Quills and Questions #4: Juggling The Book To Life Balance

The phrase typically goes, handling the work-life balance, but inserting “book” in that description works just as well. 

My social life… is nearly nonexistent. 

Hey, I’ll be honest. I see friends maybe once every 6 months. Going out and selling books to strangers is the extent of my being social on any given day. 

Now, to be fair, I am not the most social of creatures. My idea of fun is curling up on the couch with a Dr. Pepper and rewatching “The Lord Of The Rings.” Or sitting down and playing an unhealthy amount of video games. I also have my folks and younger brother to make conversation with, so I’m not always in dire need to go out and…party? Go to Starbucks? What do people my age do, anyway?

But when I do go out, and see my friends, catch up on our lives, and have a great time? It does leave me wanting more. 

When I first started this journey, I was working full-time and using my free days to build my career. Working on manuscripts, doing research, and going to book signings. I hardly took a whole day off to be completely frivolous. And when I did, I felt guilty… because all of my book-related work was sitting there, staring at me! Which oftentimes left me in a rut, because I would burn out, and not work, but left me feeling horrible that I wasn’t working. 

I’ve realized two things. 

There are no deadlines. I make the rules. If something isn’t getting done today, there is always tomorrow. 

It’s okay to take days off. You need that time to rejuvenate and de-stress. 

(I say this whilst in the middle of working 14 days in a row… but I’m looking forward to a four-day weekend coming up at the end of the month that I plan on enjoying)

Nowadays, it's easier to figure out days off, because I create my own schedule. If my friends have Sundays off? Well, I may schedule my Sundays off, too. 

But for those of you who work full-time and juggle home life as well? It’s okay if your book work doesn’t get done. If you want to work on something, my go-to approach is always either one page written in the manuscript or a solid hour spent; whether it's researching, writing, or even reading. (I'm terrible about that last one, but reading and learning techniques from other authors totally count!)

Just one hour a day or even a week, depending on that busy schedule, is all you need to still be making progress toward your goals. And don’t feel guilty about taking some time for yourself. There’s already enough stress out in the world, and you don’t want to work yourself to death! Give yourself that time.