You might have noticed that, over most of March so far, I haven’t been as active on social media as I usually am – or try to be. In all honest, I find social media exhausting. I’m an introvert with extroverted tendencies, or something like that. I can be with people, and I can be social – when I have something to say or do – but I need my own space to recharge and keep my batteries up.
Whenever we expend a lot of energy, whether it’s an event or a project like writing a book, I’m a big advocate of taking some time off. It can be to recover and prepare for the next big thing, or to let your mind refresh before heading to the next stage of whatever that project is.
While I fully endorse this, and encourage others to do it, I’m still trying to make sure I do the same myself.
Avoiding burnout
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about my energy levels and how to manage them. Part of that is living with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) but the other side is knowing that the more time I spend with people, even online, the more drained I am.
This also applies to work, as well. I find working from home much less draining than being in the office, despite still interacting with people every day. I’m not saying I want to be a hermit, although there are times I feel like one, but feeling confident enough to say “leave me alone, I need some space to get myself back into the state you expect me to be” is a tough ask – and not everyone gets it.
I’ve got that group, so it helps, but working 9-5 and then writing every night does take a chunk out of me. I enjoy writing, so it’s not as big a drain as editing or planning, but if I’m not careful, it’s easy to do too much. I try and stick a schedule to help with this, but even then, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and before you know it, it’s 2am!
Of course, every writer has done it, and I will do it again. So far, in recent years, I’ve kept myself in good shape despite these unexpected writing sessions.
Balancing writing and relaxing
So, I try and stick a schedule. I set myself at least an hour of writing a day almost every day. It might be a book, a blog, a short story, or any other number of exercises and projects, but I do it. It keeps me sharp, but it also lets me spend some time on less “productive” hobbies and activities that are mainly for enjoyment.
Gaming is a big one, and I look for those story-based games and RPGs that I can lose myself in more than shooters, racers or sports games. That’s personal preference, and when I play, an hour isn’t usually enough to make much progress.
I want to say I read a lot – and at times, I do, but there are others where I really don’t. This has been exasperated since I got back from my travels to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, as I didn’t read or play much during that time, so I’ve been playing catch up.
There are also movies and TV shows to catch up on. I have something on in the background when I’m writing nine times out of ten, but it’s old. I’ve seen those things before as I don’t want the distraction.
On top of all of that, I go for daily walks, and I try to swim a couple of times a week. That’s been harder since I got home, but something I want to get back.
When you add all those things up, it really doesn’t leave a lot of time to spare – and taking some time to do…nothing, is quite therapeutic at times.
Keeping myself going
When it’s crunch time – big projects, deadlines, etc – I can lose some of my structure. Everything else goes out of the window, at least outside of what I’m working on. The gaming, the reading, and such, they all fade away. In a lot of cases, I think this hurts me more than it helps.
I need those breaks so I can push harder during the working stints. Otherwise, I end up sitting with a blank screen and pressuring myself to work. That doesn’t help. I’ve spoken in the past about dealing with unproductive guilt and what that’s done to our mindset, and this is a part of it, but convincing myself that not being productive is okay is still a work in progress.
Finding the balance between writing, relaxing, and recharging is ongoing, and that means my social media activity is going to take a hit at times. It shouldn’t, as I see what works for some of the more famous writers and accounts, but that’s the sacrifice I’m willing to make to keep myself healthy and pushing towards the goal of releasing more books for you all to read.
So, when I disappear, try and bear with me. If I’m lucky enough to do this full-time, I might not have these gaps, but until then, this is how I’ve found to best manage my time and my energy.