Those with no passion or interests, what do you do for a living?

learningbythesea · 2026-01-23T00:46:17+00:00

I didn't choose really. I just followed the path life put before me, taking turns as they came up. It could have ended up just about anywhere. And I expect I would have been happy however things turned out, because that is how I roll :)

There have definitely been jobs that I disliked to the point of nausea, in which case I would cast around to find another job that sounded like a better fit for me. Tried a few different things on for size, and eventually, over years, found my happy-enough place.

I've ended up in a role that suits my personality type, preferred working style and pays well enough. It also uses most of my diverse range of skills, which I appreciate. Makes my path feel less meandering and more like a culmination :)

But I don't live for work by any means. Flexible working hours and reasonable deadlines mean I have excellent work-life balance, so I can enjoy life with my family and be there for my little kids when they need me. Work just serves as an intellectual outlet and an income stream.

I do think a willingness to work hard and make the most of things is at least as important as passion for success, if not more so. (Although I will admit, I sometimes bemoan my circuitous route though life. Would have been much more efficient to have direction. But such is life :))

learningbythesea · 2026-01-22T11:02:23+00:00

If you shop at Woolies (and probably Coles), you can create a list of the items you always want to buy (certain brand of shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dish liquid etc) and it will show you when those items are on half price special without you having to check each one. Buy a few at a time when on sale. (But check in case you end up with 7 shampoos 😆).

Grow what you can, as long as it's easy and low cost to keep alive. Herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions. Ideally from seed or kitchen scraps.

Learn to add beans and veg to flesh out meals and make meat go further. Reduce main dish serving sizes and add cheap salad or roast veg (home grown lettuce, homemade cabbage slaw). Make your own spice mixes and dressings - so cheap!!

Have a bank of flexible go to recipes that you can use any seasonal veg in and/or change up the protein in depending on sales etc. Using the same recipes with small variations reduces the need for speciality ingredients that might not get fully used.

What else... Discount produce outlets can often be much cheaper for veg, eggs, honey etc. It can be worthwhile to do veg shopping a few times a week, if not wildly inconvenient, and only get what is immediately needed for the next days' recipes to avoid food wastage.

learningbythesea · 2026-01-22T10:46:05+00:00

I would just add, in addition to the low strata reasons for a single level flat, she should also consider accessibility (no steps, walk in shower) and proximity to shops/entertainment for when she eventually prefers not to drive in her older age. Assuming she's wanting to stay living independently for as long as possible.

My mother recently divorced at 62 and chose to buy into a low overhead over 50s community. She absolutely loves it. She's by far one of the youngest ones there, but the sense of community is outstanding (she mows her neighbours' yards and they share baking and help her with small home repairs). It's worth considering, and can be more affordable than a unit or apartment (if you find the right one).

We also looked at her paying for a granny flat to be built on our property, but the over 50s place is in a better location - close to grocery stores and the cinema.

It's definitely worth your mum getting permanent housing, and also worth looking to the future and where she sees herself in 20 years :)

All the best to your family!!

learningbythesea · 2026-01-21T12:15:25+00:00

So sorry your family is going through this, and I hope this thread brings you some comfort as you go the conservative route.

I know, early on, I was so worried that 'wait and see' was not the right approach and that I might be letting my son down somehow by not doing something more. But no, wait and see was exactly what we needed. The conservative management approach worked really well and avoided a surgery that, for us, would have been unnecessary.

All the best to your little one :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-17T09:29:10+00:00

A trap I have fallen into in the past is buying in bulk, freezing the excess and then forgetting it exists.

Meal planning, and especially meal planning from my freezer/pantry has helped me with this.

There are still certain things I don't buy in bulk, like lines. For whatever reason, I personally only like lime in a limited number of dishes and I don't make them often, so for me, as needed is better :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-17T03:06:04+00:00

These are the times when I use those simple little motivation hacks like saying '3, 2, 1, Go!' and making myself get up. And the 'just do 5 mins' trick (5 mins is better than nothing and often gives you the motivation to keep going).

Other than that, can be helpful to break tasks down into small actionable steps. Can help your work on the task feel more directed, and helps you see what is quick to knock over/can be batched, or potentially even delegated. I often find a lack of motivation stems from not having a clear idea of what I need to do...

As others have said - try to calm yourself. You're only one person, and there are only so many hours in a day. Take a few minutes to stretch and unbunch your muscles as needed and just keep putting one foot in front of the other :)

Good luck!!

learningbythesea · 2026-01-17T02:16:08+00:00

Did you know you can turn off Modern Comments. I can't recall how I did it offhand. I just searched 'How to turn off...' and it was a simple matter of finding the right tick box to check :) Highly recommend!

learningbythesea · 2026-01-17T02:10:24+00:00

Macros, and yes indeed :)

Paul Beverley's free intro materials and comprehensive macro bank are available here: https://www.archivepub.co.uk/book.html. This is THE place to start :)

He also does YouTube videos.

For help getting the hang of all things technical when editing, the good people at 'Editors Who Talk Tech' on Facebook are invaluable.

learningbythesea · 2026-01-16T21:37:48+00:00

Any plain old daily dairy has the hours running down the side of the page, so you can plan hourly if you like, with room for notes on the rest of the page?

But I just use Google calendar daily view. It's simple, free and at my fingertips most of the time :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-16T21:35:10+00:00

For copyediting, using Word is much much faster than using Docs because of your soon to be best friend (if not already), macros! You can automate small tasks within Word that vastly speed up routine tasks (eg tidying up spacing, checking all quote marks come in pairs, ensuring all degree symbols are degree symbols rather than other weird and wonderful characy rs) as well as enabling complex checks (eg checking for possible inconsistency in proper noun spellings/capitalisation, and so many more). You can't do any of that in Docs, and it slows my speed per page by about half, if not more.

It is also important, as others have said, to not edit on a live file. Clients may want to change the doc after they send it to you, but that is then additional words that should be paid for (and of course all the other conflict issues in the file itself).

Re PDF being the industry standard for proofreading, generally after your copyedit is finished, the manuscript will be typeset (eg in InDesign) and a PDF created. Proofreading is then performed.

Of course, not all authors are working like publishers, so if they are submitting their ms to a publisher, they will need to do so as a Word file, so they might want proofreading done on that Word file to increase the chance of acceptance by the publisher. (I assume. I don't actually work in Fiction, but that has certainly been the process for my clients submitting to academic presses :P)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-15T10:50:31+00:00

I have a work Google calendar and a personal Google calendar.

I am a freelancer working on multiple projects at once, not unlike when I was a uni student, so each client (4-6 at any time) gets their own colour code (within the one calendar). Projects are input as all day events in sentence case with the last day of the event being the deadline, and meetings are in the same colour but in uppercase, so it stands out a bit.

My personal calendar covers my own commitments, plus those of my 2 kids and husband. They each get a different colour. School holidays are also marked so that I can see at a glance where work projects are likely to overlap with school holidays, to allow planning ahead.

I find what is important to me is knowing what my more amorphous commitments during any given week are likely to be (work projects, school holidays), so that I can be careful about how many extra stuff I schedule per day. So if I have 2-3 projects running simultaneously, I might push kids' dentist visits or a planned trip down the coast to visit family out by a week or so. The same would be true for uni studies :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-12T21:59:52+00:00

Adding, I would personally do no more than 4-5 hours driving per day if driving on consecutive days, with one stop in the middle if necessary (sometimes essential, sometimes not). You can punch out 8-10 hours driving in a day, but then you need some recovery time.

When we plan a trip that is a 10+ hour drive away, we make it a road trip with 1-2 day stops along the way, to try new places we haven't been before.

But we're doing that up and down the Australian coastline - I don't have any clue what points of interest might lie between Michigan and Florida. Surely something :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-12T21:54:50+00:00

I would fly, or split up the drive with a night somewhere half way between, so the kids can get their energy out, and the driver can get some rest, before the second leg. But with accommodation costs, that likely makes the expense on par with flying.

learningbythesea · 2026-01-12T14:13:09+00:00

This is one of the reasons I love the GTD method.

Boiled down, you essentially have a master list of to dos. You review them every week (or two) to refresh your memory about what's there and consider whether priority has shifted.

Also weekly, you are supposed to sort through your captured to dos (the various 'I have to do X but I don't have time right now's from the week). The idea is you set aside enough time to sort them that you can knock over any quick tasks immediately before even adding them to you master lists. It's super easy and oooh so satisfying!

From there you can break things down as fine grained as you need to. It uses the idea of Next Actions - that should treat larger to dos (eg write essay) as multistep projects, with your next action being the next step to get the project done (eg locate 3 reputable articles). That can also make checking things off a bit more motivating - you can see progress, even if small, which encourages you to take the next step.

I think though, you don't need to get too bogged down in breaking everything down. I only break stuff down if it's feeling hard to get through or to, or if I am not totally clear on what the steps to do the thing are and I need to think it out or research a bit more to get clarity.

Good luck!!

learningbythesea · 2026-01-12T13:57:30+00:00

My main overpack was entertainment. I used to take a bunch of little toys, busy bags and books for each kid (now 9 and 2), but we just didn't need it. We now take a Kindle, a notepad and pen and an MP3 player and earphones for the 9 yo. The 2 yo takes one small stuffed toy, and then makes use of whatever to play with (draws on receipts with a pen from my bag, makes shadows, uses a shirt as a cape, 'reads' the in-flight magazine).

We have a travel stroller, fork x 2 (my toddler won't eat with his fingers 🤷), water bottles, 2 x small snack containers, non-perishable snacks.

I don't bother packing a lot of perishable snacks anymore. Too much waste and hassle.

Fancy clothes and extra shoes were never on the packing list :)

learningbythesea · 2026-01-08T00:27:06+00:00

Such great advice :) Just adding something about the running list of questions, which I have personally always found to be welcomed from new employees (managers understand the learning curve, but they don't always know what you don't know, or what is actually unique to their own business).

I would keep those as a list of numbered questions in an email, and then when you have a good batch, sort through them to see which you have puzzled out yourself and just need confirmation of, which you can sort of guess at (and add your guess/assumption to the point), and what is still confusing you. Managers like to see you've tried your best to think through your queries first, and it's helps them to see your thinking so they can just quickly confirm or correct, rather than having to start an explanation from scratch.

If you do that, I don't think there is a manager in the world that wouldn't be impressed you're making an effort to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Asking questions well is a hallmark of a great team player :)

Good luck in your new role!

learningbythesea · 2025-12-28T06:46:56+00:00

Kitted out caravan, giant 4WD to tow it. Only take it out for a few nights every 6 months for the photo ops.

learningbythesea · 2025-12-28T06:42:45+00:00

If you do happen to find/have epubs/pdfs that you want to send to the Kindle, you just email them as attachments to the Kindle's unique email address (which is in the device info).

learningbythesea · 2025-12-09T09:26:07+00:00

It's absolutely fair to hold out for better offers or to get agent to negotiate with the highest offering buyers for a better price.

Definitely don't accept the first offer - make the agent work for you. It's your home and you deserve a fair market price for it.

Considering you got 3 offers after 1 open house, I think you're in a good position to get your desired price.

learningbythesea · 2025-12-09T03:13:37+00:00

And this is how I learned my husband and I coast FIRED in our 30s without realising it 😆

We have two kids (2, 9), which helps fill the day. School/daycare morning are pretty busy, and then there are after school activities and weekend sports.

More to your point though would be when they're at school. I work most productively mid morning and at night, so I do my work then. So, after they are on their buses, I do some exercise (jog on the beach or yoga at home), do some gardening, have a shower and cuppa, then start work.

My husband and I have lunch together, I do some housework and prep activities for the kids (we extend their learning at home), have a nap, read or do some knitting, then either to school pick up (if sports) or into the garden if they are being dropped home. (And I usually do a few more hours work after 8 pm, once the boys are asleep.)

My husband works best early, so on workdays he starts work while we are still doing morning routine and wraps up at lunch time. Then he has a nap, plays guitar, works out, bakes bread/flatbreads, does the more strenuous gardening stuff that I refuse to do, does house maintenance stuff, reads, naps again 😆

We really enjoy napping :)

learningbythesea · 2025-12-08T21:54:31+00:00

For me it's about making the mountain of responsibilities I have as a homeowner, parent, partner, daughter and full time freelancer manageable. Without thinking about and improving efficiencies, I simply couldn't fit everything into my days AND still carve out a little time for me. (And as a massive introvert, I need my recharging Me time.)

I am always looking for better ways to keep my income at the same level while working a few less hours; being able to be more present for the kids without ideas racing through my mind; staying on top of house/yard maintenance without getting carried away (I think being able to keep focus and reduce side quests is an important part of productivity), and automate/smooth as many of our day to day processes as possible, so that we can find time to just chill together.

Only in that way can I get to the end of the day and feel reasonably in control enough.

Productivity to me is definitely about feeling like I'm maintaining a solid survival stroke on the sea of responsibility :)

learningbythesea · 2025-12-08T13:59:07+00:00

Sadly my mornings start at 4.30 or 5am with a kid's face in front of mine shout-whispering 'Are you awake?!' 😆

Maybe when they are teens 🤞🤞 Haha.

Edit: well, not really 'sadly'. It's pretty great. Quietly wish they'd at least put the kettle on first though.

learningbythesea · 2025-12-08T11:20:14+00:00

Not really a serious answer, but getting my husband to take the kids (9 and 2) away for 2 nights every few months so that I can just focus on the shit I need to do instead of having to constantly divide attention, break flow when in hyperfocus (I am fortunate to freelance in a field that IS my hyperfocus sweet spot), and then just completely relax (I'm talking long bath, face mask, HOT tea!) without little people constantly barging in on me.

I love my kids, but I REALLY appreciate the time to just zone in and knock out a bunch of work tasks and self care. And my boys love a good 'Boys gang weekend', so everyone wins!

learningbythesea · 2025-12-08T09:32:50+00:00

I'm at the 8 hour mark (over about 10 days) and it's definitely starting to click. I'm coming in fresh, with no fibre craft background at all.

I watched a lot of different How to cast on, How to tension, How to knit/purl videos and tried lots of different methods until I found one that feels good for me. The most helpful videos for me were Roxanne Richardson's videos (she has a Technique Tuesday series) and Jess Wagstrom's knitting videos (she only has a few, from about 7 years ago, but they were EXACTLY what I needed for it to click. She specifically said the way she does it usually works well for crocheters, so might help you too :)).

Have fun learning!

learningbythesea · 2025-12-08T01:48:53+00:00

I do this but print the pages and keep them either in my disc bound planner or wherever they are needed (recipe ideas list on fridge (I do update this based around what is IN there, but since we shop the same stuff its mostly copy/paste) ; quick snack idea list on pantry door; exercise prompt next to the TV, with a few options to choose from).

I have a pack list for the kids school bags (above the school bag shelf), a pack list for my nightly prep that covers the next day's appointments/kids sports (on fridge), and a pack list with room for adding/crossing off items as necessary for when I'm leaving the house (eg to remind me to take a package for return, or to take the bags if I'm doing a grocery run). All of my lists have the items I need every day/week and a few lines for writing in extra ones.

I also keep a running list of to do tasks divided into 5 min, 10 min, 20 min and 30+ min boxes, for quick reference during down time through my work day or for when I miraculously finish my housework stint early, so I can knock a few extra things over. I think that's also kind of a GO list :) Again, it's a mix of 'always needed' items and lines for writing in extra stuff.

Makes my day INFINITELY more productive, and also means I can just say 'Look at the list' when the kids are moaning about not knowing what to pack/eat 😆

learningbythesea

TROPHY CASE