Finding time...

Pass the coffee please, I need to stay awake!

I'm busy these days, and tired, and leaning heavily on the sweet nectar of caffeine. Making the most out of my time and finding more of it, is my big issue lately. How do I do it? How does anyone find time to parent, have a relationship, work several jobs, take care of a home, pets, and find time to write? Or do whatever your passion is? You will notice that I have intentionally left out exercise or taking care of myself...these days that means chasing my little one around, eating dinner before 9:00pm and getting 6 hours sleep!

I am always amazed by people who say that they only sleep 4 hours a night, and feel fantastic! I wonder if they also do everything themselves during those other 20 hours that they are awake? Do they have assistants, nannies, housekeepers, chefs, dogwalkers, and someone to blowdry their hair everyday so that they don't have to always wear it in a bun? Okay, I admit that last one isn't really a question, but a secret wish of mine. But seriously now, whether you have kids or don't, anyone I know who is working for themselves these days, works way over 50 hours a week. Being self employed means answering emails until 10:00pm at night, because your iphone/smart phone and laptop are your office and it's useless to pretend that you don't check your email, so if you are checking it, then you might as well respond to it...and the next thing you know it's 11:00pm.

I recently had this conversation with a friend and colleague, we were on a work call past 10:00pm, and we both admitted that we have never known what it means to clock in and out at a job. We work Monday- Saturday, taking Sundays off until after dinner time, when we get a jump start on all that has to be tackled the week ahead. Another self employed professional writer friend of mine works until 10:00pm every night, cause if she didn't, she couldn't get it all done. Only recently I told a client that I try to unplug at 9:30pm and not to panic if I didn't return email. But then I promptly broke my own rule and emailed him back several days in a row well past that self imposed deadline, because I wouldn't have time to do it in the morning. He laughed and asked me if I was only working a half day? He was teasing of course, ribbing me good-naturedly, as I had started our correspondence sometime that day around 6:00am.

The truth is, I am a workaholic, but I also need to work this much right now. My big concern, is what about my own writing? Because it too needs hours to be dedicated to it, and at the end of the day, I am too tired and too fried to have anything left to give it.

How do you find time to grow your art? Do you spend time on it first thing in the morning, or last thing at night?

Any advice is appreciated. And if you have a time machine and a pot of gold, I'll take that too!