Balancing Act
Some days it feels like I have a million things going on at once. It’s tricky finding the time to balance my passions and obligations without feeling overextended. It seems like one interest always gets sidelined for the sake of another. In an age of multitasking, how do I put my focus on and passions into everything I want to??
I’d love to hear some of your tricks for accomplishing your goals while maintaining the other areas of your life, but one way that I’ve found works for me is to set aside a certain part of each day for those things I need to do and those things I want to do. This is a similar technique for those training for an event such as a 5k or a marathon or a bike ride. If I write down what I want to accomplish for the week on my calendar and refer to it throughout the week, I’m much more likely to follow through on my goals.
Another way I can prioritize and make sure I’m not spending too much time getting distracted or waylaid by things that I don’t want to take precedence (ie. watching a SyFy show instead of writing!) is by going somewhere I’m able to focus and that’s not at home. Usually I’ll go to my local coffee shop, plug in and go to work.
I do think it’s important to be flexible and not beat myself up too much if I fall short of my weekly goals. No one is going to have a perfect week. Stuff happens that is unplanned (like my power going out while I was typing this because of a huge thunderstorm rolling in…) and while it’s great if you can stay on track despite these wrenches, it’s not always possible.
Lastly, one thing I realize I do too often is find goals that I unintentionally let supersede more immediate goals. For example, I’ll see a new and shiny book at the library on Canada and next thing I know I’m setting aside time when I should be working on my book and researching a trip to Canada. I need to check myself when times like these come up and mentally say, “Is this what you want to spend your time on right now?” Probably not. Maybe once I finish the draft I’m working on, I’ll reward myself by planning a fun trip…
Happy writing my friends! 😀
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