Finding balance isn’t easy. It requires a conscious effort on our part to be able to pull it off, and if we’re not careful we could easily get overwhelmed by whatever it is that we’re involved with at the time. With work, school, family, and life in general, there will always be things pulling us on all sides, struggling to get our undivided attention.
And that’s where the main issue is. There is only one of us but we’re needed in about a billion other places. There are a slew of things that we have to do and if we don’t everything might just get ruined. Some people might think that we’re just not serious, but they have no idea that it’s just too much. We’re trying to get too much done in a little time. And it’s things like these that cause people to break down.
For me, while I’m a master at doing multiple things at once, I’ve always been careful not to do more than I can handle. It’s no news that I’m working and schooling, I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home, which means that I can be involved in as many gigs as I want because everything can be done from the comfort of my bedroom.
And that’s what I did for the majority of the past two years. I was working as if the fate of the world hung on how much I made. I was working to publish my book, I was blogging, I was schooling, and I was also writing for clients on Upwork. Anything at all, I was always ready to do them. And since I have a reputation to protect, I forced myself to always deliver on time, even to the detriment of my health. And then, I tried my best not to miss classes, so it was always an uphill task getting the jobs done.
However, it began to take its toll on me. it was as if all I was doing was work and more work, nothing else. If I wasn’t learning in school, then I was at home punching away at my laptop, churning out content. I had little time to sleep and I kept it up. That was why despite how much I was making, I was looking lean. Despite how well I was eating, I was looking gaunt and starved. I wasn’t getting proper rest, I wasn’t doing anything to relax myself, I was just focused on the job.
And this year, I considered continuing the trend, but my finals came with way more trouble than I expected. There was just too much for me to do as a student, and I could no longer cope. I knew that if I kept pushing myself, I was going to break down. So, I was forced to suspend a lot of things.
One of my goals for this year was to resume writing flash fiction and post stories in other communities. I started it, I even started a series. But then school began and it was one of the first things to go. I also wanted to make reviews on Nigerian movies that I watched, but with school, I let it go as well. The toughest for me was suspending the sequel of my book. I’ve only just started writing it, but I paused it in the mean time. I also paused in the marketing of the already published book, I just want to focus on blogging and one other side hustle that gives me regular pay while I devote the rest of my time to school.
I’m not canceling all these things, I’m going to get back to them all the moment I write my final exams. I’ll resume writing flash fiction and I’ll continue working on my book. By then, I’ll have more time to be able to do the things I love. But for now, they just have to take the backseat, because if I keep pushing for them. It’ll become forced and even I will not like the kind of content they’ll be.
Things are a little bit easier now, and I’m in a better position to handle the rigors of school. And also, I have more time to rest or relax which is very important to me.
So, that was how I was able to find balance. A friend of mine asked me why I wasn’t making posts about my book anymore, and when I told him, he said I was only making excuses. I didn’t try to convince him otherwise. I didn’t even have the strength for that. For me, I’ve managed to get the balance I’m after and it has given me peace of mind. I’ll get back to the other areas of my life when I’m good and ready for them.
Not a second before.
