Bizzy tries to change and falls right back where she started
Hey, that's life.
Hey there,
And welcome back to BIZZY IN YOUR BOX, the seventh-best newsletter dedicated to the writings, the whereabouts and the general whatevers of whimsical wildwoman, Bizzy Coy.
Hellooo to all you new subscribers! It’s so cool to have you onboard. Get ready for a heaping helping of Bizzy’s self-promotional goodness.
Longtime subscribers, WOW! You’re still here? I love ya. Thanks for being the rock-solid foundation of our little newsletter family.
Who’s Bizzy?
No, seriously, who am I?
Who are any of us?
What is identity?
Is consciousness real, or a trick played on us by a vengeful God?
For those just joining us, Bizzy is:
A writer (of funny short pieces, cartoon captions, plays, zines and other miscellanea)
An author (of a new book, PERSONAL SPACE: Short humor from The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and beyond)
A wordsmith (freelancing as a copywriter for entertainment and nonprofit clients)
Bizzy’s Book Bonanza Bontinues!
Thanks to everyone who’s buying, reading and sharing PERSONAL SPACE.
I love that it’s now on the shelves in two of our nearby public library systems…
And I love having the opportunity to sell it to folks in person, like at last month’s Yarnslingers storytelling event. (Thanks, John!)
I had a blast talking about all things publishing at my recent workshop at SULLIVAN PUBLIC (below). Thanks to all who listened to my experiences and shared their own projects and publishing goals with the group.
Big thanks to fellow humor writer Julie Vick for featuring me in this issue of her wonderful Substack, HUMOR ME. (Scroll down to “Funny Authors Recommend Funny Books.”)
I also enjoyed speaking with Joselin Linder’s writing group, PROSE PLAYGROUND. They asked for a writing prompt, so here’s what I came up with. Feel free to use it yourself:
WRITING PROMPT:
PART 1: What’s a small annoyance that really gets under your skin, like those awful unavoidable puddles on NYC streetcorners? Write a short rant where you let out all of your true feelings.
PART 2: Write a rant from the POV of the person who causes this annoyance. Perhaps it’s the person you’d least expect. Talk about why they cause it — what they get out of it — the secret benefit they receive from wreaking this havoc in your life.
CONSIDER: What is their name? How do they speak? What are details about their life, upbringing, belief system? Do they have a hench-person? What’s THEIR deal? Is there a larger conspiracy at play here? Go crazy. Be funny. Take it to the wildest extreme you can imagine. At the end, give us a twist if you can.
Bizzy thought she had it all figured out, but change is hard
I’ve always considered myself an organized person.
Even with a lot of irons in the proverbial fire, I rarely forget a deadline, show up late, or have trouble keeping track of my day.
I juggled everything fine… until I didn’t.
With the launch of my book in December, I panicked. I suddenly had way too many moving parts to manage:
Freelance copywriting clients
Book events and promotion
Tracking book sales
Packing and mailing books
Making cartoons with Lia Strasser
Writing a new play
Applying for grants
Editing and submitting short stories to literary mags
Writing short memoir for Yarnslingers storytelling group
Organizing my tax paperwork
Making a zine
Walking the dog
Many, many naps
My “project management system” was held together with spit and dirt. How was it going to accommodate all of this stuff??
PANIC!
DREAD!
CONFUSION!
Here’s a peek at how my dirty little organizational process worked:
Use Google calendar ONLY for events where I have to leave the house or do a Zoom or something.
Write down daily to-do lists and notes in a draft email in a web browser tab, where I keep Gmail open pretty much all day, every day.
When there are too many things to do relating to one particular project, start a separate Google doc to write it all down.
Use Google Keep (have you used it? It’s like an online board where you can arrange little post-it notes). About 30 post-it notes at any given time with random lists, ideas, things to keep track of, movies I want to see, etc.
When I’m away from my computer, add to-do’s in my phone’s Notes app, where they are promptly ignored and never seen again.
I also use other tools. Harvest for invoicing clients. Google docs for brainstorming and writing. Google drive for collabs. Google sheets to track writing submissions and pitches.
I was starting to struggle with keeping myself organized. I was toggling back and forth between all of my various platforms a million times a day, and I still wasn’t certain what my priorities were, and whether all of my projects were moving forward.
I Googled “project management systems.” I clicked around and looked at a few. Acorn. Trello. Monday. Clickup. Notion. I signed up for some free trials. The winner for my needs was Asana. I’ve used it before for freelance clients, but not in much depth.
So I gave myself an afternoon, and set up a bunch of projects and tasks. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped me see the big picture in one place. From there I assigned myself subtasks and deadlines. I liked that I could visualize them in list form or on a calendar.
I said to myself, WOW! I AM AMAZING. I SOLVED MY PROBLEM.
I used Asana for about a month.
But the old ways kept a-callin’…
I found myself opening up my old draft email in Gmail… going back to it like a bad boyfriend.
Making a few notes. A few reminders…
Soon it grew into a to-do list.
It was a total relapse back to my old spit-and-dirt system.
You guys! I haven’t even opened Asana in weeks!!!! I have totally abandoned it already. WHAT AM I DOING??
Look. I’m not perfect.
I was hopeful I could tell you an inspiring story of upgrading my project management system and how it changed my life and now I have 100 extra hours every day to tend to the award-winning native flower garden that I don’t have.
Perhaps a more realistic lesson is: change isn’t easy.
Habits are hard to break. New habits are difficult to maintain. Even when we know it’s good for us.
The important thing is to keep going. Try new ways. Start small. No, even smaller than that. Change is possible. We deserve better. Don’t give up, Bizzy. I believe in you.
(P.S. If I’m late for our next meeting, you will know why.)
Upcoming Bizzy Events
SAGE SESSION
Thursday, March 6, 2025 from 1:30-3:30pm
Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, 37 Main Street, Narrowsburg, NY 12764
PERSONAL SPACE book reading, signing and Q&A for ages 60+ organized by Tusten Social and Growing Older Together.
BIZZY NEEDS MORE EVENTS!
Invite her to chat with your Substack, book club, writing group or underwear model convention.
That’s enough for this month.
See you next time with even more Bizzy tidbits.
Wishing you the very best,
Bizzy
Bizzy is busy. I'll bet you never heard that one before. Hehe.
Congrats! Looks like you're having a blast.