How I stay On top of my Medium goals
Being a parent and a writer can be tough, but I figured out how to do it
I am a freelancer, stay-at-home mom, and passionate about writing. Recently, I took a plunge and started writing on Medium. While I enjoy the ride, I have to juggle the daily responsibilities of being a parent and being a writer. Now that my kids are staying home all summer, my parenting responsibilities have increased. That means daily chores such as cleaning, cooking, preparing meals, dirty dishes, cleaning up spills, and messes. If you are a parent, you probably know that those things are simply unavoidable.
I used to go insane when my workflow was interrupted. I was naive thinking that with children in the house, I could find comfort at any time of the day and write by isolating myself in the room. But no, turned out I was wrong. For someone like me, who prefers to work in a quiet place or to light background music at most, any outside noise from screaming frustrated children would drive me insane. And I must admit, occasionally I’d lose it and take the brunt of being a parent and be like them!
Picture this: you are sitting at a computer, in the middle of your thought process, and typing up some words while the little one barges in screaming at the top of his lungs: “Mom, I need baby wipes.” Your thought process shifts immediately, and then, of course, you have to step away, come back, and get into your writing mode again.
Since I have two rambunctious boys, they would often run and chase each other around the house, screaming or fighting over minor things. When that happens, boom, my productivity flows out the window. You can’t just make your children quiet. After all, they are children.
So, since I can’t change the reality of the situation, I can at least make some adjustments to it to be able to stay on top of my Medium goals. For me, my daily goals include reading, clapping, following, researching, and writing — and do that every single day so I can learn and grow.
To carve out my reading and writing time on Medium, I set up an AM morning and PM evening routine. And here is how I do it.
My morning AM routine
I like to rise and shine. This is my “golden” time.
“Wake up early every day so that while others are still dreaming, you can make your dreams come true.”
– Hal Elrod
Every morning, I wake up an hour before my husband and kids are out of bed. While the house is filled with silence, I try to focus more on writing. I find I focus on writing better in a quiet environment, and since I have kids, mornings are the ideal time for me.
The moment I sip in my morning cup of coffee, the caffeine kicks in, and I get into a writing groove.
If I’m writing a draft article for which I already chose a topic, I just put down some ideas and write a few sentences related to the topic. If it’s a short article, I can finish my draft in one day; longer articles get stretched over another day or two. When my article is in the final editing stage, I would also try to work on it in the morning.
Throughout the day, as I take little breaks from my chores, and kids are occupied with activities, I would focus my attention on reading articles on Medium as opposed to writing. During the day, the distractions are bound to happen, so for me, it is safer to read than to write. I like to read articles on diverse topics and in a variety of writing styles. During this time, I’d also check my stats, my e-mail, as well as promote my existing articles in Medium groups.
My evening PM routine
After kids go to bed, I switch to my reading mode again. Again, I would focus more on reading as many articles as I can.
That serves 2 purposes:
- I always learn something new before I fall asleep in anticipation that the next day I’d wake up with more knowledge than the day before.
2. When I read before bedtime, it helps me fall asleep naturally. I create a soothing atmosphere by opening windows for fresh air and keeping the lights dim.
The next day I would repeat the process again. I find that these routines have worked well for me. I intend to stick with them to maximize my productivity and stay on top of my Medium goals.
