I have a dreadful habit of over-committing myself too, which doesn't help with my time management. At the moment I'm trying to revise Tail Lights, critique my friend's novel, remain active in all three of my writing groups which means providing at least one review a week per group and still find time to scribble out the odd short story. And that's on top of working and spending time with my kids. To top it off, my house is being painted and when I am home, the whine of sanders and saws and the heady scent of paint thinner is enough to send me screaming out of the place.
But I'll get there. There's no time limit on finishing my revisions. I said 4 chapters a week, but it's not going to kill me if one week I only get 3 done. And the short stories are an optional extra. But of course I am my own worst critic, and slave-driver, and feel like a failure if I don't do everything now. In reality, there is no way I can squeeze anything else into my days. As it is, I sacrifice sleep to write, getting up at 5.30am to work when I often don't get to bed until after midnight.
How do you manage to find time to juggle everything you want or need to do? I'd love some tips! Other than sneaking tiny moments from other jobs...
I struggled with this a lot at my last job because there was no time (that and the stress kept me from being in a writing frame of mind). I do make most of my time during work, but...when I'm being good the best time for me is when the rest of the house is asleep. I'm a morning person, so for me it means I get up early and write, but for others I could see staying up later to get it done.
ReplyDeleteExcept with getting up early, I have to stop because I need to go to work. i could see with staying up late how it would be easy to just stay up all night.
Totally hear you -- it's a constant struggle. One thing that's helped me is learning to say "no." Hard sometimes, but I'm getting better at it (and my sanity thanks me).
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ReplyDeleteYeah, no is a hard word to say. And I'm always afraid the one thing I do say no to will be the one thing that might have changed everything!
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