Some days I feel like a clown
Thanks, Delilah, for allowing me to visit again, especially on a weekend. 🙂
People often ask authors how they juggle everything else in their lives and still manage to write. We all have things we have to do…work, school, family, extracurricular activities, whatever. If you toss writing into the mix, which is really a full-time job in itself, well, you’ve essentially got a circus. At least some days it feels like that to me. And I know I suck at juggling. I’m forever wondering how in the world I’m going to get everything done, and not let anyone down, myself included. So I thought I’d learn how to juggle. You can learn anything on the internet.
“Juggling is a challenging but rewarding hobby; studies show that people who learn to juggle increase their brains’ grey matter! While juggling may seem and be difficult to master at first, it becomes easier once you’ve learned the basics and practiced it.”
The statement above and the steps below come from http://www.wikihow.com/Juggle. (for those of you wanting to learn a new trick in time for your next family reunion.) The steps appear quite simple and strangely enough, relatable in so many ways to what anyone who has to manage multiple commitments face every day.
- Choose suitable balls. I work full time; I have a family, and other commitments. Every day I need to decide what my priorities are for that day, what’s critical, what’s not. I need to plan. I need to know what’s realistic and achievable so I don’t set myself up for failure.
- Choose a suitable place to work in. I need to be in the right environment for each of my tasks so I can concentrate appropriately. I can’t write sitting in the middle of a family birthday party. Now if it were on beach? Maybe J
- Toss one ball from hand to hand to get the feel of juggling. To me, this is about learning what works. How many tasks can I “juggle” at one time and still feel like I’m accomplishing something?
- Practice scooping. Simply scoop, or dip, your hand before tossing the ball. Keep the dip shallow though; it isn’t going to work if you scoop too deeply. I think one is knowing when to stop, maybe change tactics. When to step back and take a breath. I admit I have a difficult time with this one.
- With a ball in each hand, toss ball A, and when it reaches the top it its arc, toss ball B. Practice until it becomes comfortable. At the top is key. This will give you the most time for your next catch. When you start working with 3, 4, and 5, this becomes especially important. Wow! It’s all about planning and scheduling, isn’t it?
So, what about adding more balls? What does wikihow say?
“Juggling three is a matter of understanding the ball’s trajectories and how they intertwine. Juggling five balls is just like juggling three, but you have to move your hands a lot faster and you need to throw the balls higher. Keep practicing –– it takes time and patience to master.”
Such sound advice. So, then I looked at a few of their tips and discovered some are very applicable to any of us who juggle more than one thing at a time.
- Think of juggling as being less about catching and more about learning.
- Find a pattern that works best for you.
- Relax, breathe, and don’t get frustrated.
- Start out slowly. If you fail do not worry. Take a break and try again.
- Juggling is hard and sometimes depressing, annoying, repetitive or frustrating or all of these at once. But that is the same for any skill that is worth the time spent mastering it.
- Do not attempt to juggle fire axes. Only professionals know how to do this. (Just thought I’d throw this one in to see if you’re actually reading this.J)
And, finally, the most useful, the most important piece of information I took away from this…
“Anybody who juggles knows that drops are common. Of course, you will practice your act and try to perfect it, but at some point, it’s not a question of whether you drop, but when. It’s not the end of the world, and if you’re prepared to recover quickly and well, it’s not the end of your act, either.”
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Anne Lange loves to read. In fact, if you take a close look, she’s got either a book, her Kindle or her Kobo with her where ever she goes, and will usually sneak in at least a chapter or ten whenever she can spare a few minutes. She reads many genres of fiction, but prefers to write sexy romance with attractive men, strong females, and always a happily ever after.
While embarking on a career as a romance author, Anne juggles a full time job and a family. She grew up in Southern Ontario (Canada), but now makes her home in Eastern Ontario where she lives with her husband and three children, and Rocky the bearded dragon.
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