We had a friend visit last week. Whenever anyone comes to Atlanta, they want to go to the aquarium. I’m not a fan of the aquarium. Not because it’s not good. I’m sure it’s amazing. I just don’t like being in a crowded space where that much water is being held back by glass. Call me claustrophobic. So our friend asked me how I planned to spend my afternoon while they were all being tourists. Before I could respond, Behr bellowed from the back seat, “SHE’S GOING TO WORK BECAUSE SHE HAS THREE JOBS!”
I was planning on working. I have a deadline approaching. And because I am an indie author, I don’t have an outside person emailing me asking where their pages are. I am that person asking where the pages are and worrying about deadlines, production schedules, pagination, promotions, and more.
While Behr tells everyone I have three jobs – writer, publisher, teacher – in actuality, I have many more jobs. I also have to maintain my website, design all my advertisements, post on social media, contact designers and editors, pay people, remember to pay sales tax every month, and keep records of everything.
And to be able to do all of that and be a mom, I have to stay organized with my time.
I like to be organized with my time, because I don’t “just remember things” as my husband claims he does. I don’t know when anything is happening, where anything is happening, or what all I need to accomplish in a day just whirling around in my brain. Instead, my brain is full of stories – either stories I want to tell or stories I have been enjoying. I might have an idea of the fact that I have a busy week or a special date is approaching, but otherwise I’m lost in my own dream world.
How do I do it? How do I meet my deadlines, make sure I service my students, my kids, and make sure I am showing up for the books I want to write?
Here is a list of things that help me organize my time an indie author.
I write everything down. Dates, times, places, ideas, whatever: it’s all written down. I have a large calendar – an A5 Van der Speck Touch Me with big rings because it holds more paper – that I keep near me at all times. Whenever anything pops up, I immediately write it down in that book. Hubs comes to the studio to consult with me for any travel or appointments to make sure there is no overlap. I keep the calendar. When I am out in the world, I have a purse-sized planner that I keep synced with the big one. Primarily, that is for when I have to make doctors’ appointments for the kids. A dentist wants to set up that six-month follow up while you are still in the chair, because they know you will not call them later to set it up. I have to be ready.
I try to prioritize the writing. Note the try. Even if I am just carving out time to journal for ten minutes, I make sure I am writing something every day. No one is going to write my novel for me, so it is up to me to show up to the page. Also, I get restless when I am not writing, so it’s good for my mental health.
Stay Flexible, because unexpected things happen. Being a parent requires me to be on my toes. It never fails that whenever I carve out a whole day for myself that someone in the house gets a cold, has an assignment they forgot was due, or a car breaks down. And if I was not flexible, then I would resent these people I love so much for thwarting my big plans. So I rearrange things or break my all-day plan into small tasks spread out over multiple days.
Try to avoid busywork. I am the worst about allowing myself to toil away for hours on a spreadsheet or a document that I didn’t actually need to do. I’ve learned it’s called procrasti-working, where you throw all your energy into a project no one asked for or needed to avoid doing what you need to do. Sometimes my judgment over what needs to be done because it takes me closer to my goal vs what I think needs to be done is a little fuzzy, so at the beginning of the month, I create a list called Needlemovers. This is a list of tasks that move the needle closer to my overall goal. Promotional ads for an upcoming online course moves the needle. Organizing a spreadsheet of the Bath and Body Works candles I have in the house so I can keep up when my stock is low is not a needlemover, even if, at the time, it makes me feel like a boss, home-manager level ten mom and wife. Not judging a candle spreadsheet, but being a boss, home-manager level ten mom and wife is not my goal. Telling people about my new online course is my goal.
Avoid binging. I try to do a little bit of everything every day. I’ve had to learn as an adult that not every goal is a drop-everything-and-only-focus-on-one-thing kind of goal. It’s impossible for me to only write a novel. I don’t live in that kind of world where I can sequester myself away to only write and edit. I also don’t like ditching all my writing tasks when the grades are due at university. What I can do is carve out some business hours, some writing hours, and some lecture or grading hours in the day.
I shut down at a certain time. I am a daytime worker, which means by the time five o’clock rolls around, I am worthless. I try to shut down any projects I am working on by 5 pm. However, that means I am often working on the weekends. Usually Fridays are my days off. I get my hair done, I shop or run errands, and the kids are my husband’s responsibility.
I find joy in the process. I like working on my website. I like writing these posts. I like writing my stories. I like getting emails from designers and editors. I like designing promotional ads. And I like teaching. I have to remind myself that I don’t have to do any of it, but I get to.
I just have to remember that I have three jobs and all three of those jobs are important. Sometimes people like to refer to my writing and publishing job as a side-hustle, but it’s not a side-hustle. That would indicate that it is part-time and supplementary. It’s not. It’s primary. The teaching supports the business and the writing makes me a stronger teacher. I do not exist in compartments that are stacked in order of importance, but I am a tapestry with the many strands woven together, all existing to support and create the fabric.
Read Books. Wear Boots.
XOXO,
B.
Organization is one of the tiers that I cover in my online course: This is What A Writer Looks Like! A Creative Mindset Online Course, because making the time to write fuels the creativity! Enroll today!
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