A lot of folks ask me how I balance homeschooling my children, writing books, and grad school. I don’t balance. My life is usually more of a juggle, especially since we started quarantining in March. With that said, I will share an overview of what my days look like.
Morning
I usually awaken around 6:30am, and (if I’m good!) I don’t scroll social media in the morning. LOL. On my good days, I dive right into my spiritual and self-care routine. This involves reciting and writing my affirmations, reviewing my goals, journaling, and reading.
After that, I make myself breakfast and jot down a to-do list for the day. My to-do list is usually longer than the actual hours in a day. As a result, I create three top tasks that I aim to accomplish. The rest of the to-do list is either rolled over to the next day or completed as I’m able.
During breakfast, my children usually awaken. I sound like a broken record every morning because I always tell them to brush their teeth, get dressed, and make their bed.
Have you noticed that I didn’t write anything else yet besides journaling? I go through periods of time where I’m a morning writer, and I undergo other periods where I’m an afternoon/evening writer. As of late, I’ve been an afternoon/evening writer.
After the children eat breakfast, I start them on their school work.
Afternoon
Once homeschool is underway, I am usually an “on call” homeschool teacher. I am busy doing other things on my to-do list (chores, paying bills, etc). If my children need assistance with a lesson, then I’ll stop to answer them. They have a list of assignments to work through each day, and they cannot do any recreational activity until their assignments are completed.
Our days aren’t regimented, however. They take many breaks during the day, but I remind them that the longer they break, the longer it’ll take to finish. That usually motivates them to finish early because they want to play their Nintendo Switch!
Have you noticed that I haven’t started “officially” writing yet?
Before the sun sets, I usually go for a walk while my children ride their bikes. I use this time to pray or read on my Kindle. Going for walks has been tough for me since the pandemic started. I just started going on regular walks again last week. How did I do it?
I created an open space in my life by spending less time on social media. Since doing so, I’ve felt more peaceful, and I slowed down my life.
Evening
Prior to the pandemic, I spent most of my writing time at the YMCA. They have childcare, and so I would get three uninterrupted hours to work on my current novel or grad school work. I haven’t been to the YMCA in months because it closed because of the coronavirus.
As a result, I spent the majority of March, April, and part of May in a haze. Like many of you, I was trying to adjust to quarantine life. Now that it’s June, we are still quarantining even though businesses are opening up. I’ve found my groove.
I usually write or edit in the afternoons and evenings. This is the best time of day for me to write right now. It may change. Once I finish edits on my romance novel, I may feel differently and become an early morning writer again. We’ll see.
So there you have it. A day in the life of an author-homeschooler-grad student (who is graduating soon!) Let me know if you have any questions about writing by leaving a comment below. I’d love to answer them!
