Honor What’s Most Important to You

I’m ashamed to say that I was a more productive writer when I worked a full-time job outside of my house than I am in retirement. What I hadn’t anticipated about retirement is that, ironically, more time kills productivity.

A full-time day job left me with minimum time in my study writing. I coveted that short timeframe, nabbing whatever extra minutes I could during my lunch breaks and weekends; which, to be honest, wasn’t much since life has other obligations (chores & errands) and areas I’d never take time from (family). All that to say I made the writing time I had really matter. I focused and didn’t let anything divert my attention.

Working for someone else forced me to be disciplined and stay on task. Being self-employed means self -discipline, which I’ve discovered isn’t my strong suit. Time to work with other indie authors I tend to more easily justify than taking time for my own writing because it’s helping others. That aside, life happens, the hours and minutes fill up with “stuff” that’s more important (except it’s not), and at the end of the day, I hadn’t written. And if I did, it was minimal at best. In a warped state of thought, if I was doing something for someone else, I was doing something important. If I was doing it for me, not so much.

Can I get an Amen?! Surely I wasn’t the only one who thought that way. As women (not to leave you men out), we’re programmed to endlessly give of ourselves to others. If we do something for ourselves, it’s considered selfish.

I’m here to tell you that is absolutely not true! And I’ve finally digested this wholly.

YOU deserve to be fed.

On a side note, signing a contract with a traditional publisher for my upcoming series rather than going indie again, validates, in part, strictly adhering to a writing schedule. Letting others validate what we do isn’t a good thing and I don’t recommend it, but I’m a work in progress. You can teach an old dog new tricks, we’re just not as good at learning more than one at a time. Haha!

My days are now scheduled, not unlike when I worked a full-time day job. But now I’m in control of my schedule. I determine what I do when, according to what’s most important to me. I decide how my days go and I honor that schedule just as if I was doing it for an employer. My most energetic and creative time is the morning. So my mornings go something like this:

After lunch, I do household chores and errands. Afternoons are when my creativity naps, so I do any “business” items I can fit in.

I do make exceptions during my mornings for things that are important to me, especially family! On Thursdays, I take care of my grands; the first ones arrive at 7:45 a.m., and the last ones go home at 7:00 p.m. Those are my “sparkle” days. 🙂 If my kids, grands, or husband call and need to talk (or need anything at all!), I stop what I’m doing and put them first. My husband knows, and fully supports, my writing schedule, so if he’s interrupting, I know it’s something that cannot wait. If I have an appointment that wasn’t able to be scheduled for the afternoon, I go to the appointment. If family is visiting, I take a self-imposed vacation.

As I said, life happens, and flexibility is key. What’s changed, though, is now I spend my moments on things that are precious to me. I don’t flex on my morning routine unless it’s completely necessary (for reasons stated above). I’ll skip a certain chore or errand for a day, or skip that TV show I enjoy instead. I choose to honor my time. (To be fair, this also works for me because I thrive on structure and deadlines.)

I owe a LOT of my decision to honor my writing schedule and motivation from Sarra Cannon. Visit her website here and her YouTube channel here. She is beyond amazing!

Whether employer-imposed or self-imposed, do you have a set schedule? Please share!