A typical day in the life of a workaholic (Brenda Hiatt)

I’m sure I’m not alone among writers who can’t possibly point to a “typical” day, or even a typical writing day. Not that my writing days are all that different from my non-writing days, to be honest. Whether I’m actively working on a book or not, I generally start my days with some quality thinking time before getting out of bed, some targeted morning stretches, then a bit of exercise (swimming when weather permits) before breakfast. 

 

Breakfast is usually spent catching up on email (mostly career-related) and news, some industry-related, some not. Most days, I go to my office after that, where I fire up my monitor and treadmill and start writing and/or editing, whether on my current book in progress or some other writing-related task (like this blog post). If I’m between books, my desk/treadmill time is spent on promotion, catching up on finances, critiquing for friends, etc. Those tasks tend to pile up when I have a book in progress, so there’s always plenty on my endless to-do list I can whittle down.  

 

 

Some days I put in a load of laundry before going to my desk, other days I don’t. If I’m between books, I might tackle some long-delayed household project or run a necessary errand or two (rare, unless it’s a scheduled appointment). Because I know my best writing time happens before lunch, I try hard not to schedule things during that time slot. (That’s also why I tend to eat lunch really late most days.) 

 

Afternoons are usually devoted to non-writing but writing-related stuff, like creating and scheduling social media posts, tinkering with my web store, running ads, etc. That’s also when I’ll tackle any critical household chores I’ve put off and squeeze in the few outside activities this introvert actually enjoys, like my twice-weekly English Country Dance lessons. 

 

Weather permitting, I like to swim again before happy hour, which I almost always spend with my laptop open, catching up on social media or various marketing tasks. (My daughter has told me I don’t understand the concept of “happy hour.”) After dinner I’ll sometimes (not often) watch something on TV or spend time with my husband, though even then I typically write another wee bit before heading to bed, if I have a book in progress. Almost all my pleasure reading occurs in bed, before I turn out the light. 

 

So there you have it, my “typical” day in a nutshell. Looking it over, I realize I might still have a teensy work/life balance issue, something I’ve been working for years to overcome. Oops. I think it’s because no matter how much time I spend working, I never feel remotely “caught up.” (Is that even possible? Maybe not. Hm.) 

 

Okay, yes, I clearly need to build in more time for reading and other fun stuff. I'll get right on that. And who knows? Maybe this time it’ll finally stick…

 Brenda Hiatt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning Starstruck series, which is now up to ten books and counting.