Yes, that’s a picture of me, doing yoga on the beach. ‘Cause I have all the time and disposable income in the world for that, doncha know?

Okay, it’s a stock photo. But I would dearly love to start my day that way every single day. The problem is I don’t live at the beach. And I really like to sleep so mornings aren’t a thing for me.

So I’m coming up on a kid-free weekend, and I’ve learned that I need to balance the life out with the writing a little more. While meeting these last two deadlines, my house really suffered. I mean really. I did a deep clean this week that was long overdue, but my yard is so overgrown it’s a serious eyesore and I’m sure my neighbors are more than a little embarrassed at the sight of it.

Now that I’m almost over the worst of my poison ivy attack, it’s time to go hacking through the underbrush and expose myself again, before my house vanishes under a forest of weeds and overgrown bushes. Luckily, we’re in the middle of heat wave so it’s going to be brutal out there this weekend. Joy.

Anyway, I still need to hit my word counts for each day, so I’ve come up with a system to stay on top of things.

I set my alarm for too-damn-early, head outside and do two hours of yard work before it gets blistering hot. Then I’m in for the day, take a shower and start writing. The day follows a schedule: 2 hours of writing / 1 hour of chores like vacuuming, laundry, cleaning out a closet, etc. Late afternoon when it starts cooling off again, I go out and hit the yard for two more hours.

Then it’s recreation (Netflix or a movie or something), a little more writing, and bed.

Such an exciting life I lead. But it’s helping to have it broken up like that. I will, of course, skip chores if I’m having a good day and really in a writing groove (because you don’t plug the dam when the water’s running high), but it’s helping me get stuff done. And I really need to get stuff done.

How do you keep a work/life balance as a writer? I’d love to hear your tips!