I can’t even remember the last time I did my Sunday check-in on Sunday. I rarely do any business related stuff on Sunday since it’s a time for family, and I consider this business. I had some time this morning before church, so I thought I would post ON TIME. 🙂
I’ve had to reevaluate everything lately. I’m so behind on so much. I realized I haven’t even given Kait an inspirational post for ROW80 yet. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and wonder how I’m going to do everything I need to do. I work a full time job and then do line editing in the evenings after work. I’ve taken on another church related activity which ties up most of my Tuesday nights. I have church on Sundays and Wednesdays. And right now, I have to come up with a costume for a writers’ conference I’m going to as well as table decorations for the book signing. There’s just SO MUCH. When in the world can I write?
Okay, so now I’m thinking…OTHER people are busy, too, right? How do they do it? Um…maybe by not wasting time doing unimportant stuff? I realize I do this. There are hours in the evenings I could be writing instead of doing other things. I think the only way I’m going to be able to keep this all up is to make myself a schedule and stick to it. (But give myself wiggle room if something comes up.) For instance, these are the hours and days I’ll edit, these are the hours and days I’ll write, etc. My editing clients have to come first because they pay me to do it. And I need the income from that. And right now, income from writing stinks. I’m hearing this from many authors. So clients are first priority. But I have to set aside time to write. I have two books in the works, one for each pen name, and I need to be working on them.
THEN I have to make sure I set aside SOME time for my husband. I think one of my biggest problems is that I feel guilty when I’m in my office working, and he’s in the living room watching TV. I feel like I need to be with him. I HAVE to find that proper balance. Work stuff, family stuff, church stuff.
I would love to hear thoughts and suggestions. What do y’all think about making a schedule? How do all of you juggle everything?
lauralynnelliott.com 
Waaaaaaay different kind of busy going on here, but here are some ideas.
I have the computer in the living room, so even if I’m not engaged with my family, I’m with them. Or I might take the laptop and be outside (if it’s warm!!!) or wherever. Granted, distractions and interruptions sometimes reach insane levels, but life goes on.
Designate a couple social media free days per week.
Instead of relying on social media or phone games for unexpected waiting periods, bring your current book or a notepad you can jot or doodle in. Whereas social media decreases attention span and makes concentration more difficult, doodling/writing can help increase it and encourage creativity. (So, theoretically, you become more efficient and creative in certain tasks.)
Hugs! I hope things quiet down for good reasons for you soon. 🙂
Thanks for the advice!
I can’t write with the TV on, so I have to hole up in my office. Hubby is okay with it, but I really wish he would find something quieter to do so I can spend some of that time with him.
Believe it or not, social media isn’t usually a big time suck for me. I’m not on it as much as many authors seems to be. And I almost never have it up when I’m writing or editing. But I like your idea about using waiting periods in a productive way!
Oh, bummer about TV. I used to be that way with any kind of background music or story line, but I had to learn or not write. Kudos for not being a social media junkie!
Ack… I do hear you, Lauralynn. There never seems enough time in a day. And yet, I know if I had another ten hours to get stuff done, I would still end up filling every hour with extras. It sounds like you would likely do the same.
I don’t know. It sounds to me like time with your husband is weighing on you emotionally…Is there a way you could work on stuff in the living room with him? Just an idea… if you could, even if it wasn’t a lot of social time, it’s something more. It sometimes the only was how my hubby and I get our time together
Honestly, if I didn’t have the full time job, I could do this. That’s a whole eight hours I could use to write and edit. I actually do edit during my lunch hour most days. But, yeah, I can see how suddenly there would be even MORE to do to fill my days. Somehow, we manage to do that. LOL
I can’t write or edit in the living room. The TV distracts me, and the next thing I know, I’m watching it instead of working. I have an office where I close the door to work. I just need to figure out how to juggle everything.
I was afraid it might be something like that… I can’t sit in the livingroom and work either. “Talk” of any kind just gnaws away at my concentration, and I just can’t focus on writing or editing… or even reading. I can sleep when someone’s talking, but…
Anyway, this isn’t about me; I was really hoping I could come up with an idea for you. Sorry.
I’ve finally had to break down and go to Barnes & Noble for two hours five days a week in order to write. Everything at home was becoming a distraction. I also had to say “no” to the wireless internet over there. Being surrounded by books really helps focus in on why I’m there.
Being overwhelmed is horrible, and I’m still trying to find a balance. There’s so much more to this than just writing a book. It’s more than a 40-hour a week job. I’ve also been hearing the same thing about authors losing income. It makes it hard to keep on writing when better money can be made elsewhere.
Family time is a hard one to get in. I wish I knew the answer to solving that one.
At least in my office, I don’t have distractions. The cats are in there with me, but they don’t bother me at all. 🙂 I do see how being surrounded by books could help, though.
I don’t think people realize how much work goes into writing. That’s why it irks me when people want you to give your work away as if it’s nothing. Don’t get me started on THAT.
Lauralynn, I can so relate to constantly juggling and trying to fit everything in. Sometimes you make yourself crazy. I recently had to back out of a short story anthology because I couldn’t meet the deadline. I’ve never had to do that before but I knew I had to relieve some pressure.
For me, I have a set time to write. Every Sunday afternoon for approximately 5-6 hours I disappear into my writing cave and work on my WIP. Hubby is fine with that because we’re together each weekday evening and Friday night and Saturdays are our fun together time. Sometimes I write my blog posts or work on promotion stuff in the evening while we’re both in the family room.
I work full-time too but I think it’s probably harder for you because you have a full-time job, PLUS an editing job PLUS writing. That’s a lot to juggle!
My biggest writing/editing block is on Saturday. So anytime something happens to disrupt my usual Saturday, it throws me off. I usually didn’t work on Wednesdays and Sundays, but I’m having to do that now to keep from getting too far behind. I think the first thing I need to do is figure out what I’m doing that I can cut out. There’s not much, though.
Lauralynn,
My daughter gets distracted by the TV, so her husband got wireless headphones. Now she can sit in the quiet living room with him. It might not work if you’re distracted by the screen, but it might be worth a try.
I hear you on being busy, and yearn for retirement, which won’t come soon enough!
I am SO yearning for retirement. I can edit and write full time then!