Before January of 2011 I would have considered myself to be a fairly busy person. I worked and trained full time at my TaeKwonDo school. I would get there around 10 am and leave around 8 pm every night during the school year and put in about 14 hours every day during the summer. I sometimes felt like THIS guy...trying to juggle everything on my plate and sometime not getting the results I wanted.
Then I decided that I was going to return to my writing. My son had moved out of the house and I quickly converted his bedroom into my study before he could change his mind. But the world of writing is very different from twenty years ago and there was much for me to learn. And the more I learned, the more things I discovered I needed to juggle. Things like a website, and a blog site, and social sites like Linkedin and Facebook and critique groups and writers online communities and other peoples blog sites and other peoples websites...you get the idea. Then I started to feel like THIS guy because I now find myself with the idea of trying to juggle two full time careers and determined to make both passions work for me.
So how do I do it? Keyword...time management. I want to squeeze as much writing time out of each day as I can so I get up at 6 or 7 am each morning and juggle my writing...whether picture book or fantasy novel or blog post and then I spend the next ten hours focussing on my martial arts. When I get home, I spend the next 3 hours reading and responding to emails, catching up on other blogs or websites or online writing groups before tumbling into bed around midnight. Saturdays I run errands and Sunday I focus on editing, doing critiques, researching submission avenues, and reading articles or books to further my writer skills. Oh yeah, I also take time out on Sunday evening to watch Once Upon A Time...the only TV I indulge in during the week.
Juggling my time and my life may seem crazy to other people but I feel energized with my life in a way I haven't been before. I didn't mention the volunteering I do on the side or my charity organizations or school programs I also participate in because I fill those in when I have the extra time...lol...
I can look back on this past year and wonder how did I ever manage to juggle all those obligations of my time or I can just sit back and reflect on how satisfied I am with my writing life and my martial arts life right now. I'm privileged to be able to share my excitement with others through this wonderful writing community and give back to all the lovely people who have enriched my life this past year. Now I'm looking more like THIS lady and thinking if I could just learn to toss in some chocolate with those clocks I'd be doing just fine!
