Between having a full-time day job, writing/publishing as Cameron D. James, occasionally writing/publishing under my other pen names, managing Deep Desires Press (which involves a lot of editing and publishing), editing for private clients, and hosting/co-hosting multiple podcasts, I’m a little pressed for time.
And then, no matter how carefully I plan something, it can all get thrown out the window when I obsess over a new project. I’ve mentioned my current New York Heat / New York Ice two-book series. I started mid-December and now, a month later, I have about 80,000 words. But to get to those 80,000 words, I ended up sacrificing a few important tasks… tasks that I had to do anyway, so I just got way behind on everything.
My to-do list is miles long. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it. But there’s a constant juggling of priorities – and that shift in priorities can changes weekly or even daily. I have a website I’ve been neglecting to update and I’m fine with those updates being put on hold – but I have a feeling that one day very soon I’m going to decide that those updates take top priority and everything else will be on hold until it’s done. (And it’s pretty big update project.)
What I’ve learned as the key for me being able to accomplish all of this is to carefully divide my time. Before heading to my day job, I have some time to take care of small tasks. At work, if it’s quiet, I can work on some editing. At lunch, I do social media or tasks that can’t wait. In the evening and on the weekend, I do the longer things – writing, publishing, and paperwork.
Amazingly, I still have a social life. My husband makes sure that I have one.
Thankfully, my husband is a writer/editor too and co-manages Deep Desires Press with me, so he’s completely sympathetic and supportive of the insane number of projects that I take on. I wouldn’t be able to manage this if I had a different partner (or if I had kids).
But for all the careful work I put into time management and balancing my projects so that there’s forward momentum on everything, I still (frustratingly) can be reactive and impulsive. Just before writing this blog post, I stumbled across a call for submissions for a publisher and within ten minutes I had a plot worked out in my head. I’m itching to write this. But to do so would likely mean a new pen name (as it’s sweet MF romance and wouldn’t fit with any of my current names) and taking time away from all of the other important projects I’ve got going on. I'm battling in my head, going between my desire to take on the challenge of this project and the reality of the fact that I simply don't have time.
Sigh… I’ll work it in somehow, I guess.
Maybe I can give up sleeping.
Cameron D. James is a writer of gay erotica and M/M erotic romance; his latest release is Schoolboy Secrets. He is publisher at and co-founder of Deep Desires Press and a member of the Indie Erotica Collective. He lives in Canada, is always crushing on Starbucks baristas, and has two rescue cats. To learn more about Cameron, visit http://www.camerondjames.com.
Be careful of spreading yourself too thin. If we don't allow our bodies to rest, those bodies will force us to rest with health issues. It's good to stay busy, but don't neglect the important things.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate, Cameron. I haven't been online as Lisabet Sarai for three days because of time pressures from other more "urgent" business.
ReplyDeleteMy strategy is the same as yours, though -- trying to prioritize and to allocate specific tasks to specific time slots.
I get the feeling you're more productive, though!
Cameron, I'm tired just reading about what you do! Best of luck, and don't let yourself burn out!
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