It’s time to re-prioritize my writing.
The end of each month continues to sneak up on me due to the weeks prior being chaotic and jam-packed with all things life-related. I used to be so ahead of the game, crafting blogs well in advance of my self-prescribed deadline. It seems my schedule has grown from healthily full to bursting beyond its boundaries, leaking into my evenings and weekends.
At the beginning of each month, I look ahead and think about how much time I have to get things done, but the reality is that those empty squares on my dry-erase calendar are mere illusions, soon to be filled with deadlines, appointments, meetings, obligations, events, and the like. Therefore, I always seem to be pushing it to the limit with my personal writing and projects, such as this blog and my novel.
We have all the time there is—it comes down to how we prioritize our time and tasks. And sometimes we realize that change is necessary, and that it’s great to be accountable to others (jobs, family, friends, etc.), but we have to hold ourselves accountable if we want to grow, develop, and progress in our chosen field or pastime.
A couple of weeks ago, as a small-business owner and solitary employee, I made the executive decision to take Fridays off, and so far, it’s been the best decision I’ve made in a long time.
With my schedule getting progressively busier and with the demands on my time being greater, I’d been pushing my creative outlets and restorative time to the outskirts that sometimes I didn’t make it to at all.
A ramped-up workload, including increased client needs, more time-intensive projects, and additional meetings, means my services are needed and valued, and that I can continue to pay my bills, remaining a self-sufficient, anti-struggling artist. But when our job bleeds over into our personal life and time in unhealthy ways, we have to make changes. Hence, the Fridays off.
Now, I’m not lounging on the couch and eating bonbons every Friday; I’m taking care of my home, taking care of my body, running errands, seeing friends and family, and working on my novel—my creative outlet—that has been neglected this first third of the year. During the past four months, I have found time to sneak in some personal writing here and there, but after long days in front of a screen writing for other people, I don’t always have it in me to spend more time on a screen for myself. Fried eyes and brain and all that.
Hearing this whole “Friday off” thing may make you ask, well, what about the weekends? Can’t you write on the weekends? Can’t you rejuvenate on Saturday and Sunday? And, yes, that should be the case; however, when my weekends from now through the end of the year are almost all filled with family gatherings, friend get-togethers, birthdays, holidays, weddings, wedding-adjacent events, and travel, there’s not a lot of time to rest or unleash my creativity, which I’ll be honest, is vital to my outlook and mental well-being.
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m a happier, more optimistic person when I am able to express myself creatively by working on my novel. And that’s saying something since I’m an introverted realist (cynic). When I get to express myself and focus on something I love, I find that inner glow and fuel that helps me get through the not-so-fun jobs and trying moments of everyday life. And there’s something to be said about making something, translating the ideas and visions from your imagination into a format that you can share.
On my second Friday off, I wrote roughly 1,000 words and was on Cloud 9. The following day, I cranked out another 1,500 words, and I’m still riding that high of creative productivity. And sharing my recent drafting with my friend and writing accountability partner is the icing on the cake. Not only is it helpful to have a trusted writer read your work to provide feedback, but it’s also morale-boosting to have encouraging comments scattered throughout your Google doc, such as:
Wtf?!?
Truly, even this little exchange shows how skilled and professional your writing is, switching from dialogue to internal monologue to setting and tying everything together.
You add so many lovely details that make the story feel so real and put me right there.
Is he going to be possessed? This chapter literally freaks me out.
I love that, besides all the badass skills she has, she’s a nerd.
This is such a perfect sentence. You’re telling me so much with a sip of tea. Damn.
But other comments that are equally helpful have included questions for clarification, wonderings about the timeline, and ideas of where and how I could expand a scene. Having an accountability partner in this novel-writing journey has been invaluable, on the good days and bad. When I’m on a roll and the words are flowing, having her encouragement is like gas on the fire; on the days when finishing a sentence feels like pulling teeth, her consistency and support keep me from going AWOL on my project.
Writing is predominantly a solitary endeavor, so having a trusted community or an accountability partner helps you feel like you’re not alone. And, introvert/cynic tendencies aside, it means a lot to have someone in your corner. Being accountable to her is important; being accountable to myself, my well-being, and my creativity is becoming non-negotiable.
By prioritizing my needs as a person and working to create a healthier work-life-creativity balance and strengthening my writing habit, I’m holding myself accountable, while still making good on my accountability partner agreement. I am fortunate to have the flexibility to make this schedule a reality and spend more time on my writing, nurturing my creative soul, and not feeling so bogged down by work writing. By setting these boundaries and reserving Fridays for my work, I’m a better person overall.
Moving forward, I’ll sneak my writing in throughout the work week when time allows and inspiration flows, but Fridays are devoted to my endeavors, my novel, and my peace of mind. I encourage everyone to reassess their schedules and make sure you’re holding yourselves accountable when it comes to work-life balance.
As the saying goes—work to live, don’t live to work.
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Monday, June 1