School holidays. Endless summer fun when you’re the kid; weeks of tricky and expensive childcare wrangling when you’re the parent. I find that my writing time shrinks considerably during the school holidays. What are your tactics for keeping productivity up when the kids aren’t at school?
Besides sending them off to camp (both day and sleepaway)? I shift my writing to the evening after they go to bed.
Can't justify sneaking off to the coffee shop and writing for an hour in the morning when the kids are home. The other possibility is getting up at 6 AM and writing before they wake up, but that has never worked for me.
Jul 26, 2022·edited Jul 26, 2022Liked by Simon K Jones
I literally get up at 5.30 am to write, before everyone else gets up. It is difficult but I find after a few days of doing it I naturally wake up at that time. Fresher and more energy first thing as opposed to last thing at night. The only loss is mindless TV time in the evening, before bed--I just go to bed earlier. Still get to catch up with my wife before that--so no big deal sacrifices.
Throw them out the door in the morning and tell them not to come back until the street lights come on.
Besides sending them off to camp (both day and sleepaway)? I shift my writing to the evening after they go to bed.
Can't justify sneaking off to the coffee shop and writing for an hour in the morning when the kids are home. The other possibility is getting up at 6 AM and writing before they wake up, but that has never worked for me.
I literally get up at 5.30 am to write, before everyone else gets up. It is difficult but I find after a few days of doing it I naturally wake up at that time. Fresher and more energy first thing as opposed to last thing at night. The only loss is mindless TV time in the evening, before bed--I just go to bed earlier. Still get to catch up with my wife before that--so no big deal sacrifices.