This post, by David N. Alderman, originally appeared on Self-Publishing Review on 5/10/11.
“The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.” – Author Unknown
Being my own boss, I fall victim to many different things. It’s easy to procrastinate – to put things off that don’t need to be done right away. Sometimes, this causes me to put things off indefinitely. It’s never my intention to do that, it just…well…happens. I also tend to hyper focus on one thing and neglect the others. For example, I’ll get so focused on writing, that I’ll completely ignore my marketing efforts for that day, or vice versa.
I’m not a lazy person by nature. If anything, I am known as a workaholic and I tend to push my own limits sometimes when I try to get projects done in a timely manner. But lately I’ve just been under a spell, not really caring if anything gets done and just feeling fatigued and worn out for who knows what reasons. I think it may just be lack of structure that’s bringing all these things to my daily routine.
See, being a self-published, full-time writer is hard. I know some people think I’m living the dream by making my own hours and getting to do what I love – which is to write – full time. But there’s so much more to this profession than just writing. There’s marketing, there’s cover design, there’s marketing, there’s blogging, there’s marketing, there’s social networking, there’s…you get the point. Add in the fact that this can be a very lonely job, and you have the makings of a challenging career.
I’m sure many other writers, both who are doing this full time and who are doing it aside from a typical 9-5, experience some of these same issues I have been plagued with. And since this is my career, and not just my hobby, I’ve been forced to create a set of remedies to try and counteract some of these vices. I figured I’d share them with my fellow writers who are struggling to stay focused on their daily tasks, and hopefully help them accomplish their short term and long term goals.
Read the rest of the post on Self-Publishing Review.