Balancing work and writing? How does one do it? 🤷
And I don’t have kids, and my cat is not typically needy. And there are people out there juggling all that and more!
We’re all different. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. For me, much of the problem with balancing work and writing comes from how mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted I am at the end of the day. I get home and even if I really want to write, my body often checks out. With the current state of my work, however, it’s almost impossible to not get home like that 😮💨
I’ve tried writing at work. To get something done during the day so that it’s not all lost. I’ve tried dedicating my entire weekend to writing, but that’s typically the only time I have to catch up with friends and family. And dedicating time to writing sometimes doesn’t align with my brain and fingers being willing to write.
So, what do I do about all of that?
Give credit.
It’s important to remember that comparing yourself to others won’t get you anywhere because you are not those people. Find out what’s healthy and realistic for you and set expectations with that in consideration.
Too many times I’ve set a structured “balance” without considering “decompression” properly, and then I burn out and everything is more exhausting.
I try not to focus too hard on when I feel like I’ve not done enough, especially when I’ve had a rough one. Though I would love to dedicate hours of writing a day, I set the benchmark at “part-time” and don’t punish myself for not meeting that weekly goal. I remind myself of everything that I have done, even if it wasn’t literal writing. I can usually see quickly that I’m doing way more than I’m giving myself credit for. Just because I can’t see word counts going up, doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything.
And I’m learning to give less of myself to my day job. I want to reserve that energy for what I’m passionate about, and my day job ain’t it anymore. My schedule is sporadic at the moment and so I have to plan around it as it comes, but I’m getting a lot better at that too!
Your peace might not always mean straightforward balance 🤔
