How to be Gainfully Unemployed

I have been getting many questions about how I fill my days. The real question is: how did I fit in a corporate job?

In addition to a project list divided into sections such as writing, acting, personal, and home projects, I have a weekly writing goal of 25 new pages. This does not count editing, researching, submitting, or entering contests. I also want to increase every month the number of submissions I have at a time, whether to contests, agents, editors, upcoming conference appointments,etc.

Here are some of the projects I've been working on:

1) website. After researching web designers and wasting time thinking I could create the kind I wanted by myself, I finally chose one and am working on content so when she's ready to work on design I'll be ready.
2) I just joined the board of the Chicklit Romance Writers of the World. We had a 2 hour online meeting this week and I have to figure out exactly what my position is and do something.
3) acting auditions: see post below.
4) getting more acting agents and a writing agent
5) finishing my manuscript in progress, which fortunately a couple of industry people are already waiting to see
6) the American Title II contest
7) preparing an online workshop I agreed to do later this month for Hearts Through History Romance Writers
8) judging 7 55 page entries for a contest

Each night I set goals for the next day based on what's already on my schedule. I am a morning person, and the kind of person who can only play when all work is done. This is starting to be a problem, because I have so many projects and enjoy doing them that my work is never done. I'd hoped to take weekends completely off and just play, but today I wrote 7 new pages.
Nonetheless, thanks to my mom I now have TiVo, so I can catch up on my favorite shows at night.

While I miss daily contact with the people I worked with, and clients who after so many years became my friends, I don't miss the work I did.

Fortunately I have a good friend who is also a writer and has other pursuits. We check in with each other once a week to make sure we're staying on track. I schedule at least one social event a week, but usually end up with more. I'm still involved with several Chicago Bar Association groups and have monthly meetings for those plus my local Romance Writer meetings. I'm taking a weekend acting workshop. I've also started exercising six mornings a week.

This is just a taste of how I can be Gainfully Unemployed!