I caved. It happened. Yes, I, a homebody extraordinaire, went on vacation. Like most of us, it was to go visit family, specifically to go see my sister and meet her new granddaughter. How it went is a whole other topic of conversation, one I won’t engage in here. However, I still have projects I need to keep working on. How to balance the need to relax, to take a real break with the need to remain connected to my top book priorities? Knowing myself and that I would need to do that, I came up with a plan to include both. Did I succeed? You decide.
The Initial Plan
As you know, I’m a big believer in the streak, 30 days to complete a manageable but difficult task, currently it is all about revising a big chunk of book two in my planned trilogy. I’ve decided, no matter the big commitments in other parts of my life, I would keep moving forward with this, no matter what. That said, I’ve packed my pages and correction pencils to stay on track with my daily quotas, vacation be damned.
I also want to use this time to get back into reading. I brought along three books; two business books and one fun historical mystery and I’m hoping to starting digging into both of them. I’ve started all of them, but got behind on my goal to get them finished by the end of this month. I’m hoping to get ahead again.
So, How Did It Go?
I’m proud to say I managed to keep up my streak. I revised six pages everyday––except the final one, where I traveled home. I was busy, and, frankly, I had a headache on the way home. You know, airplanes and stress, it’s a guarantee. And after arriving, unpacking and dinner, I lacked the energy for, well, anything. Yep, I went to bed at like 9:15 that night. Still, not bad and I am happy with it.
As for reading, that went really well. My mornings were quiet and I had the space to concentrate. I didn’t read as much as I’d have liked, but more than I feared. I slept pretty well and while relaxing wasn’t exactly in the cards, it was less stressful than I feared. I got about a third of all three books I took with me to read. I’ll take it!
When all is said and done, I’m glad I went. I needed a change of scenery and a mental break. It can be hard to allow yourself as a self-published author. Everything falls on you. Everything feels crucial. It feels irresponsible to walk and spend money on a vacation. Money you could plow back into the book. Besides, you wonder, how you’ll ever manage to relax. Then anxiety hits as your wondering shifts to how you’ll ever catch up upon return. I get it. Hell, I felt it. But I now understand, it’s also crucial. For your mental as well as the health of your book. Go in with a plan, don’t expect to follow through but try your best. With that, all I can say is, happy travels.