HHM, Organization Tips and Visits!
Today is the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month! #HHM, personally I’m thankful for the recent media release by NBC Latino that shares the recent data of the number of Latino youth, their knowledge, views, and commitment to their community. Here’s the link NBC Latino Youth.
This month also marks my birthday, so to celebrate both #HHM & my birthday I decided to give away a free copy of my book! Congratulations to Emily Francis on Twitter winner of my book, I’m happy she won. She has a pretty amazing story herself, so if you don’t follow her on Twitter, I’d suggest you do.
Update on some houae stuff- publishing house stuff: we are looking for content readers. What’s a content reader? A content reader for 1010 Publishing is a volunteer who just loves to read books. Yup that’s pretty much the prerequisite. If chosen, you get Draft 1 manuscripts and you get to provide content feedback. Feedback such as what you like, if there’s something missing, questions, etc. If you’re interested, email us at 1010Publishing@gmail.com thank you!
I have been super busy! I interviewed with Telemundo Atl about a need for mentors. I’m leading a new program to recruit mentors for Latino / Hispanic youth. I was also on La Raza and La Mega radio stations. If you know someone in the Gwinnett County area interested in mentoring have them reach out by calling 770-682-8086. I don’t usually share about other stuff stuff but it’s an important task so I wanted to share that with you.
The Decatur Book Festival was an amazing event! I loved the vibe. I shared my story and my book. I also loved participating in the Gwinnett County Public Libraries Reafimg Summer Challenge Celebration. I am so impressed by the work that goes behind it to ensure that the authors reflect the community. It was well planned, the children we’re great and had great questions. The hosts were super friendly and very supportive. I’m proud of all the children who read and met their goals for the summer. I wish more emphasis was placed on events such as this. We need to highlight literacy and the love of reading more often. Today I’m in San Diego, I will be presenting and sharing “3,585 Miles to be an American Girl “ at the Latino Book Festival. San Diego is beautiful plus I will get to see my beautiful niece and nephew. They live close by and they’re coming to visit. Yay to me!!! I love them. So shout out to my intelligent Victoria and my genius like kid Caleb ❤️. I’ll be at different schools the remainder of this month. Connect with me on social media to learn more.
While I’m on the road to shout outs, I have to shout out my amazing friend Cherita. She gave me a good topic to share to my novice and or even veteran authors. My advice revolves around organization. So here’s my advice on keeping organized:
1. Schedule as much as you can. Don’t get me wrong I like spare of the moment fun from time to time, but most of my life is scheduled. It sounds a little boring but in reality I’m a lot of fun because I’m not stressed and I have the time scheduled. 2. Reduce meetings by 25%., this means if you can share it on an email> then do it. If you can have a conversation or talk over lunch > then do it. I’m pretty sure I strongly dislike meetings that start late, are without an agenda or share information that could of been shared over an email.
3. Schedule regular breaks throughout the day. This is super important to me. You need to get up. You need some water and or a snack. You even need to make a quick call to a loved one. Balance is key. Your personal life is important too.
4.Make sure your space is organized. I’ll just say my day is not over until my area is tidy. Everyone’s level of clean and tidy varies, so go with your comfort level. You do need to know where everything is and you’re ready to start the next day. You definitely don’t need to spend an hour looking for a file or a note you’ve written.
5. Consolidate and organize your apps on your phone.
6. Turn off all notifications on your mobile device and desktop. I did this about four years ago. It helps me so much. I also would suggest muting your phone during family time. Place it another room. Again balance & your personal life is important.
7. Start your day with structured me time whether it’s reflecting, praying, or listening to some music that you like you need your me time.
8. Make sure you have a growth mindset surround yourself and everything that you do with positivity.
9. If you can converse versus email or text to so that will definitely clear up a lot of your time from going back-and-forth.
10. Make sure that your team is aligned and you are able to chop up the big problems into smaller chunks.
11. Definitely use checklists for everything that you do so that you can check it out there’s nothing better than to checking things off your list. I live off a check off list. I love crossing tasks off 😊.