For the past few weeks, certain life events (all of them unforeseen, as life tends to make them, but not all of them bad), have made me unable to write. No, I’m not going through a writer’s block. I want to write and edit and revise my work, and I have material to work on, but, alas, someone decided that each day should only have 24 hours. I don’t know who it was, but I don’t like that person. I used to like them, but not at the moment. And, to make things harder, I also got a job. For the record, I’m not a lazy bugger, but as it’s the case with most jobs, it takes up a great part of my day. One third of it, to be exact. However, it’s a nice place and, get this, there’s another writer there. Another one from the tribe!
And yet, it adds to a problem that has been going on for the past few weeks, one that leaves me with either not enough time to spare to write or not enough energy for it. Everything that has been going on for the past month or so has messed up my writing routine (which I took great care to protect, but when family health issues arise, what can you do?). So I’m trying to come up with a new routine, at least until my placement is over (which will be around February 2018 – unless they fire me before that *shudder*).
I’m sure most of you have faced similar life changing events, so how did you cope? Did it take you long? Was the transition to a new writing routine easy? Did you have a routine in the first place? What steps did you take to be productive (writing-wise) again?
I have a few ideas, and once I put them into practice I may write a post about them, but until then feel free to share your take on this. I’d really like to see how other people deal with this issue.
I’m hopeful this changes in my life will not affect this blog. But it may happen, since I usually draft these posts a few days in advance and go over them as much as I can each day, before I publish them. If it does happen, know it’ll only be temporary, that you can reach me through social media, or through the contact form (at the top).
When my wife and I had a baby and then two years later another one, I had to readjust my routine of writing. It used to be I could work on my creative stuff in the evening when my wife was at work during the week. But after the kids arrived I was too busy caring for them to do anything in the evenings. I ended up readjusting to working very early in the morning on the weekends instead. It took some time to get used to it since I’m limited to two days pretty much, but I take my notebook/sketchbook to work with me and write down ideas or sketch during breaks. I also have it handy at home to do the same while taking care of the kids. To be honest there are times I wish I could do things during the week like I used to but I make the most of the time I have on the weekend – 4 or 5 hours per day. I also sneak in some time when the kids are napping for a couple hours. LOL when I can. It takes time to adjust, for sure and can be frustrating not to have the same amount of time as before, but in the end you get used to it and can still be creative and perhaps enjoy the creative time more so. Good luck with the job and the writing!
I think my problem is that I just can’t let go of something I’m used to. I’m a creature of habit, which means I find it very hard to adapt to changes (actually, I’m the worst person in the world). Where I work, we don’t have a clearly defined break. They’re more relaxed about these things. At the same time, however, my sense of duty doesn’t let me goof off much. Another problem is that I have found that I’m most productive from 10 in the morning to around 3 in the afternoon. I’d like to try and extend that time frame to a couple of hours in the evening (say up to 7 in the evening), which will give me two hours every day. I just need to teach myself to conserve energy for those two hours, even if it’s just to sit at my computer and only stare at a manuscript.
Of course, then I’d have to convince myself not to feel bad for not being productive enough… :/ Oh, the problems writers face!