I haven’t been to work in two weeks…and it feels awesome.
For those of you who missed the news, last month I got accepted for an English teaching job in Japan and quit my Secret Office Day Job—partly to focus more on creative work and partly because some sketchy shit was going on there. This means that for the next few months my time is my own, and I’ve got to use it wisely if I want to make any real writing progress.
I left work on a Wednesday, which felt a bit disorienting—I went from spending 47+ hours of my week working, commuting, and eating lunch in the company break room to having a three-month chasm of free time ahead of me…and I won’t lie, it felt a bit overwhelming.
For the first two days I was kind of all over the place—I slept late, watched a bunch of Netflix, got a haircut, took a long walk, and cleaned up some loose ends I absolutely had to finish that week. For the most part, though, I stewed in my own juices because the shock of leaving my job was still so extreme.
Then over the weekend I saw some friends, did a lot of reading, and dusted off my old copy of the Quest for Glory series and actually played a video game alone, something it felt like I hadn’t done in years.
Taking the few days to chill helped to clear my head more than I could have possibly imagined, and when the weekend was over I knew it was time to get back to work.
Daily Day Job-Free Work Schedule
For the past two weeks, my weekdays have gone pretty much like this:
~8:00 – Wake up
~8:00~9:00 – Read
~9:00~10:00 – Shower, eat breakfast, get ready
~10:00 – Write out the day’s plan
~10:00~1:30 – Work on the novel
~1:30~2:30 – Take a walk
~2:30~3:00 – Eat lunch
~3:00~7:30 – Work on other projects, in this order:
- Other short writing (blog posts, etc.) that needs drafting or editing
- Japanese studying
- Everything else (editing projects, writing emails, other To-Do list items, etc.)
~7:30 – Eat dinner
After Dinner – Clean up unfinished To-Do items, read, relax, go out and do something social, etc.
Here’s a breakdown of how it’s been going:
~8:00 – Wake Up
Self-explanatory. My old Day Job work schedule required me to get up at 7:45, and sticking close to that felt natural because my body had fallen into that circadian rhythm after waking up at that time for so long. For the first week especially, though, I found myself sleeping WAY later than that (like, 10:30 later), in part because it took that long for the last of my Day Job stress to wear off.
In any case, I haven’t been super-strict on the wakeup time and I haven’t been using an alarm clock because I’ve been trying to wake up naturally at the same time while improving my sleep patterns (as this article does a good job of explaining). This week especially I’ve been feeling more well-rested and energized, and I think it’s because I’ve finally caught up on a year’s worth of sleep debt.
8:00~9:00 – Read
Also self-explanatory. I recently acknowledged that I have trouble writing or doing anything that requires in-depth problem-solving if I’m groggy, so I definitely prefer doing simpler physical work or mindless Day Job tasks at the very start of the day. BUT, once the grogginess finally wears off, I also feel more creatively focused because I haven’t started getting distracted by a bunch of text messages and other daily interruptions—so what’s the best way to structure my morning?
So far, taking an hour or so to read every morning has helped a LOT—reading in bed every morning was something I used to do more when I was younger, and I hadn’t quite realized how much I missed it. It not only gives me something to do while I wake up, but it’s a way to start the day off thinking about writing (in this case, other people’s), and gets me closer to finishing the massive stack of books I want to get through before I leave for Japan, which won’t be an easy task.
9:00~10:00 – Shower, eat breakfast, get ready
My morning routine hasn’t changed much, except that I don’t have to pack a lunch anymore and I’ve been experimenting with different breakfasts (mostly egg-related) that might take more time than I had with my old schedule to prepare. This isn’t a food blog, though, so I won’t post any photos of my messy-ass over-easy eggs here.
~10:00 – Write out the day’s plan
I like to do this after I’ve used my get-ready time to brainstorm a loose plan of what I want/need to do that day, so after I’ve mulled over anywhere from 4-10 tasks for the day (most often while showering), it barely takes any time at all to jot them down in my Schedule Book in the approximate order I plan on doing them in.
I can’t stress enough how important keeping schedule books has been for me—it not only keeps me on track with set daily goals that help fend off distractions, it also quiets all those nagging voices in my head that keep reminding me about all the other stuff I have to get done, which in turn makes me feel overwhelmed and stressed. With a schedule book, if I suddenly remember something else I have to do, I just jot it on that week’s To-Do list, freeing it from my mind so I can get back to what I’m doing without worrying that I’ll forget it.
10:00~1:30 – Work on the novel
I prefer to write in chunks of 2-4 hours because it takes me a while to get warmed up—plus I tend to spend the first twenty or thirty minutes outlining or going over earlier pages anyway, so writing for an hour or less means a lot more wasted warm-up time.
With that in mind, it is FREAKIN AMAZING to have this much solid time at my disposal every day because sitting down at about the same time five mornings a week has helped me fall into a steady rhythm, which makes it a little easier to sit down the next day without getting distracted or discouraged. This in turn has caused my progress to skyrocket—which I’ll update you on later this month!
I also keep my phone on silent during the mornings to avoid any distracting texts or telemarketing calls, and I haven’t been checking my email or any kind of news before lunch to create a more peaceful work experience—and it’s helping a lot.
1:30~2:15 – Take a Walk
When I first planned to take time off I worried that I’d be spending too much time in my apartment and tried to think of ways to get out…which unfortunately translated to a lot of excess social time and unnecessary errands. Meh.
Then I realized that getting out of the house can (and should) be an end to itself—spring’s finally come to New Hampshire and I live in a very walkable city, so it’s been incredibly natural for me to start taking a walk a day, usually in a different direction and sometimes combined with actual errands that I can accomplish on foot (stop by the bank, mail a package, etc.). My neighborhood has a lot of parks and cool old houses in it that make for interesting walking routes, and the increased blood flow and change of scenery tend to give me more energy as I head into the afternoon.
The exercise is a big incentive too, since I spend a lot of time sitting during the day and want to get in better shape for hiking season. Moral of the story: walking solves every problem.
2:15~3:00 – Eat lunch, chill
Taking a walk before lunch makes me feel like I’ve earned the break, though this took some trial and error to figure out. I usually just eat a sandwich and some fruit for lunch, though eating at home also means that I can grill up said sandwich in the frying pan (mmmmmmm) instead of eating it cold out of a plastic bag like I did back in Day Job-land.
3:00~7:30 – Work on other projects
Once again, I try to work on any smaller writing projects before I get caught up in a million distractions, including this blog entry (which I’m also writing right after lunch). After that I’ve been moving on to the Japanese review I started this week because my vocab and writing skills…need some work.
That being said, it’s been fun studying Japanese again since it brings back a lot of memories and gives me something I can focus on away from a computer (I’ve been using my old textbooks, notebooks for writing, and homemade flashcards made from blank notecards). It also means I’m away from the computer almost entirely until four or five o’clock, which feels good after ten months of staring at a screen at my Day Job!
The rest of the afternoon I devote to whatever needs doing: if I have editing work I’ll work on that, if I have a bunch of emails to answer I’ll work on those, and if I’m out of clean underwear I’ll throw in a load of laundry. In general I’ve been working on keeping my To-Do list as trim as possible, and so far cutting down on excess tasks has been my primary focus, especially mid-week as things start to pile up.
~7:30 – Eat Dinner
In general I try to find a good stopping point in whatever I’m working on rather than stick to a hard and fast dinner time, since every day feels a bit different and I’ve been trying to follow what feels most natural while still staying on track.
After Dinner – Clean up unfinished To-Do items, read, relax, go out and do something social, etc.
I’ve also been more conscious lately of days when I work too hard or don’t take enough breaks—for example, the morning I slept until 10:30 happened because I’d been up until after midnight cleaning up loose ends and my whole next day got thrown off as a result. After that I started taking my stop time a lot more seriously so I can start the next workday feeling refreshed and ready to go.
Weekends are the same way—I’ve been trying to set aside some longer relaxation and fun time on Saturdays and Sundays that helps me regain my energy so I can start off the following week with more focus.
Final Thoughts
This schedule’s far from exact (the times I listed actually vary by 1-2 hours or more every day!) and some days have been more productive than others, but for the most part this has been what I’m sticking to while I try to get some projects done over the next 2-3 months. I’m also happy that I haven’t had to rely on the consistency and easy rewards of having a Day Job and can instead find satisfaction in working on the things I really want to be working on—and that feels really good.
Expect a schedule check-in update sometime soon after I’ve learned more about what’s working and what isn’t, but for the most part I’m feeling good and happy to be back in control.
Being productive kicks ass, almost as much as staying in touch! Get updates on new posts by Liking But I Also Have a Day Job on Facebook, or sign up for my occasional email update list for a digest of the stuff I write about every month (or, you know, however long it’s been since the last one!).