pandora/ipod: "roll it over" by oasis
Argh.Grumble.
Blech. Blech. Blech.
I'm having a balance issue. Not like a walk-the-white-line-ma'am kind of balance issue or a new pair of stilettos kind of balance issue. More like a "OMG MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE" kind of balance issue.
1. There's the day job. It's not a bad one as far as day jobs go. Filled with crazy people and predictable in its weekly rhythms. Eight hours, in and out. I can occasionally get some writing done but I get very few stretches of "quiet time" which doesn't bode well for my microscopic attention span. Hard to focus. That's me.
2. There's the pre-work morning. Okay, I have tried at various times in my life to be a productive morning person and I have come to this important realization: it ain't gonna happen. I'm just not a morning person. I don't have the self-discipline to haul my ass out of bed a hour early for a workout or writing session. Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
3. There's the post-work evening. First I walk Poodini. He has this thing called a "bladder" and until he grows an opposable thumb he's pretty much not using the toilet. Besides, that walk is like the only exercise I get. Sad, but true. Then there's social time. I like social time. A lot. Like a lot, a lot. This is my downfall people! Social time and Anthropologie. This week is especially packed in with a friend crashing on my sofa, theater tickets (OMG RICKY JAY!!!!) and two happy hours. All of a sudden its midnight and I'm like "Wha?"
4. Before I know it, the weekend has arrived and I haven't done a lick of writing since the last one. Crap! How did that happen? Now I've got writing, blogging, vlogging, social networking, chores and naps to squeeze into two measly days! Oh, and God forbid I read a friggin book anymore...
Weeks like this I start to get a little stir crazy at not being able to writer/revise whenever the hell I want to. I guess its utterly self-indulgent of be to even be complaining - I don't have half the responsibility most people shoulder. You working moms? Seriously, no idea how any of you write.
Anyway, before I drown in my own pity party here, how do you all balance your lives and carve out those all important writing moments from your otherwise insane days? Enquiring minds want to know!
I am very, very lucky. Now that I have the lap top, I can sit in the living room with hubby and son and 'socialize' (i.e. grunt when asked a question). Son is usually playing with his DS or writing and illustrating his own stories. He's 11 now so he doesn't need watching like a hawk any more. I could not and would not have written when he was a toddler. They get into too much mischief and they need much more attention. So, I guess I'm lucky that I wasn't writing when he was younger.
ReplyDeleteHusband, by evening, is dog tired and heads off to bed between 8 and 9, so I can usually get an hour or two of writing in on an average evening. It can sometimes be a pain when husband is really, really tired because then he babbles and repeats himself and all the finger-drumming and rolling of eyes, on my part, fails to get the message across that I need to write.
I get most of my writing done at the weekend. If I'm on a roll, I can churn out 5k a day.
It also helps that I have no social life here. I'm reclusive and am happiest at home.
Gawd, haven't I just babbled on. Well...you did ask! :D
I'm with you on the have tried and will never be a morning person thing. So scratch that. It seems like my life goes in spurts...I'm either booked to the brim with dance classes and shows and I can't even sit down in my desk chair, much less write...or I have no bookings (and no money), so all I have to do is write and pray gigs come along. So, I make do as best I can late evenings with writing when things are packed, or I bust out the laptop in the free minutes I have between classes, but admittedly, I get most of my writing done in those scary drought times. Hm, I don't think this helps you at all, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
ReplyDeleteSue, I have no idea how you can focus with all that going on in the living room! I'm at my best with sports on the telly - background noise with an occasional reason to look up.
ReplyDeleteColby, yes. Spurts of busy followed by spurts of mind-numbing boredom. I definitely have a "Grass is Always Greener" problem!
That's probably why my manuscripts have punctuation issues! I'm very, very good at 'zoning out'.
ReplyDeleteInsane days, yes. I'm a bit lucky and only work 20 hours a week, as opposed to your 40. Oh, and I'm significantly less social than you are. I can change into my pj's at 2:45 when I get home and not leave my house again. Srsly. It's a sad life. :)
ReplyDeleteElena, can we trade lives for awhile? Purty please? You can drive my sexy car...
ReplyDeleteI gave up my job and therefore I'm flat broke, but I have time to write.
ReplyDeleteAnd because I'm broke, I don't go out and eat Mac N Cheese for dinner, therefore lack a social life, but I do have time to write.
Now I just need to stop writing utter poo, lol.
Nadine, you forgot to mention that YOU LIVE IN HAWAII!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSheesh.
I didn't say I was complaining, lol, I was just telling how I have time to write. :)
ReplyDeleteG, first off, I have to say, I love your voice. LOL no srsly, I do. You need to write a memoir so I can bathe my mind in your awfully witty and charming tone. Love, love, love it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the time issue, yeah, heh, I can feel ya. Here's how I manage mine: First, I have no social life. Like, really. The extent of my social life is a stay-at-home neighbor mom and we chat on the phone all morning (which, btw, I'm with you on that. I gladly let my kiddo and baby sit in PJs until way past breakfast watching TV or playing with toys while I sit and wake up. Takes me THAT long some days). Having no social life significantly helps me with finding writing time. Am I depressed I hardly have any friends or get any time out to myself and do fun girly things whatsoever at all ever ever? A little. But, honestly, if I had to choose, I'd pick writing first.
Crap, it's a novel already and I'm not even done! OK, I'll wrap it up. I give myself dedicated time to write and stick to it. Everything takes sacrifice. I sacrifice social time and me-time at nights (when I just want to lay on the couch, watch an awesome action or chic flick and zone out, or take a bubble bath God forbid), and make my husband watch the kids a couple hours on a weekend day to write at a coffee shop. And, when I write, I write incredibly fast. But then there are nights I sacrifice writing so I CAN get a breath of fresh air with my girlfriends or do something for myself. It's just a matter of (I hate saying the word out loud) "scheduling" it, for me.
Lovin' the vlogging!!
Uh, I haven't been writing since I returned to work. I'm hoping once the semester, ends, though, I'll get some time. I love the month when I do NaNo with my kids (March in spring semester) because then I get to just sit there and write along with them! It's so motivating! Until then, though, I'm lucky if I get some writing done on the weekend.
ReplyDeletecoffee and prayer
ReplyDelete