Too Many Plan(t)s

"I'd rather have just a few plants and them all be well," a friend of mine said to me recently, as she looked round our patio overflowing with plants, some of which are in better health than others.

This friend is known for unselfconsciously saying exactly what she thinks and I find this candour rather refreshing. I know she intends no malice so I didn't take offence – although I might have had it been anyone else. However, it did get me thinking because I'm definitely a girl with too many plants – or should I say plans?

In the Art Career Blast Off class that I did recently with coach Alyson Stanfield of artbizcoach.com(read more about it on my Dialog Visual blog) the class was frequently admonished, "Remember, Alyson says you can't do it all!" But of course I wanted to. I always do. My 'To Do' lists are always overflowing with ideas and projects – some of which, like the plants in the patio, are in better shape than others.

Although I start all my projects with equal enthusiasm, also like the plants, there are simply too many of them and it feels like time for a purge. I need to:

• Give some away (delegate)


• Put some on the compost heap (admit defeat)


• Do some severe pruning on some (readjust time-scales and expectations)

and finally, with those that are left:

• Give them dedicated attention and nurse them back to health (prioritise)

Interestingly – given I live in Spain – the Spanish word for 'suggest' or propose is 'plantear' and 'dejar plantado a alguien' is to stand someone up! As with all 'false friends' (as these linguistic mis-directions are known), its time I was able to differentiate between when to initiate a project and when to simply note it in my ideas folder and carry on with the task in hand. Its time to get my patio plants in order...and my plans.