I... Live(journal)

[jp_davis]

So you may or may not have noticed that I have been somewhat absent of late… things at the Day Job spiraled out of control and I had to basically give up anything resembling a life for a little while. Which is to say, for about a month, my schedule has been: Get up at 5:30, thirty minutes or so of basic intertubes to wake up (only the essentials:

Comments

[ex_kaz_maho]

So that's where you've been. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your double-life as an assassin. ;)

It makes sense that you had to put things on hold for a while - there are just times where balance is almost impossible to achieve (at least, not without completely driving yourself crazy).

I honestly don't think I have advice for you on this question. Whenever I have a job, I find the work/life/writing balance difficult, and right now while I'm between jobs, I have a tendency to throw myself 110% into writing and burn out. I'll link to this over on my LJ - maybe we'll BOTH get some good advice.

Good to have you back!

[jp_davis]

What can I say, freelance killing takes alot of organization. It's so corporate.

Thanks for the link! It's good to be missed occasionally. I think my crazy period is winding down at work, which hopefully means that I will have time in my life for writing and LJ again!

[ex_kaz_maho]

It's so corporate.

Hee! There must be a lot of paperwork, too... ;)

I spend too long on LJ, but I'm trying to cut down. Honest... *has shifty eyes*

[jp_davis]

Oh yes indeed... deadly paperwork.

[tmthomas]

Working in a similar Day Job, i completely understand. In fact, I'm glad to hear someone else with the similar issue...I haven't done any real writing on any of my projects in a week or two. I tend to have this panic spiral where I don't have the mental energy to write, so I tell myself that was a sign I wasn't a real writer, since everyone says "make time" and that just wasn't feasible. (I never claimed to be sane.) This would set off another round of not being able to get pen to paper.

So I have no advice...I'm just going to take advice, though, from your statement about it being ok to take time away and focus on other priorities.

[jp_davis]

I am oh so familiar with the panic spiral, and in my case, its close cousin, the shame spiral. I think when I was writing short stories, that was part of my issue; I got so wound up about writing (or not writing as the case may be) that when I did get to writing, I felt like I had to make so much of what little time that I had that I was a total failure if every word didn't come out perfect. I am much happier having finally figured out that it's okay to give yourself permission to not write when you need to, and that includes times when you just need a break. Of course, the trick is figuring out when those times are, and then not doing that too much... clearly, I still have some serious balance issues to work out of my own.

[sarah_prineas]

Hello! You might know that Carrie and I were emailing about this yesterday, though that was more specific to her situation

[jp_davis]

Carrie was definitely the same way when writing FHT... she kicked the last part right when her job exploded and she was working basically ten to twelve hour days every day, including weekends. I wish I could be like that. I mean, not the twelve hour days on the weekends (though that happens), the being inspired by it.

I definitely think that the job can spark, though... perhaps for reasons best left unsaid in a public forum where coworkers could conceivably stumble by. But I think the really great thing about having a serious, stressful job and writing is that it teaches you the discipline to work all day on your writing, even though you don't have to. That's definitely something I never figured out until I got a real job. I have a feeling you're going to be just fine when you take the full plunge!

[desperance]

Hopefully that secrecy will make you think I am a spy.

When I was learning Mandarin, one of my classmates - a dentist, as it happened - suddenly declared, "I've got you sussed, Brenchley: you're a spook. You claim to be a writer, but you're learning Chinese, you go off unpredictably and always to dodgy places, Taiwan, Korea... You're a spook!"

Me, I just smiled enigmatically...

[jp_davis]

Ha! But now I'm wondering, what was a dentist doing learning Mandarin? Perhaps the real spy was under our noses this whole time...

[wldhrsjen3]

Heh. I had a minor meltdown a week or so ago because I felt like I was trying to juggle too many things at once. Two small kids, three horses in training and one in heavy exercise, a farm, volunteer work, writing - and I don't even have a "real" job!! Finding the balance is very difficult for me, and I tend to be a perfectionist so it's hard to allow myself to walk away from something that's "just good enough

[jp_davis]

You clean once a week? Woah, you are so far ahead of me it's ridiculous. I think that kind of prioritization is definitely the way to do things. My work involves juggling numerous different tasks, all of which are clamoring to be the most important, and the one thing that has taught me (other than how quickly hair can go gray) is that you have to prioritize, find what's most important and put the others aside until you get it knocked out. It's a great lesson to apply that to work/life/writing balance.

Also, don't feel selfish-- you need to live your life, too! Also apparently two kids and three horses' lives! That's like, six lives right there. I think you're totally okay to not go out looking for more.