Routines with unpredictable schedule

[TexasProud]

So I am about to finish my graduate work in the next couple of weeks. Then it is up to me, to make my priorities and agendas. I have so many writing projects in the works: devotion I finished ( beta readers just finished it) and have to figure out how to upload in Kindle Create/sell, next devotion in series to write, podcasts for devotions, blogs twice a week. (All of this is related to my platform)

I have about 5 articles for online magazines ( these are ones that have already published some of my stuff). I want to submit 2 articles for print magazines. I have newsletters to write quarterly for our medical mission organization.

If I get to go to Kenya, they want me to help them with what they write. The Honduran organization that is a shoot off of our medical mission wants me to help organize and write content. I need to make some kind of schedule for myself. I am an empty nester. Oh, I've also made various videos for several of these mission organizations. 

• My best time of day is 4am -noon.  I do ok in the afternoon, though not as well.  So it needs to be things that don't take hard attention and/or that I find fun like editing podcasts or videos. By 5 or 6pm my brain is dead and I have 0 motivation.
• My husband and I walk 4 miles or so any morning there is good weather as soon as it is light so start 6:30 am in summer all the way to 8 in the winter.
• I need outside accountability. When he isn't here, I don't walk or exercise.
• I need time to write everyday other than my freewriting in the early morning. I have tons of ideas/freewriting, but need disciplined time to get the projects finished. See above. Need accountability. I get things done if for a grade or for an organization, but not my own stuff.
• My mom is battling stage 4 metastatic cancer. Right now the cancer has stopped ( not cured, just not getting worse). She is feeling pretty good and is cognitively back to normal and driving and such. However, that could stop at any time. So these plans below, I am holding loosely.  In between the traveling I am listing, I am driving to my mom's 2 1/2 hours away to go to doctor's appointments and such with her.
• We will be going to see our youngest in whatever shows she gets cast in.
• We lead medical mission teams to Honduras twice a year, which stopped for Covid, but are starting again. Not sure what my role will be as what I did before isn't possible until Covid is nearly gone. Feel ok doing this since it is just for a week each time.
• My husband is chairman of an  arm of an organization that trains surgeons in Africa. He goes there 2 to 3 times a year for a month to 6 weeks at a time. I was supposed to start going with him when I graduated, but with mom, I don't feel comfortable, so won't until after she passes.
• He goes to Ecuador once a year with a medical mission.

So now here is 2021, which is a good blueprint for what a year would be like.

2021 Schedule:

1. 6 weeks Jan/Feb- Husband in Kenya
2. February- Trip to see daughter in production  (No trailer because Indiana weather) Long weekend
3. March- Week  in Ecuador (husband)
4. Hosted daughter and her friends for spring break
5. April 5-14 trailer trip to see daughter in a play
6. April 27^th-May 3^rd- Fly with mom and step-dad to see my sister in Salt Lake City (me)
7. April 29^th-May 1^st- medical surgical conference (husband)
8. May 12-16  Annual camping trip/state of marriage/medical mission planning, etc.
9. May 24^th- Trip to Houston for niece graduation ( Husband would stay until he flies out)
10. May 27-June 4^th- Probably just husband medical mission in Honduras
11. July 1-9 Choir event in Washington D.C. ( Get to sing at Kennedy Center and WWII memorial)
12. August 5^th-14^th Honduras mission trip ( Definitely husband and probably me)
13. August 23- September 21- RV Trip to Utah
14. October- first week Nov- Husband in Kenya
15. Middle of November: Trip in camper to see daughter in a production  
16. Then of course the holidays

So the question is, how in the heck do I make any kind of routine to get stuff done? It will be constantly different! How do I build in writing? Accountability? I am at a loss. I want to work proactively and not trying to put out fires. Plus, I am not a fast writer. It takes me a long time and a lot of revision.  I am not sure how to establish habits and I am rarely doing the same thing from week to week. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by TexasProud

[Catwoman]

I don't have any advice for you, because you are probably already way more organized than I am, but I just wanted to congratulate you on finishing your graduate work!!! YAY FOR YOU!! 🎉🥳🎊

[Kassia]

13 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

I don't have any advice for you, because you are probably already way more organized than I am, but I just wanted to congratulate you on finishing your graduate work!!! YAY FOR YOU!! 🎉🥳🎊

Same as above but I wanted to congratulate you as well.  🙂

[QueenCat]

Congrats on finishing your grad work! That's quite an accomplishment.

[fairfarmhand]

So one thing that helps me with writing is to LEAVE MY HOUSE TO DO IT,

Coffee shop, library, wherever. I'm much more likely to stay focused if I leave the house. 

I also work in 2 hour blocks. I can;t really stay focused for longer than that.

For the kind of traveling that it looks like you will be doing, you will just need to make a plan/routine for days that you are at home vs. days that you are gone. Working in 2 hour blocks means that the piddly stuff that distracts me still gets done, I just tackle it in between my blocks of writing time. So I might write for a couple of hours, then get up and do laundry and clean. Then write some more and then get up and go for a run. 

I don't go out every day to write, only on those days where I'm struggling to stay focused.

If you are traveling, you may want to plan in 2 hour blocks twice a day to work if your schedule will allow. So, for instance, on a 5 day trip, you are well within your rights to tell those you're with that you plan on working from 5-6:30 at which time you can go for a walk and then go to breakfast. Then work in another spurt from 10-12.

[TexasProud]

1 minute ago, fairfarmhand said:

So one thing that helps me with writing is to LEAVE MY HOUSE TO DO IT,

Coffee shop, library, wherever. I'm much more likely to stay focused if I leave the house. 

I also work in 2 hour blocks. I can;t really stay focused for longer than that.

For the kind of traveling that it looks like you will be doing, you will just need to make a plan/routine for days that you are at home vs. days that you are gone. Working in 2 hour blocks means that the piddly stuff that distracts me still gets done, I just tackle it in between my blocks of writing time. So I might write for a couple of hours, then get up and do laundry and clean. Then write some more and then get up and go for a run. 

I don't go out every day to write, only on those days where I'm struggling to stay focused.

If you are traveling, you may want to plan in 2 hour blocks twice a day to work if your schedule will allow. So, for instance, on a 5 day trip, you are well within your rights to tell those you're with that you plan on working from 5-6:30 at which time you can go for a walk and then go to breakfast. Then work in another spurt from 10-12.

Yes, the block thing how I did seminary/internship. The problem is motivation. This last semester has been the easiest one, only 5 hours and not the tough Bible or theology classes. When my husband was gone for 6 weeks in January/Feb, I literally watched streaming tv all day. I did clean and organize and do the minimal work. Partly because I didn't have enough information/classes to do the big projects yet. Partly because Omicron was huge and everyone here was living normal life no masks. With taking care of mom, I just couldn't interact much with people in my community. So hard watching people doing things I loved to do.  But man, I could have gotten so many of MY projects like the devotion, like writing some blog posts to get ahead ( put it on hiatus this semester),  I did nothing because no one was watching and no one really cares except me about it.  And I sort of did try. But I would sit there staring at the pieces of paper and literally crying because my mind was such a mess.
 

For traveling, yeah that is doable. Actually, since I get up at 3:30 or 4 every morning, I can sit and work/write for several hours until people get up. I do my seminary work that way when I am at my mom's. But again, no one will be giving me a grade. No one will care.  The writing for the ministries. No problem. They are counting on me.  And exercise...I really need to do it. It makes a big difference with my mental health. When my husband is here, I can do it since we are doing it together, but when he is gone...not so much.

Now that Covid is pretty non-existent here, things are so much better. Actually going to a women's conference this Friday/Saturday. I do so much better if I am out among people nearly every day. With just hubby here...like now, he is out mowing. He has so many projects, Zoom meetings, etc. Half the time this semester, I just pretended to be working and watched Hulu on my Ipad secretly. 

[wintermom]

No advice from me. I couldn't do what you're going to do. My mentor during my graduate program used to talk about getting together with other PhD students for a writing weekend. They'd each be doing their own writing, but in the same rented house/cabin. Writing and research is such an isolating activity, and sometimes it helps to have some company to get the motivation to write for big chunks of time. 

All the best with your future plans!

Edited March 30, 2022 by wintermom

[TexasProud]

16 hours ago, Catwoman said:

I don't have any advice for you, because you are probably already way more organized than I am, but I just wanted to congratulate you on finishing your graduate work!!! YAY FOR YOU!! 🎉🥳🎊

 

15 hours ago, Kassia said:

Same as above but I wanted to congratulate you as well.  🙂

 

14 hours ago, QueenCat said:

Congrats on finishing your grad work! That's quite an accomplishment.

 

11 hours ago, wintermom said:

 

All the best with your future plans!

Thanks everyone! 4 years and 67 hours! Ready for the next adventure! I wish I had been able to do all the classes in person like it started. I was meeting so many cool people and have formed some relationships. But would have been better without stupid Covid.

[TexasProud]

Finished a book ( only 2 left now) and last project for one class.  One project left for other class, which is almost done, but need to wait until after class today and when he gives us a rubric, so I can make sure I have done what he wanted in the video.  Just FYI, this class drives me nuts as it is actually super easy in work/reading but grading drives me nuts. I feel like I am hitting a moving target.  And incredibly subjective. Our last project is a YouTube video, and I kind of get the idea that he will give an A to what he likes, which may or may not be my style.  I like concrete objectives. 

But I have literally spent hours this morning staring at blank paper, writing gibberish...  I have a writing group tonight with nothing to contribute. I am going to waste my day today either on here or secretly watching "This is Us" that I just discovered. I have no motivation to do anything.  My husband is being so incredibly productive and I don't know what to work on..

[fairfarmhand]

So um...

Do you actually want to do these personal projects?

I have in mind sometimes that I *should* be doing certain things and *being productive* and having something to show for my life, but in reality, I just deep down don't wanna.

My other thoughts are that you are an extrovert in a pandemic.

If your social needs are unmet, you may struggle with focus. Can you go work in a coffee shop? I really don't think you will watch Hulu or sit there and cry in a coffee shop. 

Sometimes, I just need to spend 15 minutes getting started. Once I'm started, I'm pretty good for a bit. Getting started though can be really horrible some days. So I make myself make my outline. Just the first sentence of each paragraph. Then I force myself to write the first paragraph. And I grit my teeth and get it done. 

Also---

If you are super extroverted, writing might not be your thing. It demands hours of time spent alone. Which is torture for extroverts, no matter what interesting viewpoint they have to share. Many extroverts push through and write anyway, but you don't have to be one of them. 

Another thing...If you are pushing really hard for school work, you may not have it in you to do more writing. When I have lots of paid work due, I cannot bring myself to work on personal projects. I just don't have the creativity left in my soul.

[TexasProud]

43 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

 

Another thing...If you are pushing really hard for school work, you may not have it in you to do more writing. When I have lots of paid work due, I cannot bring myself to work on personal projects. I just don't have the creativity left in my soul.

So much this!! But, right now the only project I have left is a YouTube video. I have made it, but am waiting for a rubric and to polish it.

Very good point about the extroversion stuff.  Actually, there are times when I HAVE to write. Like literally, to help me process. I journal a lot. The only pieces I have ever actually finished and got published, though, are when I took the writing for publication class. If you got published, you got an automatic 100.  I got 5 pieces published.  No one else had nearly that many.  Not one since. 

But then once again, what in the heck do I do with my life then? Plus, everyone is expecting me to do something with this seminary degree. 

I am almost 55 and have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Sigh...

[fairfarmhand]

Yeah, writing to unpack emotions is different though than writing for a wider audience. 
 

honestly, I think of seminary and think “service” not writing. Does your denomination ordain women? Is there an outreach you’d like to work in or start? 

[TexasProud]

22 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

 

honestly, I think of seminary and think “service” not writing. Does your denomination ordain women? Is there an outreach you’d like to work in or start? 

LOL, no, though my pastor ( who was my internship supervisor) said we need to do that. And I thought.... "You want to join Rick Warren and have an outcry...not going to do that to you." Just smiled and nodded.  Yeah, this blog and all that WAS my idea.  And I am not opposed to continuing it.  I like doing the blog.  All the stupid social media crap/newsletter/platform crap, I hate. Just like when I wrote a Texas History curriculum when we first started homeschooling. So many people loved it and borrowed it. But I had NO interest whatsoever in figuring out how to monetize it, update it, figure out how to keep a secure website. 

And that is where I am sort of stuck.   I LOVE creating the devotions. I DO have an interest in making it a series. I have gotten positive feedback on that as well as the sample podcasts I did for them for my class.  But figuring out how to do all the technical stuff doesn't interest me at all. AND all of this costs money.  I don't necessarily want to make a lot of money with it, but earning my own way and paying for my own stuff makes me feel good and I haven't done that since my husband was in residency. 

I loved organizing a Lent Devotional and Advent devotional for our church.  I recruited "regular" members  and made sure I got a good cross-section. They wrote the devotions on my theme. I edited and we handed them out. For part of my internship, I expanded it to make videos. Enjoyed that.  I loved doing blog posts about the mission work and AEP and Juneteenth and everything else we did. I finished my 31 day devotion because of that. All of that was my internship.

I LOVE our Honduras mission before Covid.  But right now we barely ( not even sure of this yet) can get docs/nurses in because of Covid. No way should those of us on a prayer team be wandering the hospital or the other things I did. We took tons of med students and college students and I was kind of the one that helped them and all the newbies with what to expect, calming parent fears, etc.  Then I made videos and newsletters and stuff. That was fun.  But again, stupid Covid.

But my ministry blog was based on the traveling we would be doing since I cannot do something in my home church as look at the travel schedule in my original post. I am mainly helping my husband.  That said, if there was something I was truly passionate about, he would support it.  He thinks I want to do the blog and all that and is throwing himself behind it.  But I just want to keep things fun, but at the same time, seems silly to spend thousands of dollars and not make anything.

Edited March 30, 2022 by TexasProud