How Difficult Is It To Write A Book While Maintaining A Balance Between Life And Work?
I'll answer this question based on my own personal experience.
Many of us want to write a book someday, but how much time can we steal from the busyness we already have?
It is different for many.
Let's start with those who have a family and a consuming job.
There is an intense pressure not to neglect the demands of our loved ones. There is laundry to do or food shopping needed daily.
I love my wife and got used to helping her with household chores as much as possible. Maybe it's my way of expressing my love, but sometimes I feel a sense of guilt trying to get the focus I need to write and keep an ear open for my wife's voice—couples like to share all thoughts and decisions.
Well, at least many relate to this situation.
I have learned to communicate and teach my wife that to achieve my goals as a writer; I need time to retreat privately to my computer when inspiration strikes.
Making a routine of a specific time to write can work.
I learned to politely tell my wife that I desire to write my book and that if she needs me, she can signal me. I know that with a lot of love, I will attend to her even if it is difficult for me to return to the same flow of deep concentration.
Either way, she is my biggest inspiration.
And how empty my life would be if I achieved it all and couldn't share it with her—it wouldn't be worth anything.
What happens when I return from work exhausted and drained of energy?
Trying to regain strength with a warm bath often helps. After relaxing, having dinner, and talking with my love partner about my affairs of the day, the last hours are gone.
Finding the space and place to calm my mind and reach my last thoughts on the previously written page is difficult but not impossible.
Many times, I don't have the desire or strength. And so the days go by.
My lesson here is that I reflect for a few minutes on the impact my book will have when published. The people who will be influenced to internalize the message of my book.
In my book, I want to help change the course of many homeless people sentenced to mediocrity. Just thinking about how much I can help warms my heart and motivates me to sit down and write or at least review what I've completed.
Just seeing how far I've come, I feel like a spring pushes me to press the keys and imagine the scenes of my chapters.
It's funny how new ideas constantly come to my mind.
What happens when everything accumulates in life and work demands more of me?
I give myself peace, consideration, and patience.
My desire has become an obsession that is difficult to extinguish, and I know that with God's help, I will get enough strength to achieve my goals according to his goodwill.
I have faith in that.
And if you feel discouraged from continuing to work on writing your book, remember that you are not alone, and what differentiates us from those who only dream of achieving it and those already published is a couple more sentences in our manuscript.
And these are the experiences I live now, writing my precious book. I am committed to sharing my chapters through this medium but also ask for patience.
I know my chapters will arrive in due time. I only need to capture my visualization.
If you know someone going through emotional problems who lacks control over addictive substances, that person may be on the brink of losing their home and falling into the abyss of homelessness and addictions. Please call a helpline.
We are still in time to redirect our path as humanity.
For more articles, visit my blog at carlosjeronimo.com or Quora Space.