Finding time to write
It is Wednesday evening, around 8 pm. I am just getting James in bed for the night. Homework has been completed. We had pizza, mozzarella sticks, and fried mushrooms delivered as I got home too late from my broker refresher training to prepare the crab filled burritos I had planned on eating for dinner. They were from a diet cookbook. Unfortunately, the best laid plans for a nutritious dinner that will help me lose weight often goes by the wayside. Hopefully I will pack my nutritious lunch to eat in class tomorrow as I have meetings at 8:30 am and at 1 pm, followed by reading the first chapter of a novel I am writing to my son’s fourth grade class, so they can critique it.
I have known since last Thursday that I should be working on this. I have been planning it out in my brain. I have not had as much time as I would like to write. My first strategy is figure out how to make a clone of myself, actually a few more might be good at this time of year. Having one to be the mom and take care of all mom duties for my 10-year old son with autism who is starting to go through puberty. It is IEP meeting time for the 2019-2020 school year and in addition to advocating for my son, I am a volunteer parent support for families in the school district with children who need special needs services. The last few years, I have not had many parents request a parent support. This year, I have about 6 – 10 families recruiting my services and right now it is consuming over 10 hours a week on average.
One clone could cover all 42 of my self-direction clients. These are individuals that each have some form of a developmental disability. I assist them in discovering what they would like to do, the funding to support these activities, and the staff to support them in being able to achieve their goals. All of this needs to be documented and then reviewed at least once every three months. All of these meetings have to be coordinated with other members of a support team at a time and place that is most convenient for the individual. Many of these individuals and their families know that in all reality I will pick up the phone or answer an email 7 days a week. For a select few that have very few natural supports, they know they can call me almost 24 hours a day. One of them even asked me to come to the hospital and meet his newborn son a few hours after his arrival in this world.
Another clone could be fulfilling all duties of the tax preparer me. I have been filling this role for over 30 years for family members and friends. For the past several years I have done no advertising and have tried to reduce my client base, again the best laid plans get thrown out the window. My client base has grown and many of these clients are coming to me with more complicated concerns. Everyone has heard of the person who drops off a shoebox filled with receipts for a tax preparer. Tonight, I had someone drop off a plastic tote full!
Then, there is writer me. My writing tends to go in bursts. At times I will be fully focused and on a roll. Other times it gets pushed to the back burner. For over 13 months, I was having major dental work done. During this time, I did not want to do any author visits, public speaking, or promoting of my books. I did work with a one on one mentor through the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. I have many writing projects started and often am torn on which one to work on This does not help with getting any of them completed. As part of my MBA I had to do a capstone project for a business. In early 2014 I wrote a business plan for my writing business. Recently I have pulled it out to review it and update it. I have a web-designer who is working on my website and my one daughter is helping me build a data base for marketing my picture books on autism to schools across the country. We are working one state at a time. Technically, I am now up to myself and three clones.
Unfortunately, despite biweekly phone conferences with my MBA mentor, we were not ever able come up with any clones. Instead once a week I sit down with my date book and start a to do list for the week. I begin by filling in my week with set appointments for each of the multiple hats I wear. I then review the deadlines I have dictated by IRS, Medicaid, and other outside agencies. Then I plan out a menu for the week that will allow me to try to eat more nutritiously based on my schedule for the week. From there, I know what time is unscheduled and fill in with doing homework with James, writing, and other necessary things like grocery shopping. I have given up on trying to do everything by myself. I have hired someone to come in and clean twice a week. Hey, I never know when a client will call and say “Can I drop by for…..?” I need to always be prepared. I am also never afraid, nor do I hesitate, to recruit and pay a neighborhood eighth grader to help amuse James so I can get work done.
Writing is moving back up my priority list. I have resumed attending Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators meetings, participating in their webinars, and have signed up for a conference in May. Many of these webinars and the conferences open doors to publishing houses that otherwise will not accept anything unless it is through an agent. My writing website is scheduled to get a makeover. I have put myself back on the BOCES Arts and Enrichment listing of authors willing to visit schools. All of this is giving me an incentive to push my writing forward. I have many ideas and writing projects started. I need to focus on getting some completed. My goal is to dedicate at least one hour per day to writing and editing. I should try to spend another hour each day reading books in the genre I am writing. This can often be combined with quality time with James by reading aloud cuddled up in bed or on the couch.
