In the June 2020 Recap, I talked about some changes I planned to make to prioritize more time for writing. I wanted to stay up until 1:00AM on two or three nights a week, dedicating that chunk of time from when-the-kids-go-to-bed until 1:00AM to writing. Having a bit of a game plan got me excited to get stuff done.
Being predominantly a night owl, working late was pretty easy for me. However, dedicating that time to writing was not easy, and most of it got spent on household chores or the ever-present To Do list. Yes, things that have been on the To Do list for over a year have finally gotten crossed off; and yes, very little writing actually got done.
I also learned that working until 1:00AM usually got me asleep by 2:00AM, and a few nights of only 6 hours of sleep apparently triggers my headaches. For me, getting a headache in the morning means at least 1 whole day of feeling crabby and being impatient, which wouldn’t be as big of a problem if I didn’t care for two tiny humans all day.
Hardly any more time was actually spent writing, and I had more than a few days of headaches – time to make some changes to the plan. I started only working until 12:00AM, which got me asleep by 1:00AM. Frequency of headaches dropped drastically, but I still hadn’t put all the time towards writing.
I had to figure out when else I could do chores and to-do list work, so that I could actually, easily commit my late nights to writing. I couldn’t stay up later, and I’m not currently in a position where sending the kids away or the day is easy or frequently possible. But, many people work from home with their kids there too, how could I make that work for me?
The last week in July I told the kids that I have two Work Days a week, on those two days they need to do their thing, and give me space to do my work. This meant that on the other days I wouldn’t be trying to work, so would able to be more present with them. We have one hour of ‘Alone Time’ after breakfast, so the kids have already been introduced to this concept, though their execution of it isn’t perfect … it’s getting better.
Both Work Days that week were actually pretty productive, one was spent on chores, and the other on Blog work. While I would love to spend a whole Work Day on writing my Novel, I know that if the kids are home with me, I would be interrupted too much to make good progress.
Going forward this month, each week I’m going to aim to do three nights working until 12:00AM, as well as two Work Days. I’m thinking that if I put both Work Days towards chores and knocking down the To Do list, then it’ll be easier for me to put all my late nights towards writing. And hopefully, as the Work Days become more normal (and as the kids get older) I’ll eventually be able to get some solid writing done on the Work Days too.
I had also wanted to finish my first draft of the Novel this month (how ambitious), that clearly didn’t happen. I’m going to set a smaller goal of writing to a certain point – the next main event I’m working towards in the Novel. I’m going to have to be very intentional with my time if I’m actually going to get there, but I also feel like it’s a much less lofty goal that’s definitely more attainable.
So, that’s where I’m at for this month and where things went last month. Let me know what some changes are that you’re making this month to get you closer to finishing a project or achieving a goal (writing or otherwise).