11Once again I am in a situation where I am doing more work than my other officemates combined. I do five things to their one… and get paid much less. Seriously, employers?? Can you NOT take advantage of a person down on his or her luck in the middle of a terrible job economy? I know I’m smart, I know I’m desperate, but since when did that mean I should be used as a doormat?
End rant.
The sad part is that I like my job. I like what I’m doing. But I’ve been brought into my position (which I knew nothing about three weeks previous) in the height of the season and effectively dumped into the pond to either learn to swim or drown. I guess I’m expecting to give three hair-greying months of my life and then be turned loose at the end of the year. Isn’t that sad?
Anyway, my brain hurts too much to work on Many Bells Down or up-and-coming fic for space_wrapped. In fact, my brain is hurting as I write this short piece. How do you guys manage your time so that you don’t end up too creatively burnt out to write? If you work on a computer all day like moi, do you ever get to the point where you can barely open up your own personal laptop at home? Am I the only person who falls into bed at an unnaturally early hour and still thinks it isn’t enough time to rest?
I know, I know.
I’m just trying to rationalize my inability to write when my outstanding projects are begging to be finished. >.>
Related Posts:
- Some RL Things – from July 19, 2015
- The Season Should Be Over But It’s Not Really – from January 7, 2015
- Happy New Year’s, Everyone! – from December 31, 2014
- McSpirk Gift Exchange – from December 15, 2014
- This Person Needs Help – from July 25, 2014
Yes, that IS sad. But real life problems are a totally legit excuse for creative slumps! And, it’s October and you’re worried about space_wrapped already? You may be turning up the stress-o-meter a bit prematurely.
I’m not worried about space_wrapped, per se. I have that planned and am already 5k+ into it (which was the difficult task of getting it started). But I worry about my other non-deadline stories because I am running out of energy to push myself to finish them! I just guess the stress-o-meter is already up, so I’m worrying.
First, I’m sorry about the job situation. That’s not fair at all and not right. Sadly, the state of the economy has turned the job market into an employer’s dream come true. All at the expense of workers. As someone who has a full-time on the computer job (I’m a programmer), I know how you feel. I hit those slumps and stress and overwork are never good combinations for me to try to be creative along with all that. I allow myself to veg by either watching television or reading or, even less productively, place facebook games. It is okay to not be writing. I know if I go too long, then I feel like a failure, but we all need breaks and fandom is supposed to be something you enjoy not something that adds more stress to your life. Don’t worry about! There’s plenty of time! *hugs*
I get home and turn on my big tv and let some silly show entertain me for an hour or two. I used to do this regularly last year. You are right, with this kind of entertainment no thinking is really involved and it’s almost necessary to let the brain cool down. Thank you for your support, WN!
I hear you on the desperate and grateful for a job but srsly ppl I don’t get paid enough to put up with this kind of crap. It’s the curse of being an inherently good person, I think. *hugs you* Manage time? What is this time management? :[ My entirely unhelpful answer is that I don’t manage it. I don’t go to bed early; I go to bed late, because that’s the only time I have to write. I’ve accustomed myself to getting about 6 hours of sleep, more on the rare occasion that I can tell my body’s about to crash hard and know I have to get 7 or 8 or be comatose the next day. The only thing that might help is what I’ve always practiced in regards to writing, especially fanfiction: I take every opportunity I can when my brain doesn’t have to be on the task at hand (ex. waiting in line, mowing the yard, shower, etc.) to plan and plan and more plan out what I want to write the next time I sit down. People ask why I rarely rewrite scenes, mostly just edit; and it’s because I literally will plan the dialogue, the phraseology, ponder the reactions, and basically get a clear movie in my head of what’s going to happen – and so when I finally have that 20 minutes to write or whatever, I can sit down and plow full speed through a scene rather than spending 13 of those 20 minutes staring at my blinking cursor. Maybe that might help? If you even have time to think… *hugs again*
Ah, yes. Responsible, conscientious person = having to put up with other people’s selfish crap. *hugs back* You know, I have tried to plan ahead for fic. Generally it does help but my memory isn’t great and if I think of a wonderful piece of dialogue, I could lose it if I don’t write it down. Do you worry about losing things like that or have you discovered that it comes back easily enough when you sit down to write?
Oddly enough, I find I don’t have trouble remembering dialogue or phrasing when I plan it ahead of time. Granted, I have an almost photographic memory so that could be why. But, plot bunnies is another story; I’ve actually gotten up out of bed before, on more than one occasion, to write down a plot bunny because every time I think I will remember it later I don’t. Just something about the fic itself, I guess.
Yes it is sad. And it sucks a lot. I’ve been crazy off my nut since school started trying to keep on top of everything. I’m taking a Wellness class (for my degree reqs) and we’re supposed to create a ‘program’ to do throughout the semester. 90% of the class chose weightloss or change in diet. I’m doing mine on meditation as a stress reducer. After a week, it really helps. Might be worth it if you can space 10-15 minutes a few times a week. That said, sorry to hear things are crazy for you! I hope you find some time to settle down. Sometimes it is best to just let yourself have a break from the technology overload – sit in the sun and enjoy a good paperback.
I tried meditation once. Couldn’t zone out. Which is funny because I am a daydreamer! I totally agree about the “sit in the sun” bit. At lunchtime I go out to a nicely kept garden/park and eat lunch, generally with a book. I love holding a paperback in my hands as opposed to e-reading.
you def need another outlet for those times. when i had a comp job, i still came home to be on the comp but yeah just avoided writing all together and played a crapload of flash games, haha. Maybe reading offline? Catch up on that? Or catch up on movies/shows… Sometimes that helps bring the creativity back. Don’t worry about the deadlines. MBD can be done on your own terms and you have plenty of time for SW. =D
I do try to find non-stressful activities to entertain me after work. Reading or some television or just scrolling through my friends’ list to see what people are up to. I do feel bad about taking so long on MBD, though. And I think Jim’s as frustrated as me that I won’t write him into a better situation!