Tracey Alley's Blog - Posts Tagged "time-wasting"
A Day In The Life....
Just for fun I thought I would give you all an insight into a typical 'Day in the Life' of an Indie author [or, at least, a typical day in my life].
7:00 AM Alarm goes off - need to get an early start on chores so you can fit in required number of hours writing
10:00 AM Actually get out of bed horrified at how long you've slept in
10:01 AM Stare at the kettle willing it to boil faster so you can get some much needed caffeine into your system
10:05 AM Decide to leave household chores till later so you can make up time to write
10:06 AM Enter the study filled with good intentions, armed with a thermos of coffee and immediately check book sales - ensuing mood will depend on amount, if any, of sales acquired.
12:30 PM Start to feel hungry and realise you've spent the past two and a half hours goofing off, reading emails, posting on forums, checking Facebook and Twitter and generally wasting time
1:00 PM After a hurried lunch, which reminds you that you still haven't washed the dishes from the night before, promise to settle down and seriously write for at least two hours minimum.
3:00 PM You look at the clock and realise that in between games of Solitaire on the computer you've managed to actually write about 300 words - feel guilty about your poor performance and wonder if you still have any ice cream in the fridge.
3:05 PM Get distracted while searching for ice cream and reluctantly do the household chores you should have already done.
6:00 PM Greet hubby with a beaming smile and assure him that A) you've been hard at work all day and B) his dinner will be ready very soon - then frantically scramble through fridge, freezer and cupboards only to find there's nothing to eat because you forgot to go shopping.
6:15 PM Suggest to hubby while he's watching the news and is thus thoroughly distracted that you really fancy a pizza for dinner and you'll just duck down to the local pizza parlour to pick it up. Smile as he grunts a non-committal answer due to the fact that he wasn't really listening.
6:45 PM Return home with pizza and explain patiently to now irritated hubby that you discussed buying dinner with him previously and he had agreed. Sullenly hubby accepts your explanation and proceeds to eat three quarters of the pizza despite his diet and the fact that tomato sauce gives him heartburn.
7:30 PM Repentantly supply hubby with heartburn medicine, explaining you had completely forgotten about his problems with tomato sauce. Wearily announce that although you'd normally love to watch the footy/cricket/boxing/car racing etc with him you reluctantly need to do just a little more work on your manuscript.
9:30 PM Manage to write another 300 - 500 words in between Solitaire games and instant messaging. Feel pretty pleased with your efforts, then realise you've just created a major plot hole that will require a complete rewrite of at least a chapter, get frustrated and browse through online shops vowing you won't spend any money.
10:30 PM Get interrupted by hubby's loud snoring coming from the lounge room and hurriedly hide your credit card so he doesn't figure out you've been shopping online again. Lovingly wake hubby and escort him to bed, making sure he sets his alarm for the following day.
10:35 PM Eagerly snatch up the remote control so you can watch some television shows you have pre-recorded that hubby can't stand. Finally remember that you've done no promotion or marketing for your books but can't be bothered doing it now and promise to do it first thing in the morning.
1:00 AM Wake suddenly after falling asleep in front of the television and finally lock up the house, turn off all the lights and vow that tomorrow you'll get your act together.
Repeat process ad nauseum.... please note, this could just be me and not the pattern of all Indie authors ;)
7:00 AM Alarm goes off - need to get an early start on chores so you can fit in required number of hours writing
10:00 AM Actually get out of bed horrified at how long you've slept in
10:01 AM Stare at the kettle willing it to boil faster so you can get some much needed caffeine into your system
10:05 AM Decide to leave household chores till later so you can make up time to write
10:06 AM Enter the study filled with good intentions, armed with a thermos of coffee and immediately check book sales - ensuing mood will depend on amount, if any, of sales acquired.
12:30 PM Start to feel hungry and realise you've spent the past two and a half hours goofing off, reading emails, posting on forums, checking Facebook and Twitter and generally wasting time
1:00 PM After a hurried lunch, which reminds you that you still haven't washed the dishes from the night before, promise to settle down and seriously write for at least two hours minimum.
3:00 PM You look at the clock and realise that in between games of Solitaire on the computer you've managed to actually write about 300 words - feel guilty about your poor performance and wonder if you still have any ice cream in the fridge.
3:05 PM Get distracted while searching for ice cream and reluctantly do the household chores you should have already done.
6:00 PM Greet hubby with a beaming smile and assure him that A) you've been hard at work all day and B) his dinner will be ready very soon - then frantically scramble through fridge, freezer and cupboards only to find there's nothing to eat because you forgot to go shopping.
6:15 PM Suggest to hubby while he's watching the news and is thus thoroughly distracted that you really fancy a pizza for dinner and you'll just duck down to the local pizza parlour to pick it up. Smile as he grunts a non-committal answer due to the fact that he wasn't really listening.
6:45 PM Return home with pizza and explain patiently to now irritated hubby that you discussed buying dinner with him previously and he had agreed. Sullenly hubby accepts your explanation and proceeds to eat three quarters of the pizza despite his diet and the fact that tomato sauce gives him heartburn.
7:30 PM Repentantly supply hubby with heartburn medicine, explaining you had completely forgotten about his problems with tomato sauce. Wearily announce that although you'd normally love to watch the footy/cricket/boxing/car racing etc with him you reluctantly need to do just a little more work on your manuscript.
9:30 PM Manage to write another 300 - 500 words in between Solitaire games and instant messaging. Feel pretty pleased with your efforts, then realise you've just created a major plot hole that will require a complete rewrite of at least a chapter, get frustrated and browse through online shops vowing you won't spend any money.
10:30 PM Get interrupted by hubby's loud snoring coming from the lounge room and hurriedly hide your credit card so he doesn't figure out you've been shopping online again. Lovingly wake hubby and escort him to bed, making sure he sets his alarm for the following day.
10:35 PM Eagerly snatch up the remote control so you can watch some television shows you have pre-recorded that hubby can't stand. Finally remember that you've done no promotion or marketing for your books but can't be bothered doing it now and promise to do it first thing in the morning.
1:00 AM Wake suddenly after falling asleep in front of the television and finally lock up the house, turn off all the lights and vow that tomorrow you'll get your act together.
Repeat process ad nauseum.... please note, this could just be me and not the pattern of all Indie authors ;)
