Work-Life Balance

Something that most writers struggle with, especially those who are relatively new to the game, is work-life balance. Most new writers still have full-time jobs that provide their income, as well as everything else life has to offer, it can be pretty daunting to manage the balance between all the elements of our lives when we add a project as complex and time-consuming as writing a novel.

So, how do I balance work, writing, family, friends, reading, the business side of being a writer and down-time in a way that allows recouperation and doesn’t drive me mad? Well, if you heard about my recent hiatus due to burn-out, you’ll know the answer is, I don’t do it very well.

I personally have a full-time job on the national team of a not-for-profit organisation here in Australia. Working from home in itself is a bit of a challenge, let alone more time staring at another screen for eight hours a day. Two novels in the works, one in the pre-writing stage and one in the writing stage, occupy a few hours of my day on top of my job.

Another of my goals for January was to read more, meaning I'll have to either slot in an hour or so a day to read my smothering pile of unread paperbacks, or utilise my Audible subscription to knock out some reading during work hours, manoeuvring around the death-knell of ever-present Zoom meetings. I also need to carve out time to write these blog posts, share them on my socials and reply to emails and comments to stay engaged with my audience.

It is a lot. And as someone who needs a decent 10-12 hours sleep in order to masquerade as a functioning human being the next day, it’s not an easy feat. My plan to manage this in 2023 is simple really: plan ahead, stick to the schedule and it’s okay to not be perfect.

Not returning to work for a few more weeks, I'm using my holiday time to get ahead on the things that can be prepared. For instance, my blog posts and social posts are all planned out weeks in advance, meaning all I have to do is copy and paste on the day. I also have a diary, in which I plan out everything that needs to be done for the week and schedule it into my days where they best fit.

Finally, I wrote a post recently on the importance of taking breaks, and this brings us to it’s okay not to be perfect. Maybe I won’t always strike the perfect balance, maybe I'll fall behind on deadlines, but if I need a break then I need a break. With blog posts pre-written, there’s no reason I can’t take a few days to recover before dusting myself off and throwing myself back in.

Work-life balance is all about listening to yourself. If you’re feeling exhausted and unfocused, chances are you’re landing too far on the work side of the scale. Pull back, recover, and make note of the limit which you reached, so you don’t find yourself repeating the same mistakes again.