Oh, that illusory work/life balance… even more challenging in the age of Covid. An old Susan Branch calendar had a quote I love: “I’m trying to arrange my life so I don’t even have to be present.”
Bingo! That’s what I keep aiming for. I’m looking for the auto-pilot method of work. If my systems are good enough— if I keep everything humming, if everything is filed, answered, acted upon, gathered, sorted, classified, organized and logged— won’t the magic happen whether I’m here or not?
Hmmmm. Probably not. But with the enforced time spent in our writing environs, perhaps there is a little time we can eke out for organizing, so that when the world opens once again, we’ll have some time to play.
David Allen, the guru of productivity, says in his book, Getting Things Done, “It’s possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control.” He talks about elevated levels of effectiveness and efficiency. Did you catch all those terms: function productively, clear head, relaxed control, effectiveness and efficiency? Can you see my hand waving madly in the air? I want what he’s having!
Want the truth? Organization makes my work/life balance so much better, but the process is like herding cats. I just get the herd moving in one direction when two or three meander off. Just when I feel like my systems are humming along, I find a hole in my management of information or I find I’m memory-challenged in yet another area and need to develop a new tracking system.
There’s always more we can do but most importantly, we need to remove any sense of guilt from our discussion of organization. Developing and implementing your system of organization is an ongoing process. It takes time for a new skill to become a habit. Trial-and-error are part of the process. Have fun with it. Be creative. Look at it as challenge.
Here’s what not to do:
- Don’t make yourself crazy trying to attain perfection. Do the best you can and savor the incremental improvements. Celebrate progress.
- Don’t allow perfectionism to keep you from developing an interim solution. Maybe you can’t redesign your whole office at this time, but you can reorganize your file drawers.
- Don’t be afraid to call in help. Professional organizers might be an excellent investment for a drowning writer. It’s a bottom-line decision. If a professional could find you extra hours to do your more lucrative job, it doesn’t make sense to do it yourself. If not a professional, maybe you have a friend who is a master of organization.
- And as you get more organized and find extra hours in your day, don’t fill them all up with more work. We live in a culture that keeps trying to accomplish more with fewer people. We’re working harder and longer and saying yes to more projects than ever. Uber-productivity can become an idol in itself. Time and energy are finite. No matter how organized we become, we’ll still hit the wall when we’ve filled every nanosecond of our lives with work. We need to work smart and effectively, but unless we have time to live and dream, we’ll all shrivel. (And shriveled writers do not write good books.)
The nice thing about settling on a comfortable work/life balance is that we can actually be more productive at our work and end up with more time for the things and people we love.
Authors’ Magical Thinking
Imperfection can be an opportunity:
–to rise to a new level of creativity
–to better connect with other imperfect people
–to humbly connect with our perfect God
–to remind myself I’m not God–hallelujah!
A little birdie let me know
(new tumour, actually),
that in the days of ‘time to go’,
success ain’t victory.
Accomplishment fades away
the moment that you’re dead,
and only love is still in play
and comes along instead
through the shining portals
(St. Peter waves hello)
where currency of mortals
is left so far below
and love’s shining glory-grace
is what’s reflected in God’s face.
Anyone who can spare a moment for prayer, a new tumour, and the bloody thing is…wait for it…bleeding.
I’m praying, Andrew. Hang in there, my friend.
Kristen, thank you so much. I really need the prayers; this has me terrified.
The kind of thing that has you scream to the sky, “Get me out of here!”
As always, Andrew, you are in my prayers.
May the Lord’s love blanket you and ease your suffering. May He guide you through the fear into the light of everlasting joy. And may He lift and strengthen your loved ones, for they need Him every bit as much as you do.
Elissa, I am so grateful; I am frightened, here, beyond words.
I know that there is another and better place beyond, but the transition…my God, I am so scared.
Sorry to hear of yet more, Andrew. Praying every day for you and Barb. See you, warrior!
Mary Kay, I can only try to hold on, and my grip is failing.
An abyss of despair lies below. Please hold me.
Praying for you Andrew-God is with you every step of the journey! Hold On-never give up.
Judy, I’m trying. It’s still bleeding. God!
“Shriveled writers do not write good books.” That is so true. Multiple times I’ve read a new book by a favorite author and realized that something happened. Were they exhausted? Did they not have enough time for edits? Did they simply jump into this project and pound it out without taking time to live and breath and be inspired? Readers know when art is forced and your reminder is such a good one!
Absolutely. Good one! Especially for the procastinators since I are one! Enjoyed the post. I’ve been working toward fluid production this year and am making progress. This post is a great reminder and encourager. Time management became harder for me after I left the teaching profession. Now I’ve put myself on a somewhat loose schedule that works for me, but also pushes me to greater task completion. Thanks for the book recommendation.
I enjoyed the article. One phrase, “when the world opens again,” especially struck me.
Most observers would probably say being organized is my forte; from the outside, my clean house and neat desk containing multiple highlighted, tabbed and neatly aligned reference books might indicate organization. Some might even label my organization penchant as bordering on OCD. Still, I struggle with maintaining a writing/life balance. I believe this is because when I allow myself to write, it consumes me. When I write, I no longer hear comments from my husband or acknowledge family members coming and going (sometimes I become so wrapped up in the writing, I forget to even take bathroom breaks)! Even when I manage to walk away from the computer, the characters and potential words inundate my thoughts and keep me from engaging fully in the life moments of my other, non-writing world. This is ironic, as at one time I taught a class on mindfulness.
I am fairly new to this writing journey. I would be interested to hear how others manage to let the world open again when they walk away from their works in progress.
The method of trial and error always gives us more strength and inspiration. You have to enjoy it. Be creative in whatever you do. Today I am writing an essay on this topic together with this company, thank you for a great article!
Working from home turned out to be too difficult for me. I lacked communication. Although I periodically invited friends to visit, while I was living alone, I still lacked communication on professional topics. When you are really serious about what you do, it’s not very convenient to keep telling your friends about it. And at work, you can always discuss something useful for the profession: found something new, read a book – and there it is always perceived favorably. In addition, it is difficult to look at yourself from the outside with friends: they usually support you, not criticize you. Because of this, it is easy to inflate a soap bubble from yourself and break away from reality. And the team will not only praise you, but also tactfully hint at problems. There is always a healthy competition that helps to grow professionally.
COVID has changed many lives. But this is also a period when you can change your life and make it better. During a pandemic, I took the risk of changing my job
I found a Food and Beverage Director vacancy and took a chance. On the website of an online resume writing service, I found Resume Example for Food and Beverage Director https://resumegets.com/resume-examples and sent it to the recruiter. Now I have a new job from which I am delighted