Oh Anna E., thank you for this post. A lovely read. I am retired, have no children, live with a friend who has few demands/needs. Yet I have a sacred morning hour(s) when I watch the sky, clouds, sun and listen to inner musings (I am a poet). NOW, I must purchase the perfect housecoat.
What a good question. I've been a freelancer for over 20 years, both writing and copy editing, so had to figure out protected time decades ago. I've gotten up and started writing between 4 and 5 in the morning most of my adult life, so my work days start pretty early. Usually (unlike today when I had to send something) I don't check my email until much later. When my kids were very little I was full-time parenting and full-time freelancing and it was, to put it mildly, a shitshow. I mostly worked overnight, often until midnight, often getting up at 2. It eased a bit when they started school and that's when I started turning my laptop off in the evenings. If I look at a screen past a certain time at night, I can't sleep. Probably a blue light spectrum thing or whatever that is (my phone is almost always in grayscale). Unless I'm really in a crunch and have a copy editing deadline, I never work after dinner. Which I can only manage because I start so early and don't take weekends or other days off. Being super organized about all the life/family stuff helps, but I wouldn't call it any kind of balance! That would require far more comprehensive and systemic societal change. (I do love my work. That matters. I look forward to being up and writing long before anyone else is awake.)
Thanks for this. So basically, "get up real early" is your approach.
Same same on the parenting front - practically impossible to have a normal existence with small children and work too. When mine were little, I was teaching so I'd be in my classroom by 7:15 am, which invokes a whole different kind of time management than WFH time management.
Oh! Also: batch-tasking. I am not at all into life-hack things but a friend of mine follows Leo Babauta and recommended him. I listened to his Zen Habits book. A lot to irritate in it but the batch-tasking helps me stick to doing the important work early and save all the errands, phone calls, emails, etc. until later so they don’t eat up my days.
I can’t even imagine. I mean, I can but. I don’t know where all my teacher friends get their energy, especially the ones whose kids are still young.
Yeah, pretty much. That started long before freelancing, when I worked morning shifts at a coffee shop in college. Being tediously and efficiently organized about everything makes a big difference (my older sister isn’t and we talk about this a lot), but it’s really those extra undisturbed hours where the work gets my full attention. I lost that time during the first two Covid years and it was obvious how much that took away.
I haven't found the answer to balance but no one messes with me and my coffee on the back porch as the sun comes up.
I like my bed a lot too. :-)
Oh Anna E., thank you for this post. A lovely read. I am retired, have no children, live with a friend who has few demands/needs. Yet I have a sacred morning hour(s) when I watch the sky, clouds, sun and listen to inner musings (I am a poet). NOW, I must purchase the perfect housecoat.
What a good question. I've been a freelancer for over 20 years, both writing and copy editing, so had to figure out protected time decades ago. I've gotten up and started writing between 4 and 5 in the morning most of my adult life, so my work days start pretty early. Usually (unlike today when I had to send something) I don't check my email until much later. When my kids were very little I was full-time parenting and full-time freelancing and it was, to put it mildly, a shitshow. I mostly worked overnight, often until midnight, often getting up at 2. It eased a bit when they started school and that's when I started turning my laptop off in the evenings. If I look at a screen past a certain time at night, I can't sleep. Probably a blue light spectrum thing or whatever that is (my phone is almost always in grayscale). Unless I'm really in a crunch and have a copy editing deadline, I never work after dinner. Which I can only manage because I start so early and don't take weekends or other days off. Being super organized about all the life/family stuff helps, but I wouldn't call it any kind of balance! That would require far more comprehensive and systemic societal change. (I do love my work. That matters. I look forward to being up and writing long before anyone else is awake.)
Thanks for this. So basically, "get up real early" is your approach.
Same same on the parenting front - practically impossible to have a normal existence with small children and work too. When mine were little, I was teaching so I'd be in my classroom by 7:15 am, which invokes a whole different kind of time management than WFH time management.
Oh! Also: batch-tasking. I am not at all into life-hack things but a friend of mine follows Leo Babauta and recommended him. I listened to his Zen Habits book. A lot to irritate in it but the batch-tasking helps me stick to doing the important work early and save all the errands, phone calls, emails, etc. until later so they don’t eat up my days.
I can’t even imagine. I mean, I can but. I don’t know where all my teacher friends get their energy, especially the ones whose kids are still young.
Yeah, pretty much. That started long before freelancing, when I worked morning shifts at a coffee shop in college. Being tediously and efficiently organized about everything makes a big difference (my older sister isn’t and we talk about this a lot), but it’s really those extra undisturbed hours where the work gets my full attention. I lost that time during the first two Covid years and it was obvious how much that took away.