(I’m not sure when this will actually get posted, but hopefully not too late in the week!)
It finally happened. It only took 5 months for the blog to get away from me. Suddenly it was Sunday and there was no post. No draft even. I had been weeks ahead at the start of the year, and now at the end of May, I am scrambling.
Time management is really about choices. Whenever you sit down at your computer, there are countless ways to spend your time. And this week, writing a blog post was simply not one of them.
What did I do this week when I was sitting at my computer instead of write this blog post?
- I launched a book (=posted way more than usual on Facebook).
- I set up Facebook ads for my new release.
- I recorded 3 tips with my podcast partner to use in future episodes.
- I drafted and scheduled 2 different newsletters.
- I wrote a long email to a friend with a new baby who needed support.
- I edited 50 pages of my WIP that needs to go to my editor like, three days ago.
There was also lots of time this week that I usually spend working (=an hour or so at night and a few hours on the weekend) but chose to do other things with instead:
- I watched an episode of Supernatural with my husband.
- I watched the royal wedding.
- I went to an RWA meeting.
- I went on a date with my husband.
- I took my son to an art museum.
- I went to the aquarium with my husband and son.
Of course there was probably an hour in there that I could have used to draft a blog post. Or 6 ten-minute chunks I could have grabbed. I could have dictated into Evernote while I walked around at lunchtime. Or I could have stayed up 30 minutes later one night, or woken up 30 minutes early.
But I didn’t. And sometimes, it’s okay to let things go.
Part of a Writer Mom Life is accepting that not everything gets done. Priorities shift and deadlines are missed and you hate not being the perfect mom and writer and wife and friend… But in the end, if no serious damage has been done (to people, finances, or feelings), then letting things slip from time to time is no big deal. Especially when it means other important parts of your life are getting attention.
All of those things I did during my usual writing time? I wouldn’t have traded any of them for an on-time blog post.
When things slip, it’s a chance to look at the systems you have in place that prevent it from happening. I used to be very good about setting up social media posts on Sundays. Last week I didn’t, and it made evenings a little more scattered than usual, trying to catch up. So now I know, this is a non-negotiable on Sundays if I want the rest of my week to go smoothly!
Figuring out what’s non-negotiable for you will help determine how you fit in everything else. A lot of people will tell you what you “have” to do as a writer, but you know what? It’s 100% dependent on you! If blogging is your non-negotiable, you may have read this in horror while thinking, “Royal wedding over blogging? Who does that??” which is totally fine! Everyone sets their own priorities, based on their Why and What.
The next time you let something slip, instead of beating yourself up about it, try to figure out if it was an actual priority, or if something that was actually non-negotiable pushed it to the side. Almost all deadlines are self-imposed, and can be shifted without too many serious consequences. (Except maybe taxes!)
What’s something you let slip this week that probably wasn’t as big a deal as you originally thought it was?
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