting dust off the baseboards. I also started a major clean-out project in September, one area of the house each week, and to keep up with my cleaning list, I am sacrificing catalogue writing time. Everyone’s dresser drawers and closets look really clean, though. When I do sit down to write, my thoughts wander to what I’ll be cooking for dinner that night to wondering what I will buy my brothers for Christmas. Then my mother or my best friend call me. Well, then it’s just plain too late to spend the rest of my free hours focused on writing a major undertaking like a print catalogue. I write a blog post like this one instead.

I won’t give up. The catalogue will be written. Since this is the first time I’ve been home without children in almost ten years, I am still discerning the balance between household management and bookselling. I trust it will work itself out in the end. But, if you’re wondering why this darn catalogue of only 50 items is taking so long to produce, now you know.

I have a binder that I call my “Household Management” binder that I use to keep myself organized. It holds sections of To-Do Lists, Grocery Lists, Meal Plans, Cleaning Chore Lists, Phone Numbers, Kids’ Sports Team Information, Medical Information, Holiday Planning, Car Maintenance Records, etc. It keeps me organized and without it I would forget lots of tiny details (like the fact that I promised to drive on Tom’s field trip this week and that Huck has Show and Tell on Friday). It sounds silly, but it works for me. I am toying with the idea of creating a similar binder for bookselling. If I write down my tasks, I can see what I actually need to do (sell books, buy books, catalogue books, write, learn more about bookselling) and plan my time more efficiently. Except that making said binder and organizing it will take away even more time from the Dante catalogue.

I know what I really need to do: Take out all of the Dante books and just look at them together and think about them for a while. Then I need to sit down in my chair and not move until I am finished sharing them with the rest of the world through my catalogue. When that happens, you’ll be the first to know.

See you in the stacks!

P.S. I am still very interested in reading your stories of fingerspitzengefuhl. Email them to me at chris @ bookhuntersholiday . com.