Finding Time

A lot of people ask me, how, as a working wife and mother of two children, do I find the time to write.  I've always just shrugged and said 'I find it'.  But the truth is, I don't find the time at all.  I sacrifice things to have time.  I stay up really late, sacrificing sleep and surviving the next day on caffeine supplements.  Or I sacrifice time with my family.  It occurs to me that writing is a very selfish pastime; a definite table for one.  And until the day I am in a position to make it a career, somethings got to change.

Recently, even as I took on more responsibilities linked to writing, I've seen the error of my ways.  Coming on the computer to write and then spending hours on MSN and Facebook is counterproductive. 

I need to be on HH to check everyone has what they need and read any new stories or critique.  And I keep a presence on Writer Beats reading threads etc.  But non-essential activities are now closed.  MSN is sort of semi-essential to keeping in touch, but now strictly policed, I've wasted way too much time on there lately.

Writing is about quality, not quantity.  And the time I spend writing should be the same.  If I sit for three hours messing about on the Internet and only write one paragraph, what's the good of that?  So now, I log on to the sites I need to be on, i.e HH, WB and e-mail and then open the story I'm working on, giving it all my attention.  My late nights are at an end, as is spending all my time on line when other things deserve my attention more.  Because my family is everything!

The downside is that a lot of my writing buddies, in particular those I work with on WB and The Red Asylum are in other time zones.  So as a compromise I have one late night a week, on a Friday.  And so far it's working quite well.  I certainly feel better for getting more sleep, and doing fun things with the children is much better than sitting in a cold chair for hours on end. 

I actually get more done and am more productive this way.  Finally, I think I found my balance.  My writing is benefiting, my family is benefiting and so am I, both in terms of being with my loved ones and my health.