Articles in the Stay Sane While Multitasking Category

These weeks leading up to Christmas seem to always devolve into chaos. Have you been struggling to keep your life and work in balance? With the mayhem around me growing increasingly frustrating I dug back through my archives for a piece I remembered writing in March of 2007. We had survived the holiday upheavals, the kids had gone back to school and life was falling back into some semblance of order.

I need to remember how I accomplished that. How did I keep my mother-writer aspects from overpowering me? I’m sure many of you, even those who aren’t mothers (Hey writer-dads!) or parents are feeling the strain as they try to co-ordinate their work, their family, and their social lives. So, the wisdom of nearly three years comes to surface again.

Are you a Writer-Dad? I’d love to share a male perspective of the work-from-home challenge. Please share your comment or consider contributing your own post to WRA.

As a mother of two and a full-time writer, I understand how challenging it can be to have two very intense careers and try to blend them together. Women are remarkable beings, capable of doing multiple things. They have the ability nurture a sick child and an infant novel at the same time.

When it comes to being a mother, there is more involved than making sure the children don’t drown in the bathtub or burn themselves on a hot stove. Parenting includes house work, entertaining, educating, doctoring, supervision and management, social administration, courier services, dressmaking, hairdressing, sanitation monitoring, nutritional advise and chef… The list could go on and on. Only a mother could possibly understand everything that goes into the day to day living of raising little people.

Writing is an equally busy and time consuming career. As a parent, especially a single mother, it’s impossible to disappear into the study for hours and surface with bags under our eyes, coffee-stained teeth, frazzled hair and a satisfied, although exhausted, smile on our faces. Writing time involves rare snippets between kissing boo-boos, getting kids to school, cooking dinner, and changing diapers.

Being a writer and being a mother require many of the same skills. The most important elements to make a successful mother/writer are imagination, creativity, intuition, patience, and understanding. It’s also vital to have a fantastic sense of self-worth. Without it you will constantly find the family’s slightest needs come before your writing. Understanding the value of what you do and being able to remember why you love it and why it’s worth making sacrifices is vital.

A few tips to remember:

1. Develop a Routine!
   If you have set times dedicated to meals, housework, homework, baths, and bed you are a huge step toward minimal chaos in your home and work life. Routine can go a step further than this and create a greater sense of calm if you also plan your writing times to suit your average day. I schedule a few hours each night, after tucking kids into bed, to write. This is the pen-to-paper (or words-to-screen) writing that involves concentration and focus. Research, planning, listing, plotting, chatting, character development, reviewing, editing, and short pieces can be slotted in at other times during the day but you need to have a set time dedicated to your writing regularly (daily if possible).
2. Be Flexible!
   While you have a routine it’s important to know how to bend the rules a little. Things are going to come up that you hadn’t planned for. You need to be able to bend your routine and schedule to suit. If the school calls up because your daughter is sick you slot a doctor visit into your afternoon and adjust your writing tasks. If your three-year-old got creative while you both cooked lunch together and is covered in flour you need to fit a bath in before you eat. Raising children, without going insane, requires flexibility.
3. Learn to Prioritize!
   Know that some stages need to be completed before others. Make sure writing is one of your high priorities but forgive yourself if you have to take the night off to attend your son’s soccer game (you could schedule that in), or daughter’s dance recital. Understand that changing a dirty diaper has an immediate deadline and your article due tomorrow can wait the few minutes it takes to change the diaper. Do the projects that are most important first and don’t leave things to the last minute.
4. Keep Lists!
   Shopping lists, project lists, idea lists, activity lists, school friends’ names, books borrowed from the library, actions to take for this or that article, character traits from your current novel, markets, budgets… The list of lists can be fairly endless but they are a great way to stay present with every aspect of your life. As a mother you’re going to be in multiple places at once in your mind. It creates a jumble to your memory functions. Lists help us keep information near to hand and jotting a list helps us remember.
5. Love what you do!
   Whatever it is you’re doing at any given moment, LOVE doing it! It’s the only way to stay sane when you have to shift from task to task. Remember that everything you do serves an important purpose. Spending time with your children and your home reinforces a sacred bond and keeps you connected with the most important aspects of life. Every moment is precious, and no matter what you are doing, love being alive in that moment and know that every step is toward a brighter future.

The final thing to remember is to ‘communicate‘. Tell your loved ones what you need from them. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Share yourself, your dreams and ambitions, cry on a friend’s shoulder when it gets hard, leave the kids with a baby-sitter and go out for a night on the town with your girlfriends, give your heart and mind to others with commitment and honesty. Tell yourself, others and the universe what it is you want with confidence. When you do, you’ll find the world acting to accommodate you.

Being a writer and a parent is not impossible. You will learn more tips and tricks as you do it day to day. You will come to understand what works for you and what doesn’t. Try everything and learn to adapt to the needs of your unique family.

It’s challenging but also very exciting. You gain so much from sharing your life with children and with writing. You can touch the world, change people, create life and inspire others and truly love yourself doing it. Smile, stand up tall and proud, and truly realize how amazing and incredible you are. Live it, love it, and write about it.

Originally published on Writing.Com. Reprinted for Write-From-Home and Helium.

What tips can you share about how you keep the your writing life in balance with your other hats?

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”–Maya Angelou

In the first post in this series (Stay Sane While Multitasking–A MJSS Diagnosis), we talked about Multi-Job Stress Syndrome and why freelancers are prone to this disease.
I promised to follow-up with some natural, Zen solutions for coping with having to multitask as freelance writers and so… here we go!

Natural, Zen Remedies for MJSS:

• Herbal tea – a cup of hot herbal tea enjoyed while sitting outside on the front porch or deck can do wonders for your mind, body, and soul. Not only do herbal teas have medicinal benefits, it is truly relaxing to simply “zone out” for a few minutes as you sip a hot cup of bliss.
• Exercise – Prying yourself away from the computer long enough to get some fresh air and stretch and exercise your muscles is not only good for your body, it’s fabulous for your mind! Once you get those endorphins going, you’ll feel more mentally alert and will find inspiration and passion abounds. I’m amazed at how yoga has changed my freelance life. I feel more inspired than ever and am writing much more prolifically.  (Yoga Is Yummy is one of my favorite go-to yoga sites – especially for beginners.)
• Sleep – If we don’t get adequate sleep we can’t function properly. Life is chaotic enough – we don’t need to be starting each day like zombies. That will only aggravate MJSS and make our lives harder. I realize there are times when we’re on deadline and have no choice but to pull an all-nighter, or we have to drag ourselves out of bed to write down those out-of-this-world ideas that keep nagging us and won’t let us sleep, but the majority of the time we can make sleep a priority – and we should.
• Raw foods and juices – Of course, most of you know me as Raw Juice Girl. I love fresh, raw juices and, foods and have juice fasted extensively (52 days is the longest fasting journey I’ve experienced so far). You don’t have to juice fast to enjoy the health benefits of raw juices, though. Make yourself a fresh juice and incorporate more raw foods to your diet each day and make note of the changes you feel in your body and mind. Energy levels begin to rise, mental clarity and focus is enhanced – even eyesight has improved for some people. (Visit Healing With (Raw) Juices to learn more about raw food, juices, smoothies, and their healing benefits.) Living foods can make all the difference!
• Don’t forget to eat! – As multitasking freelancers with a gazillion things to do every day, we can sometimes go hours – or days! – without proper nutrition. Don’t starve your body. When you starve your body, you’re starving your mind and your creativity and putting your business – and your health! – in jeopardy. Make eating a priority. Make yourself a priority!
• Outsource or Barter – Have you been trying to manage your website(s)/blog(s) yourself but don’t really know what you’re doing? Are you lost in all the e-mails, phone calls, marketing, and paperwork? Have you considered hiring a Web Tech and/or Virtual Assistant to take care of the tasks you don’t have time for, or don’t enjoy doing? If your freelance business can’t afford one or both of these professionals I’ve mentioned, have you considered bartering? Trade the service you provide to them for the services they’ll provide for you! Just get it all in writing and be clear that all parties are completely understanding of the exchange of services – then you’ll have more time to do what you truly love each day!

Stay tuned… In the next post, I’ll share with you specific herbs (both teas and capsule form) that help relieve stress.

Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to visit the other articles Michele has written for The Writer’s Round-About–or contact her to write for you.

Do you have other natural ways to combat stress while dealing with MJSS? What have I forgotten? Do you have anything to add? Fill us in – share your natural solutions!

Photo Credit: by Gare and Kitty

How to Stay Sane While Multitasking—And Coping With MJSS

Ever feel like pulling your hair out like that gal in the photo? I can totally relate!

As freelancers, we suffer from MJSS “Multi-Job Stress Syndrome” – that’s right, our number one job is to multitask. We don’t have the option of clocking in at 9 a.m. and leaving our work in an office as we shut the light off, letting it sit on our desk as we close the door behind us and go home at 5 p.m. I’m not saying those who work 9-5 have an easy life – their lives are stressful and they have to go home to families, laundry, dishes, and the chaos this world brings as well.

Rewind!

Wait. I have to correct myself. There are freelancers who do keep 9-5 hours but from what I’ve experienced and witnessed, most of us are right the opposite. And, besides, most freelancers’ offices are on-site, in their homes or at best, in a guest cottage that’s on their property. ß Lucky them!

What I’m saying is that we literally live our jobs 24/7: We always have e-mail, we always have assignments, we always have ideas sitting in files, and we’re always juggling different projects and activities. Sometimes we can feel like we’re losing our sanity as it piles up and seems overwhelming—like the dirty dishes and laundry that’s always building and calling, that we hate to pull ourselves away from our work to tend to. But it never goes away. It only increases and if we don’t wade through it each day, continually, it becomes too much to fathom sorting through.

That’s what I’m talking about. Freelance work is a never-ending task. As long as we’re freelancers, we’re always going to be pulled a million different directions and, honestly, it can wear us down, affect our immune systems and, obviously, test our sanity until we’re a little more than frazzled and feel like pulling our hair out some days.

Jobs of a Freelancer

If you aren’t familiar with what freelancers face day in and day out, here’s a run-down:

• All Clerical (answering the phone, creating and maintaining a filing system, all paperwork, etc.)
• Accounting
• Marketing
• Web tech/learning technical areas (if we opt to save $$$ by building/maintaining websites/blogs ourselves, instead of outsourcing)
• Querying
• Researching
• Answering emails
• Designing/printing business cards
• Designing/printing brochures or fliers
• Setting up at festivals or events
• Organizing
• Scheduling
• And much more….

Reality of a Freelancer

Unless you can find it in your budget to hire a Virtual Assistant or in-house Assistant, you’re the proud owner of all of above jobs. Crazy, isn’t it. Oh, and I forgot to mention that on top of all those duties, you get to write (or design) or whatever it is you’re doing as a freelancer. Fun, huh?

Can you see how madness can ensue and chaos can overtake your very sanity?

Now that we’ve diagnosed our illness, we’ll discuss — and learn to recognize — the symptoms of MJSS and how to maintain our sanity and overall health as we trudge through the madness freelancing brings to our lives. I’ll be sharing natural, Zen ways to find peace amidst the freelance chaos!

Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to visit the other articles Michele has written for The Writer’s Round-About–or contact her to write for you.

What do you think? Are you losing your sanity while trying to multitask? Do you breeze right through multitasking without even losing your breath? Is it easy for you/hard for you? Did I leave anything out? Do you have any chaotic memories to share? Do tell!

Photo Credit: Leeni