Juggle Life, Work and Your Dream

How do you juggle your life, work and your dream? 

For many this is impossible, only because they don't want to make the effort and go for it. 

Life is very hard, I'm not going to deny that. To work a full-time job, come home to take care of children and spend time with your spouse and those children, and then make time to do what you love to do is very daunting. 

What's more, you feel (at least I do) so guilty working on your dream while you realize you could be spending time with those most important to you. 

I think about how I'm not with them all day while at work, only to come home and work on this thing that could very well be my primary job one day, but it certainly doesn't look that way at the time you are doing it. 

And there is always the negative what-ifs. 

Then there's the fact that after you come home from work you're mind is fried, you can't really get into that state of thought necessary to, in my case, write. 

No one said it was going to be easy. 

But there are ways to work around this. 

Will you get to your goal without a day job? 

Yes, most certainly one hundred percent. Though there are those who may work better during the day job. But for most of us, we are in a race against time. 

I can't tell you how to do it, but I can tell you how I do it at this point in time. 

The method I use may evolve over time, but you might be able to scoop away some bit of it and make it work for yourself, before you evolve it into something more advanced and suited to you. 

Check out this complimentary video to this blog. 

What I do: 

I wake up and the first thing I do is check Twitter. 

Actually, I check Twitter quite a lot. And that's not too good. But there is no set rule for this. Usually I do it quickly these days to see the notifications, I try to support my inner circle of friends, and at times venture out and support new followers, or people who I dig what they're doing. 

I am always thinking of the next blog post, or YouTube video. Thumbnails, as well, to go along with those posts. 

These are very important because they can drive traffic to your content. An organic, well thought out thumbnail, or bit of art, can attract eyes that give your stuff a chance. And sometimes that's all you may need. 

So, obviously I then get ready and run out the door. Lots of things are swirling through my mind, as I take out the trash, or recycle bin. The morning rituals. Dropping my daughter at school. Then off to the train where me and my wife start our commute, and I start work on a blog post, or a bit of writing I'd been working on. 

Sometimes it's just a bit of editing, because i'll send it to myself and work on it at the day job. Though, most days this is impossible due to the amount of volume at the day job. 

But like a roller-coaster there are moments of not being busy where I am able to get some things done. And lunch I try to get some creating done, too. But remember, it's not easy, because you try to relax during lunch to get ready for the second part of your day, and working constantly right through can be taxing on your mind. 

On my way home I try to do some more. Maybe edit a video, or finish up a blog post for the next day, or some art work. 

Read, which I've been really trying to incorporate into my daily routine. 

Then there is the actual writing. Recently I've slowed down a bit. 

I have been restructuring and trying to up my game. So maybe like a caterpillar forming a cocoon to change, I've been doing something similar. I've also been doing a lot of freehand and have lots of notes. 

I've come to the decision I'm going to work on the novels I've written. 

I am not going to stop short stories, and still have tons of content waiting to be worked on. But I am going to go for it this Summer and try and get at least one of the novel-length stories out to an agent, hopefully before the end of this year. 

That being said, I am also thinking about what is up next on the radio show thing me and Gary Buller have on YouTube. Who is going to be the next guest, the art for it, what questions we are going to ask, or what we are going to talk about if there is no guest. 

All the while, I'm checking stats and thinking of ways to get my content into more eyes and not just fellow writers--not that there's anything wrong with that, just want to branch out. 

When my daughter is playing with her toys, or watching TV, I try to be as close to her as possible. Even if I'm reading, or editing. I'll try to incorporate that while she's watching TV so it's on my phone, or laptop on the side, and while she's doing things, I snatch a few sentences. 

Then there are the times I sneak up to the attic and get a bit of work done. 

Lately I'm finding it easier to get down to business, but there are still moments when I lazy out. Sometimes you need those moments, or you'll burn out. 

To get the most out of those relaxing moments, I play my videogames with my daughter, who looks forward to me playing Super Mario on my Switch. The portability is great because I lay in bed and she watches me as she falls asleep. 

So I spend time with her, play my games, even though for fifteen or twenty minutes, and I put her to bed. Three things. 

Not perfect, but I'm trying. 

It's not all as crazy as it seems. And sometimes I falter with the things I'm supposed to do. But that's expected. 

When I'm sleeping in bed, I have my phone out, working on some art work for the blog, or editing something. There are times where I just pass out, but sometimes I'll get so carried away that I'll work until one or two in the morning. 

This is not good. You need sleep. 

Oh, and I can't forget this new thing I'm doing, where I go on YouTube live while walking to work. I simply call it just that: Walk to Work. And I'm killing two birds with one stone. I need to post more content to YouTube in order to gain views, subscribers, etc. But I also don't really do anything during that walk from the subway to my job. So, I'm testing that out. 

I might stop it if it doesn't work out. But I've received some feedback about something I figured some may like. Getting a glimpse of NYC. This can appeal to people in other nations. Right now I don't really know what to say, but I have some ideas in the works. 

What I mean to say is snatch any moments you can to make your dream happen. Juggle those knives, but watch out  because they can cut. 

How do you juggle life and your dreams? 

Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter  @WCMarchese.

Hope to see you there. 

WCM

Also, check out my YouTube channel with this link: www.youtube.com/Wcmarchese where you can listen to Gary Buller and my radio show where we talk about horror and other things going on in the industry. Also funny little clips and more to come.

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