Working in Shifts

 

After I returned to freelance writing last year, I knew that while I adopted some new work habits, others had to go. The same now applies to my current status working as:

 

·Author of books

·Freelance writer of poems, short stories, essays and articles

·Book Reviewer

·Newsletter publisher

·Writer (of everything else – like blog posts!)

·Editor of YA manuscripts for PsychoToxin Press

·Marketing Manager for PsychoToxin Press

 

Yes, that is many hats to wear in one day. And I have found that in order to strike a balance in being able to wear each hat, it is better to work in shifts.

 

Some people may wear one hat all day and be done. Not me. I go from wearing one hat to another!

 

It really has proven to be the best way for me to get stuff done with EVERY ONE of those roles that I am now playing!

 

And this also means that I get started in the morning and call it quits late at night. Sometimes I am busy working until 1AM!

 

But I really don’t mind, because I love what I do.

 

I just want people to understand that there is so much I am able to get done while I am wearing a certain hat! And when I am done wearing THAT particular hat for the day? I’m done wearing that particular hat for the day!

 

I just keep moving through the shifts and do what I can in the time I have available for that particular shift.

 

Even so, I do also check my email accounts at various times of the day. Like, when I have a free minute! Anything can pop up in those email accounts, and I can either tackle it then or make a note to tackle it tomorrow.

 

I used to do this when I was freelancing. I’d jump from working on one thing then jump to another, the thing I previously worked on not picked up again until the next day. Now I’m doing this again with my current workload.

 

I am the same with social media. I’ll get on there, post and comment away, then get busy with other things and not tackle social media again until I am either waiting on something or I have free time. (Social media is both for professional and personal use!)

 

 

While other people may see this method of multitasking as a poorly effective way of getting work done, it really is the best thing for me. I don’t have a one-track brain; I need ALL of my tracks running every day! I need to be doing one thing then another thing then another thing! I am not able to focus on one thing all day or stay in one “mode” all day. I gotta wear my many hats! It really is the most effective way for me to get everything done in one day.

 

I should note that this sort of schedule is not the same every single day. I work on different things during the weekends, like website maintenance, putting together my next workweek schedule, catching up on anything I need to invest more time in and going through emails. I try to make Sundays a day to rest and have fun, because we all gotta have that one day to reset!

 

But this is what is usually going on with me during the week and, so far, it’s the kind of schedule that works best for me.

 

However, I should note that not every day will be the same. Because of my health problems, I am not able to do all the things that I want to do in my day.

 

For example, on Thursday, I had a bad headache that lasted for hours. It got worse when I started to also have tinnitus right along with it! It was awful. I could not do ANYTHING. It was late in the day when I started to feel better (while still experiencing mild tinnitus) so I got a late start and could not tackle everything.

 

 

This is why I try to get the important stuff done FIRST, when I feel well enough to do them.

 

This is also why I am careful with how I spend my time. My health is iffy, so I do what I can when I can. Today, for example, I hurt my back in the morning, so I spent all day walking a little weird. Sitting down brought some relief and I did as much work as possible until the pain became unbearable. There were a few times today I was stretched out on the couch or my bed with a pillow supporting my lower back. That and Tylenol helped.

 

Still, it was a good day. I still got stuff done! And finished the story edits, which was a BIG thing for me! (And I want to give a shoutout to the amazing team at PsychoToxin Press! We are all often sending messages back and forth every day and everybody makes time to Get Stuff Done!)

But for every other day, when I am feeling well and pain-free, I’m go on all engines! And working my way through everything one shift at a time.

 

And if I don’t get all the things done in one day? I’ll get right back to it the next day! At least I try to get to them all, though sometimes I am not able to.