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Life of a Writer Mom Column
Scheduling Work by Carla CharterWriting from home has its advantages. Your work is a stone's throw away, your schedule is flexible, and you get to do something you love from the comfort of your favorite chair (at least when I'm writing rough drafts!). These advantages, I've discovered, are wonderful. But, if a write-from-homer is not careful it can lead to a writing slide. Especially if your children are all in school and the whole day ahead beckons. After all the children are on the bus, you notice the dirty dishes that need to be placed in the dishwasher and a load of laundry waiting to be washed. And while it's quiet, it wouldn't matter if you snuck in reading an extra chapter of that really great novel from the library. After all that's done, you decide it's time to get down to business. You need to do research for that article your writing. You turn on the computer and check the e-mail only to discover a note from a friend that hasn't written for a while. You decide to answer it just as the clock strikes noon. Time for lunch! I won't continue as I'm sure many of my readers know what I'm talking about. I started having one of those days recently, then the thought struck me. If I was working outside the home this type of casual schedule wouldn't be tolerated. So why was I tolerating it from myself now? After all, writing or not, this is a business I'm trying to run. Then and there I grabbed a new notebook from my writing shelf and marked it "Daily Writing Schedule." I've since set regular work hours from 8:30 a.m. (when the last of my children get on the bus) until 2:30 (when the first child arrives home). In my schedule notebook I make a list of the priority projects I need to work on—no more flitting from one project to the next without accomplishing anything. During my work hours, there is no doing dishes or laundry, and lunch is restricted to a half hour at noon so I can catch the news. Not only has my work day become much more productive since implementing these self-imposed rules, but I've rediscovered something I haven't had in a while: down-time. When my first child walks through that door, the writing is put aside, just as if I'd come home from work. The evenings are spent doing the household chores, reading, watching television and for me, rediscovering my passion for quilting. You'd think taking those evenings off would slow down the work I need to get done, but instead I've discovered the exact opposite effect. By the time I get to work the next morning, my creativity is recharged and I'm ready to tear into my to do list. I'm not saying my method is perfect. I have days when, due to kid issues the schedule goes out the window, and I still haven't worked out the school vacation thing. This is definitely a work in progress. But the work, thanks to my new schedule, is progressing. And that's all that matters! Carla Charter is mom to Samantha, Halden, and Mathew. In addition to being a mom, Carla is a freelance writer specializing in newspaper and magazine journalism. Among her publication credits are Woman's World, American Indian Report and New England Business Journal. Online she has been published in Scubasource.com and Military.com. She teaches creative writing courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Ma. Recently her novel Across Lots has been serialized at http://www.newenglandwow.com. She may be reached at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net. |
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