How Do I Make Time For It All?

I'm often asked how I make time for everything I'm chasing after: Work, my writing, editing, graphic design, marketing, and most importantly, motherhood. Well, I have a pretty specific system to ensure I'm making enough time for it all. 

First, I regularly evaluate my goals and priorities. I consider where I want to spend most of my time. In a typical week, this is my list:

1. Work. We're living off my income right now, so work has to be a top priority. Plus, I really love my job.
2. Family. It's so important to me that I get quality time with my husband and my little man every day. 
3. Writing, editing, design, and marketing prep. I make some time for these things every single day. 
4. Fun stuff. Walks, games, reading, and watching movies.

So, how do I make time for all of this? 
My mornings are time for family. We're up at 6 AM most days, which means we have plenty of time to have breakfast and go for a nice long walk, then my husband takes the baby so I can get to work. I work most days from home, so I'm usually able to take my lunch break to try and get the baby down for his nap. Then, it's back to work. When I finish work, we have a playtime and do dinner as a family, then it's bath time and bedtime routine for the little one.

After he goes to bed for the night, I take 30 minutes to an hour every day for my writing tasks. Depending on where I am in my publishing process, I may use this time for editing or designing my graphics for marketing. I also use a bit of this time every day to prep my social media posts. After I finish with that, I usually have an hour or two to hang with my husband before bed. On the weekends, I often get a little bit of extra writing time during my baby's nap times to write and do post prep. If I have something super important - a big work project, a family event, or our regular Friday night scary movie night - then I schedule a little bit less writing time that day.

Do I ​feel burnout from this schedule?
Usually, no. Because I work on my writing and other projects in short bursts (an hour or less at a time), I'm able to keep up some pretty good stamina. It also helps that I'm super passionate about my author endeavors, and my husband is incredibly supportive. Anytime I need a bit more writing time, he figures out a way for me to make that happen. 

What challenges do I face?
When things get busy, when I have a big project I'm working on and I'm nearing my deadline - especially toward my release dates - things feel a little bit scrambled. I'm really careful about blocking out time for my kiddo, but it kind of never feels like enough.

Does my writing stay on my mind all day?
As with anything I get excited or passionate about, yes. My writing does linger in my thoughts. To make sure I'm as focused and productive at work as I can be, I have a few strategies I use.

First, when I start my work day, I take a few minutes to look at my schedule for the day. I look at everything I have to get done for work, and then make a list of everything that's on my mind that's not work related. Then I mark on my schedule in the evening that I'll make time for that thing then. That helps a lot. 

Second, nearly all of my writing related things are done in the evenings after my son goes to bed. This is super helpful in keeping on task with work, because most of my excitement comes after my writing session is finished for the day, when the ideas are flowing. 

This brings me to the next question I get.

Does all of this keep me up at night? 
Honestly, yeah. Sometimes it does. I've always had trouble sleeping anyway, so if something's on my mind, yes. I'm up, especially when my writing happens so close to bedtime. Thankfully, it usually just takes pulling up my phone and writing a quick note about what's on my mind before I'm able to get to sleep.

What scheduling troubles do you run into? How do you make time to chase your dreams?

Want more writing related content? Check back next weekend for another post! 

Note: My upcoming release is set to come out in hardcover at the end of September, and its book launch and sequel production KickStarter is running now! If you're interested in getting some cool book merch (designed and created by yours truly), early release paperback or e-book, check it out! KickStarter will be running until August 22nd. 
www.kickstarter.com/projects/boundbooklaunch/bound-book-launch-and-sequel-production