At this point it’s pretty cliché for a writer (or anyone on
this planet) to talk about how they’re soooo busy. If you Google search Time
Management, you’ll get page after page of relevant, fantastic time saving
advice. It ranges from basic math—if you have 24 hours in a day, try cutting a
couple hours of sleep to do more—to cutting things out of your life.
So I made a choice a while back to not visit as many blogs.
I chose to stop engaging as much in social media—why is it so addictive?—and I
chose to take more time to breath and relax and be a human being not constantly
driving myself into the dirt.
Then starts the anxiety, have I abandoned the world of
writers? Will they all hate me for not going around to all the blogs like I
used to? Will they think I’m a snob for not jumping in on every blog hop or
offering up discussion on the political hot topic of the day?
And what would anxiety be without the flipside?
Does my family still think I put too much time into online
promotion? Am I being a bad Mom? Should I cook better dinners? Clean the house
more? Spend more time doing activities with my family? Do I write or do I spend
time with my family?
It’s really easy to see why there are life coaches dedicated
to time management. I know this is a pretty common subject, but I really want
to know how people manage full time jobs, full time families, and full time writing
careers? Everyone tells me it’s a balancing act, but I sort of look at it like
putting out fires. Everything is on fire, and you pick the fire to put out. Once
that one is done, it’s on to the next, but by the time you’ve put out the
second or third fire, the first pile is back on fire again.
Anyhow, that’s what I’m insecure about this month, am I
doing a good enough job putting out the fires (did I mention, I’m also on fire
in this analogy?). So how do you manage it? I've started a thing where I post pictures on my social media feed when I get too negative or whiny about publishing and time management. Here's a recent one I posted to twitter:
Don’t forget to visit the Ninja Captain Alex and his team of
cohosts: Nancy Gideon, Tamara Narayan, Liesbet @ Roaming About, Michelle Wallace, and Feather Stone!
I get stressed about time, definitely. I love that you post pictures when you start to feel whiny or negative. Such a lovely flower. :)
ReplyDeleteThe path of least resistance - that's the only way any of my writing gets done. Family, job, sleep, Supernatural, those things can't be avoided but I can make use of the limited pockets of time when it's all about me. Yawn, 4:30 a.m.
ReplyDeleteBasically, it comes down to the less you engage, the less you are engaged with. Period. I've cut back to, but with certain rules in place. We have to know our limits.
ReplyDeletePutting out fires basically describes my life too. I only get to write when the embers are simply smoking. Don't let yourself get wrapped up in how your time is being spent or you'll go crazy.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea if I'm any good at time management because, even for as little as I have going on in my life, I feel like I never have enough hours in the day. >_< Though some of that is likely perspective. And some of that is definitely "Wait, I've been playing video games for how long?"
ReplyDeleteI get 8 hours of sleep a night, have a part time job, and always remember to walk the dog - for me, that's a win. Oh, and eating... I ALWAYS remember to eat. The rest of it... hmm, maybe you should ask my kids :-)
ReplyDeleteThat balance is so hard to find. you have to weigh what matters now against what will matter in a year.
ReplyDelete