wyld_dandelyon | Downtime

I've always liked spontaneity, giving myself the freedom, as much as possible, to do what I want to do in the moment. I've also always dreamed big, wanting to do many different things, and do them well. Add to that the necessity of paying my own bills, and my time is always seriously booked.

I find myself having to think about scheduling downtime. Time to read, time to watch TV, time to play games. Time to sleep.

Sleep is particularly important, since exhaustion resembles writer's block quite thoroughly.

I guess one of my goals in the new year should be to schedule--or give myself kudos for spontaneously grabbing--enough good, quality downtime.

But not today. Right now, I have to pay bills, and I have a story half-written that's inspired by the Journal of Unlikely Entomology's current theme, and I do want to get a proper bio up over at Amazon and Goodreads (where I now have new, under-construction author pages), and the next installment of Wild Snowy Chase to finish (will it finally be the last one? That's the plan anyway.) and ...

Work now, downtime later!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sounds good. Getting enough sleep and other downtime is one of the hardest parts of self-care.

It doesn't seem like it should be hard. Downtime is fun, after all--but then, so are some kinds of work.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that the hard part is the balance--not getting so lost in work or in downtime that you forget to switch, to do both.

I agree. There are lots of things I like to do, want to do, have to do. I have found that this year because of what happened at work I'm much more easily stressed about the things I don't get done. My list of open tabs of journals to get back to can be enough to make me feel overwhelmed. I'm working on it, starting with giving myself permission to take downtime. Now to get back in the swing and actively work on scheduling better so I can enjoy the things I used to enjoy & not feel guilty about them because of piles of laundry to be put away or bills not yet paid.

I'm so glad you're finding a balance again! I miss your regular comments--I say this not to pressure you, just to let you know your presence is appreciated. :-D

Thank you! I miss being able to take time to read and comment more than a couple words at a time. Fingers crossed I can find more balance in the new year.

And saying this, I'm going to go balance myself and have a nap. I should be cleaning the fish tank but I'm fighting a cold off and feel worn down so nap it is! :)