How I Write and Manage a Full Time & Part Time Job

Yes, you read that right!

I teach full time, wait tables part time, and Write, all while maintaining somewhat of a social life! It has been anything but easy, but God’s grace has sure been sufficient. Check out an overview of my schedule, now this is by no means perfect but it works for me.

Here we go, I wake up and work out and take my coffee with me on my way to work. When I come home, I take a 30 minute chill that sometimes turn into an hour nap. I complete 1-2 hours of school work Monday-Wednesday, afterwards it’s usually around 9:00pm and I write for one hour, spend time with Jesus and then go to bed. Also, sometime between Monday and Wednesday I complete and evening spin class at my local Cyle Bar, shower and have dinner. I put this on repeat for Monday-Wednesday and on Thursday-Saturday, I work my part time, during those days, schoolwork is only completed if it’s really pressing.

I can almost hear your thoughts, all work and no play, and what about summer, you don’t teach in the summer. Well, no I don’t teach in the summer, so my part time job took its place, I’m single in the city and a girls gotta eat and have fun, I’ll get to that a little bit later.

How I Balance my Writing Passion

I balance with three words, Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand.

As counter as it sounds, I DO NOT try to do it all, I schedule it and Stephen Covey it. If you don’t know about Covey, he’s behind the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. In his book, he breaks down Big Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand. THIS is how I do it. What are these rocks, I got you, here’s a generic breakdown:

• Big Rocks- These are the rocks/things THAT MUST GET DONE NOW in order for you to be successful. These are your most important things, your priorities. If these things don’t get done in work or life the outcome is detrimental.

  • Examples- Your job, Your key relationships (partner/spouse), health

• Pebbles- These are things that matter to you, you could live without them, but you’d rather not! If these don’t get done at work or in life, it won’t be detrimental.

  • Examples- Hobbies and friendships

• Sand- This also comes from Covey. The sand in peoples lives, takes up most of peoples time and is neither benefiting or necessary to have to complete a task or live with purpose.

  • Examples- Binge watching on Netflix, I know that one hurts. I’ve been a Netflix binger myself, have you seen Lincoln Lawyer lol. But think about it, what could you do with the 5 hours of binge watching on Netflix? Binge watching add up, 5 hours a week is 25 hours a month or 5 hours a day is 150 hours a month, um that’s a lot! Also, sand could include partying, clubbing, or extensive coffee dates. Note: Sand is not a horrible thing, perhaps don’t fill your life with it.

Having Fun While Managing it All

So back to the fun part, because who doesn’t like fun?! Here’s the deal, I’m not saying be all work and no play, but find a balance between the two. How do I do it, I schedule in my sand. Sand for me is Netflix, nails, and margaritas with my girls at Cantina. My girls and I meet once a month, I have prioritized girl friend time because keeping the right people in your life helps with balance and success. Besides, girl talk is awesome. What’s your favorite activity to complete when you ‘let your hair down?’

5 Tips to Finding Time to Write

1. Find small moments of time, this could be 5-30 minutes. Keep in mind, the minutes add up, little by little becomes a lot.

2. Schedule it in. I know, cliche. If you’re a to-do list person, make writing a rock or a pebble, but get it done.

3. Record your Ideas. Use your smart phone to record any ideas that come to mind, it could be a scene, topic, character description, etc. When you record it, you can revisit it and dissect it.

4. Figure out when you do your best work and write then. Are you an early bird or night owl?

5. Set a goal, otherwise, it’s simply a dream. Bottom line, if you want to write, you will, even if it’s a little at a time.

That’s my current crazy life and I wouldn’t trade it. If you want any author tips, writing tips/strategies, and publishing freebies, join me below.