This first couple weeks of September have been all about finding balance in my life. My little Miss M. just started Kindergarten, Miss K. just started preschool, the hubby started overtime at work, and I started a new my schedule for writing time. Whew! A lot of change to balance out.
So far, I’d say it’s going well. This is our first full week of our new schedule since the first two weeks were filled with school holidays. This week I get a chance to see if the plans I put in place will work. Here’s hoping! I think my writing time while both kids are at school is working great. The hardest part is transitioning in and out of writing mode. Since I only have three hours M,W, and F, I have to make sure I use my time as effectively as possible. That means sitting down and focusing on my tasks immediately—no checking blogs, facebook, twitter, or email. Then after my time is up, I have to transition back to mom and put aside what I was focusing on in my writing. That often means leaving a scene right in the middle. It’s frustrating to have to walk away from it when I’m on a roll and the words are flowing, but kids can’t pick themselves up from school. And I try to find a extra snippets of time throughout the week while the kids are watching a movie, taking naps, and in the evening.
I even have a schedule for exercise. How pathetic is that?! But if I don’t go into each week knowing what I’m supposed to do and when, I make excuses and before I know it, the weekend is here and I’ve done nothing active. But not anymore! Not with my new schedule!
Did I forget to mention this is the first week in history that I’ve ever scheduled dinners? Oh, and M’s lunch each day? How crazy is that? I’m hoping I can actually stick to the plan I wrote on a cute lined post-it note and stuck to my kitchen cabinet door. One has a list of all the possible dinner ideas — with ingredients I actually have on hand! — so I have no excuse not to cook something. The other has M’s lunches planned for the week so all I have to do each morning is look and see what’s on the list for that day. Day two, and the plan is working!
So what am I spending my time on right now? I’m currently doing my last revision on my single title contemporary romance since I recently got it back from my beta reader. I’m just about finished it and making good progress each day. She’s now beta reading my novella — the title of which keeps changing. Once I get that back from her, I’ll spend a little while revising then it’ll be time to send it out to a few epublishers. I need to spend a little time now figuring out which ones exactly and their submission guidelines. And lastly, I’m beta reading a novella for my beta reader!
To this point I’ve been able to balance all the responsibilities in my life with the only casualty being this blog! I need to try harder to find a spot to fit in a regular update at least once a week if not more. This post got written while M is at school and K is watching an episode of Little Einstein’s. Now the show is over so my time is up! Off to Target to take care of a few mom-type errands.
How do you find balance in your life between your writing desires and your real-life responsibilities? Are you a scheduler like me or do you fly by the seat of your pants each day?
7 pings
Shoshanna Evers says:
September 14, 2010 at 4:45 pm (UTC -4 )
Oh I envy you, if you can really keep to your schedule as planned! I *wish* I had that kind of organization. Especially about the making dinner and the exercise thing! Good luck!
Janet Walters says:
September 14, 2010 at 8:40 pm (UTC -4 )
Schedules. The one schedule I have trouble keeping is my promo one. Do try to have them but none for exercise except to use the peddler when I’m watching TV
Wendy Marcus says:
September 14, 2010 at 8:49 pm (UTC -4 )
I think scheduling is a great idea. I also write down goals for the week, month, year. It’s great to cross off things I’ve accomplished.
hthurmeier says:
September 14, 2010 at 9:02 pm (UTC -4 )
Hi girls!
Well, day two went well. Lunch was successful and it was relaxing not having to figure out what the heck to make for dinner! And as an added bonus, since I’d planned ahead and dinner was in the crockpot, I was able to spend the ‘dinner making’ portion of my afternoon writing instead! I felt great to get so much accomplished today. Let’s all cross our fingers for tomorrow!
Taryn Kincaid says:
September 18, 2010 at 11:39 am (UTC -4 )
Schedule, schmedule.
What’s a schedule?
Joy says:
September 22, 2010 at 3:24 pm (UTC -4 )
It may seem crazy to schedule most everything, but if it works for you…I find that instead of scheduling, I have to promise myself to get a little writing/editing done each day. Otherwise nothing gets done. 🙁
Yolanda says:
September 22, 2010 at 8:40 pm (UTC -4 )
Congrats on the schedule – both writing and the exercise and sticking to it! If you have to stop mid scene maybe jot a few words or something until you can go back to it. Crockpot is fab … I can’t wait for it to get colder to use it. Boyfriend loves to grill. I need to try the schedule thing …LOL