Doing two jobs can be extremely challenging, but it can also open up many opportunities. The most important thing that you need to balance between the two is excellent time management skills. So, are you working full time, but have the passion to write? Do you want to fulfil your dream of becoming a successful writer, without giving up your stable, 9-5 job, which provides you with the financial resources to build your writing career? This article shows you how to juggle a full time job and a writing career:
1. Time Management
The most important thing, as mentioned above, that you need to acquire, is time management. You need to plan your writing work in such a way that it does not interfere with your job. It might be helpful to schedule your day in segments. This allows you to put 100% of your attention into each role for a specific amount of time. Scheduling your time this way can make you more productive. Also, try to stick to a regular schedule. This will help you stay away from unwanted interruptions.
2. Maintain Your Long-Term Vision
It is important that you have a clear picture about your life, and where you want to be. You need to be sure about which career option you are more serious about. If writing takes a higher priority, work harder towards writing better stories, and slowly make the transition and take it up as your single job. If writing is more of a hobby or a passion form, then you must be careful about not losing track of what is going on in your full time job.
3. Don’t Write Every Day
This may sound a little out of place here, but it can actually help if you don’t write almost every day. Your mind and body needs rest and a chance to recuperate from the incredible stress that it may undergo while juggling between the two jobs. Choose a few days in the week when you want to write, and stick to those days only. Give yourself a chance to relax.
4. Give Up Things
If you really want to excel, both in your full time job, and as a writer, you need to give up on things that you normally do, as a form of recreation. For example, if your daily routine involves spending a Sunday morning at the breakfast table, reading a book, you need to give up on that. Instead, use that time for writing. When you have two jobs on your plate, there isn’t really a lot of time that you have. Choose wisely.
5. Set Realistic Goals
Before you start your writing project, it is very important that you set realistic goals for yourself. Plan your process out completely before you actually start writing. Break down the whole writing process into smaller blocks of achievements. For example, decide by when you want to complete the first two chapters of your story, say, in two weeks. Stick to that goal, and work towards achieving it. Once that is done, set another goal. Be realistic about your goals too. Don’t be too hard on yourself and set goals that require you to work very hard. When you have a full time job, writing isn’t really a piece of cake!
Image credit: Timothy Krause on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
Pranay Kanagat is a freelance writer who has a love for writing on various subjects. In particular, he enjoys creative writing. He is also studying for an Engineering degree.