Yeah, that's about how I do it. As you can tell from the complete DEARTH of posts over the last 6 weeks or so, I'm having a tough time juggling all the commitments in my life right now. Between the full-time day job and the full-time performing job*, the old cliche of "burning the candle at both ends" doesn't even begin to cover it. Add in a WIP that I so desperately want more time to focus on and, you know, a personal life and I'm pretty much a ticking time bomb these days. It's only a matter of time before my head explodes.
*Aaaaaaaaand I found out today that Cirque Berzerk has been extended through August 30th - tickets on sale now!
Something's got to give. At the moment, its the writing but I think that pendulum is about to start its back swing and move towards my personal life. Then probably onto the day job and - ugh - okay hopefully that baby won't come anywhere near my singing.
But it made me think about the juggling that writers do all the time, whether its the personal-life-day job-writing-time juggle or the multiple projects to deadline juggle or the I-suck-and-will-never-write-anything-of-merit-ever-again juggle. How do we manage?
I tend to drink more, flake more, and talk to myself more. I'm not really a list-maker, more of a "Here are this week's goals" kind of gal. And I use the reward system, training myself like some kind of sado-masochistic Pavlov's dog, forcing myself to get through just 500 more words before I can watch that episode of Deadliest Catch.
Unfortunately, when I really start to overload I'm more likely to just say "Fuck it!" and catch up on the antics of those hottie Harris brothers on the Bering Sea than figure out how to get my main character out of her current predicament.
There are reasons I'm not a professional opera singer. No discipline is one of the biggest.
So my question to you is "How do you juggle?" I'd love to hear - and hopefully steal, at least for awhile - your methods.
When life gets really crazy, I divy up my little amounts of freetime into specifics. For example: Monday will be the night I will come home and watch a TV before bed. Tuesday will be the night I will come home and write 500 words before bed.
ReplyDeleteAnd so on. Set a specific schedule and stick to it.
I juggle badly. The higher the pile, the less likely it is I'm going to get any of it done.
ReplyDeleteSo, to counteract this I have a micro "set" routine that I rarely allow to vary --i.e., 5:30 am to 7 is for writing, come hell or high water. I better be damned exhausted to sleep through that one. I find if I can stick to one thing, the rest will fall into place a little more easily.
Of course, I don't have two jobs. I'd be going a little bonkers in your shoes, too.
If I had to get up at 5:30am everyday I think I'd die. Seriously. My cicadian rhythms just don't bongo that way.
ReplyDeleteI compartmentalize. I turn on certain parts of my brain at certain times, turning off the others until it's their "turn". Which is good since I'm also in the midst of multiple stress factors right now. Pardon me, my alloted "worry about being homeless" time is in four minutes.
ReplyDeleteBryn, consider your homelessness "research." :D
ReplyDeleteSame as you. But I guess I get a big charge out of writing Fuck it! on my to-do list. Write it several times. They're easy to check off. Instant sense of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? I'm a Zen-to Done gal. Sort of. Time is ltd. Demands on your time? Not so much. I learn to say no. I write down things. I break them down tasks into easy chunks of time. Doesn't always work, but I feel more in control.