Finding a Way to Write with Balance

Balancing Life with Writing

Writers write. Writers write. Writers write.

I keep reminding myself of this mantra. There are days when I write five or six articles, pop them up on Medium, and then go days without writing anything else. I’ve got to get out of this habit and get more into the groove of writing something every day.

My issue — I’m sure it’s the same as many of the Medium writers out there — is I have lots of other things going on. I’m working on a Master’s degree in CyberSecurity. I’m trying to put in billable time with my Consulting firm. I need to squeeze in a bike ride or something physical each day.

But the constant want/need to write is always there, nagging at me. I watch my views and reads like a hawk and think, I really need to get something written today. In fact, lately, I’m finding that I’m spending more time writing than I am doing those things that actually make me money, which honestly isn’t always the best thing.

I’ve got to learn how to find a balance. A disciplined way of writing for a set time of the day so I can get it done and then move on to the other things in my life. Otherwise, it becomes this all-consuming process I go through all day.

This is what it looks like, quite often:

1. Post a poem.
2. Check my stats. Oh, I got a response to one of my articles. That response made me think of an article I need to write.
3. Start writing a new article. Two hours go by.
4. Search for new pictures for the new article.
5. Check stats. Oh wow, that poem I posted three days ago is jumping up there! Why is it taking so long for that publication to publish my article? Why can’t I find the right picture for this new article? This picture is perfect, but it’s not available from a licensing perspective. Maybe I could go outside and take some pictures that would be perfect for this article.
6. Two hours later I come back with the perfect pictures for the article.
7. Wait another hour for my iCloud to sync with my computer.
8. Edit the picture and get it added to the article. I really think this could go into a new publication, but which one?
9. Spend an hour looking for the right publication. Submit a publication request to the new publication.
10. Check stats. Nice, my stats are doing better this month than last month. Just need to maintain momentum.
11. Posted my last three articles on Facebook in three different Medium groups. Read some Facebook stuff while I was there.
12. Posted my last three articles on Twitter. Read some Twitter stuff while I was there. Realized I hadn’t posted some previous articles on Twitter, so found them and posted those as well.
13. While I wait for that publication to get back to me, maybe I’ll just write a poem. I’ll write a “quick” haiku.
14. One hour later, the haiku is complete, and one of the pictures I took earlier in the day works perfectly with it. I’m already a writer for several poetry publications so I’ll just choose one and pop this one off into there. When did it get dark outside?

Finding Balance

From looking at this list, there is more to writing on Medium than just writing. There’s a lot of busy work, as well as social networking and marketing. It can be a full-time job if you let it be. Unfortunately, for me, it doesn’t pay the bills yet, so I need to be careful how I let it consume my time.

As a self-employed human, I’ll need to work harder at limiting the amount of time consumed by doing all of these things. I’ll need to set a start and stop time for how long I can do Medium-related items. Until I reach a point where Medium is making me gobs of money (not sure I can hold my breath that long).

And look, I’ve done it again. I’ve written yet another article. Now I need to find another picture and publication.

© Matt Ray 2021

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