An emergency in my personal life taught be lessons about needing margin in my life. Here, I share 8 ways I have found to create margin.
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Last week, things did not go as planned. My newsletter
Kathrese:did not go out as planned. Neither did the podcast. Nothing
Kathrese:went right actually, I received a phone call from my mother that
Kathrese:my 82 year old father had fallen and couldn't get up through that
Kathrese:experience. In the ensuing fallout. I've learned I simply
Kathrese:do not have enough margin in my life. How can an author create
Kathrese:margin so that emergencies and life events don't completely
Kathrese:derail work? Let's discuss this question in Episode 31 of rainy
Kathrese:pursuits. Welcome to the writing pursuits podcast where authors
Kathrese:like you discuss writing craft, author, life and book marketing
Kathrese:strategies. I'm your host Kathrese. McKee. I own writing
Kathrese:pursuits and write and produce the weekly newsletter writing
Kathrese:pursuits tips for authors. In addition, I am a speculative
Kathrese:fiction author writing pursuits is for authors who drink too
Kathrese:much coffee, endure judgemental looks from their free writing,
Kathrese:convenience and struggle for words. If you are a writer
Kathrese:seeking encouragement, information and inspiration,
Kathrese:this podcast is for you. Let's get to it. Hey, writing precedes
Kathrese:authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are
Kathrese:new, I want to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese
Kathrese:McKee. And I'm glad you're here, please leave a comment a star
Kathrese:rating and follow the show to help others find writing
Kathrese:pursuits. As I described in the opening, my father fell and
Kathrese:couldn't get up. They called emergency management services,
Kathrese:EMS, and medics got down on his feet. He had no obvious injuries
Kathrese:and seemed much better. So he declined a ride to the hospital
Kathrese:in the ambulance. Four hours later, he fell again on the same
Kathrese:side. And this time it hurt a whole lot more mom called to
Kathrese:tell me he was on his way to the emergency room. I'm her driver.
Kathrese:So of course, I picked her up and took her to the hospital and
Kathrese:stayed with her. We're on our second week of recovery and now
Kathrese:dad is in a rehab facility. Of course, the emergency isn't over
Kathrese:for us, there will be Fallout four months to come. Last week's
Kathrese:work didn't get done, and I am not sorry. Through this
Kathrese:experience, I realized, I have created a schedule with no
Kathrese:margin for error, I was reminded that we all need margin in our
Kathrese:lives. Margin means different things to different people. But
Kathrese:for me, it means that when life goes sideways, the show goes on.
Kathrese:For authors like me, it means we can continue to write even if it
Kathrese:is at a reduced level. Margin means I can take time off from
Kathrese:the weekly routine for family emergencies or health issues or
Kathrese:simply to take a week off without letting my readers down.
Kathrese:Obviously, since there was no margin, no safety net, then I
Kathrese:chose my family over everything else. For me, margin means
Kathrese:shaping a schedule that allows me to read for pleasure. Lately,
Kathrese:I have fear that I had lost the ability to read for pleasure.
Kathrese:How sad is that? This week, when the hours at the hospital
Kathrese:dragged by, I lost myself between the covers of a trilogy
Kathrese:good fiction helped me deal with a high stress situation by
Kathrese:giving me a way to decompress while being present. To advocate
Kathrese:for my elderly parents. We need margin like we need highway rest
Kathrese:areas, places to pull over to deal with rowdy kids and puking
Kathrese:dogs and flat tires. We need the space to rest our eyes or read a
Kathrese:good book or be with family. Creating margin is a way to
Kathrese:safeguard mental and physical health. So what are some ways to
Kathrese:create margin? I thought of eight. Number one, do less.
Kathrese:Obviously we can choose to do less. But I admit it's easier
Kathrese:said than done. We have to minimize commitments, pick our
Kathrese:fights, choose our lane stick to our convictions guard our time
Kathrese:and tell people no writing is a sacrificial activity you must be
Kathrese:willing to forego quote unquote worthy causes to carve out time
Kathrese:for writing. You simply cannot commit to loads of
Kathrese:extracurricular activities and maintain creative momentum.
Kathrese:asked me how I know to coordinate errands and everyday
Kathrese:activities get gas on the way to pick up groceries and
Kathrese:prescriptions. Choose one afternoon to get your hair cut
Kathrese:and the oil changed in your car. Make every time out of the house
Kathrese:count for two or more errands. Three. And this is going to be
Kathrese:sound kind of weird but store provisions for the winter. Like
Kathrese:the Ant and the Grasshopper from Aesop's Fables.
Kathrese:We can store stuff for the winter we all know is coming
Kathrese:emergencies are going to happen. So think ahead. I'm not a true
Kathrese:prepper but if i were i would have several episodes stored
Kathrese:away for future emergencies. This is something I am
Kathrese:determined to implement. I plan to use batching to accomplish
Kathrese:similar tasks during a given time block. So that is something
Kathrese:that authors can do. If you have similar tasks that need doing
Kathrese:batch them together, like creating social media posts,
Kathrese:choose an hour or two and do them do a whole lot of them
Kathrese:right then, and then that gives you some buffer. What are some
Kathrese:other ways we can use to create margin more about that in a
Kathrese:moment? Writing pursuits is run by Kathrese. McKee, who has been
Kathrese:trusted by fiction authors since 2014. To take their writing to a
Kathrese:new level of excellence. Guthrie's is a three story
Kathrese:methods certified editor who specializes in story
Kathrese:diagnostics, coaching, and line editing to help you prepare your
Kathrese:story for the journey ahead. For more information, go to writing
Kathrese:pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. And now, back to the
Kathrese:podcast. So far, we have talked about doing less coordinating
Kathrese:errands, and repetitive tasks and storing provisions for the
Kathrese:winter. So number four, streamline and systematize. If
Kathrese:you plan to do any work activity more than once, it pays to
Kathrese:document the steps and save the materials for the next time
Kathrese:because there's no sense reinventing the wheel. So each
Kathrese:time you repeat a process like creating a newsletter or
Kathrese:launching a book, look for ways to improve, document it heap the
Kathrese:materials and then when you do it the next time perfect the
Kathrese:process continue this cycle over and over again. And this will
Kathrese:help you streamline and like get rid of the excess deadweight
Kathrese:that doesn't work. Number five, train others to do the work and
Kathrese:delegate tasks, when That'd be nice. As soon as you can justify
Kathrese:it offload the work you hate doing, like let's say accounting
Kathrese:to get more time for your creative work the work you love.
Kathrese:Number six, get adequate rest, exercise and hydration. You only
Kathrese:get one machine so you need to take care of it. I especially
Kathrese:disagree with the advice you hear all the time for authors
Kathrese:get up an hour earlier to write. Early morning writing is great.
Kathrese:If you make the other needed adjustments to compensate. get
Kathrese:adequate rest to think your best. I should emblazon that on
Kathrese:a t shirt. If you choose to be an early riser then go to bed
Kathrese:earlier to compensate. Resist the latest must watch television
Kathrese:series that tempts you to stay up late. Avoid binging on
Kathrese:YouTube and Tiktok man the times I've watched tick tock and it's
Kathrese:kept me up an hour later. Oh, what a waste of time. Anyway,
Kathrese:put it away before you go to bed so that you're not tempted get
Kathrese:adequate rest to think your best. Number seven. Prepare for
Kathrese:tomorrow's morning routine tonight. Lay out your clothes,
Kathrese:tidy up and help your kids do the same. That will take a whole
Kathrese:lot of stress out of the next day. Number eight. Don't over
Kathrese:schedule or double book your time. You don't have a time
Kathrese:turner like Hermione Granger, and said add buffer between
Kathrese:activities. Schedule extra time to drive places add extra time
Kathrese:for getting dressed, knock off the computer an hour before
Kathrese:bedtime. To read for pleasures, see what I did there. Those are
Kathrese:the eight ways I can think of right away to create margin in
Kathrese:our lives as authors. I'm sure I didn't think of everything and I
Kathrese:would love to hear your tips and tricks for creating margin.
Kathrese:Please share your ideas in the comments at writing proceeds.com
Kathrese:forward slash podcast forward slash 31. That's all I have for
Kathrese:today. Until next time, keep writing. Thank you for joining
Kathrese:us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment
Kathrese:and follow the podcast. If you're new around here. I hope
Kathrese:you will sign up for the weekly newsletter writing pursuits.
Kathrese:Tips for authors that link and all the links mentioned in
Kathrese:today's episode are in the show notes at writing pursuits.com.
Kathrese:Please join us on Wednesdays for new episodes and keep writing my