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| Photo attribution-wikimedia |
“I'm livin' in a world that won't stop pullin' on meI'm not complaining but it's true
It's like I owe my time to everyone else'Cause that's all I seem to do…”
Keith Urban, WHAT ABOUT ME?
There are times that no matter what you do there just
aren’t enough minutes in the day to get everything done. There are things you
must do, a list of things that should be done (but aren’t set in stone), and
then there is that list of things you want to do. Guess which list gets balled
up, more times than not, and tossed across the room?
I think juggling life is one hardest things a writer has
to do.
I know it is for me.
Carving out time to write isn’t always easy. There is
always something tugging on me and demanding my time. Then there are the
characters in my head doing the same. I’ve tried to set aside small sections of
time to write and overall I’ve managed to add small chunks of words to my
manuscript. The hard thing is having a workable amount of energy remaining when
I’m finished with my MUST DO list. I don’t have the luxury of burning the
candle at both ends if I want to remain healthy and that’s a juggling act in
itself.
The past few weeks my early mornings, the time I do my
best writing, has be stolen by college stuff for the kid—people to meet with or
contact and a cazillion forms. I hate forms! Then there is the reviving of my
online presence after being ill, books to read and reviews to write, correspondence
to handle and promotion.
If I have outside appointments, as I have recently, by
the time I get home from those appointments, I’m usually wiped out—remember, I
live in the middle of nowhere. Other than the local grocery or feed store
everything else is at least thirty-five to fifty miles away. So you’re looking
at travel time, which is a minimum of an hour, but most of the time, it’s more
like two hours. The cost of gas being what it is I tend to maximize my errands.
That usually takes up the whole morning and when I get home my brain is already
mush and all I want is peace and quiet, no people, something to eat, and
somewhere to slither for a short nap. Then it’s onto the list of things that
have to be done here on the ranch and then dinner and socializing with the
family. I’m fortunate in that I can write nonfiction in the evening but even
there, if I’m up too late, which seems to be the pattern recently, it cuts into
that early morning creative writing time. A bit of a vicious circle at times.
I’ve been thinking about that. My conclusion is I need to
get better organized and a better schedule. I have a window of time that I do
my best creative writing. I’ve determined that I need to apply some tough
discipline and set that as the focus first. Let the dog out, grab my coffee,
open my word document, and spend that hour or two in the morning and write. The
housework will still be there when I’m done, ditto with correspondence,
Internet, reading blogs, and appointments. I need to be firm with those things.
The later part of last week I implemented part of that.
This week will be the kicker. Nose to the grindstone and do it. At least I feel
better knowing what I have to do. I’ll let you know how it goes.
- So, how is your writing going?
- How do you juggle life to accommodate your writing, job, and family?
What About Me-on Youtube
Keith Urban
