Hey… Who Turned Out The Lights?

Yesterday I got a call from my husband.

Him:  Hey baby, just so you know, I opened the DWP bill and… um… they were going to turn off the power.  Like tomorrow.  So I paid it.

Me:  Oh.  Um.  Sorry.  Thanks.

I'm always under one deadline or another — it's the definition of being a freelance writer.  I also really like keeping busy, so I'm usually at one level or another of "swamped."

That's great — I'm good with that.  I function well swamped.

But every now and then, the universe tilts, and like the aligning of the planets, we have the Aligning of the Deadlines.  When this happens, so many things are due in such a limited space of time that there is no earthly way to accomplish it all except to spend every waking moment (and many should-be-sleeping moments) attached to the computer.

That was my March.

In many ways it wasn't a problem.  I love what I do, so work is fun.  And even if the ticking clock adds some serious stress, it also gives me the same competing-against-myself thrill of running a marathon.  There's an endorphin rush when the stakes are that high, and I can let everything else fall by the wayside because I have to work, all the time, end of story.

The only issue with that is reality doesn't exactly wait for me when I'm in super-swamped mode.  Especially when super-swamped mode lasts for an entire month.  Hence the unpaid DWP bills.

As of last night, the deluge of deadlines has passed.  I still have all kinds of things to do (and that are due), but nothing breathing its hot dragon breath down my neck.  My gut reaction is to take a break.  With the heavy pressure off, I can put off work and concentrate on things like my messy disaster of a house, the giant stack of bills threatening me in the middle of the night, and, oh, time with my husband.  (Miss M gets my time no matter how swamped I am — I keep stay-at-home-mom hours — but on swamped weekends I disappear, so my husband barely sees me at all.)

That's my gut reaction, but as is often the case, my gut is setting me up for disaster.

It's true, I do need to concentrate on those things, but I also need to keep working, despite the lack of fire-breathing deadlines.  That's what will keep those deadlines from becoming insurmountable, and ideally let me keep some semblance of balance even in the craziest times.

Like many things, this is a lesson I've been actively not learning for decades, but despite the irony of turning over a new leaf on April Fool's Day, I'm dedicating myself to the effort.  BALANCE is the buzzword from here on out.

Balance.

After I dig out from under the bills.

And balance my checkbook.

And organize the house.

And escape to Hawaii for a week with my husband and Miss M {giddy squeal}.

What do you do in your most swamped moments?  Are you able to juggle everything, or do you look up and realize everything else except your shiny new script/manuscript/trailer/all-of-the-above-at-once has fallen through the cracks?  Please share!

Also… has anyone worked in WordPress from an iPad?  Bringing that to Hawaii, not the laptop, so I'm curious.  Mahalo in advance!