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| Stress is an emergency that needs to be dealt with immediately. |
I understand that my editor is under a lot of pressure and stress at the moment, we are doing the first issue of a new magazine and she wants everything to be as good as it possibly can. What she doesn't seem to realise is that if I don't get the time I need, when I need it, to do what I need to do; then what I do will not be as good as it can be, and we both want and need it to be. This is both our future, it is not only now and this issue. However, we are doing it in about half the time we will have in the future and it is the first time for us. I am sure it is only teething problems and once it is all in print and the first issue is out, we can all sit down and talk about what we like and don't like and what needs to be changed for the next issue. Baby steps for a grown up is sometimes hard.
Anyway, I might be feeling stressed but since I realise it I can do something about it. I am in charge of my life and what I don't like I can take control over and change. I will do my job as good as I possibly can, and that is all I can do, but I will do it without stress. Stress will only make it bad, and it will put bad feelings into what I write and that is not good. I’m taking my time and I am doing it my way.
My dream of being a writer has a lot to do with freedom, to work a lot on my own conditions, a writer is an artist and not an office worker. A writer needs the freedom to fly. Give us a deadline and we will do what is necessary to make it, but don't hold us down. We will either get a writer's block or leave you screaming behind us. Some guidelines and rules and how it is supposed to be written is fine, and sometimes good, but don't plan our time for us.
This is all new to me and I am realising more and more about it as I go along. Knowledge is good, knowledge will help me understand why I react and feel the way I feel and as long as I know that I can work with it instead of against it.
If you are stressed you need to learn how to prioritise what you need to do. I said no to meeting my editor today, I don't have time because I have a job to do. I am writing this blog post because it is relaxes me to write it and it puts me in the writing state of mind. I do what I need to do to be able to do what I need to do. Everything is not an emergency! Although feeling stressed is, so take care of that first, and after that you can get on with what else needs to be done.
What makes you stressed? Why does it make you stressed? What are you doing about it?
You can read about Natalie Goldberg here and here.
Love
Carina
Hi Carina,
ReplyDeleteI've just come across this post, I hope that by now you and your Editor have come through this, and found a way for you both to handle any stress on the job.
I have been experiencing something similar where I work recently, and realised that just because others talk about being stressed, does not mean I need to take on their stress.
I need to do what works for me, walks in nature at lunch, playing sport, working in a quiet area, learning more efficient ways of completing tasks, and building relationships with my customers to be more effective in my work.
Your comment about prioritising is valid, and learning to say no is possibly one of the most challenging skills we will ever learn.
The other is recognising our own limits, even if they aren't the same as others. To listen to ourselves and know what we can do, and to realise that this, too, shall pass.
Whatever happens, we need to look after ourselves, especially when we feel a little stressed, and continue to eat right, to stay hydrated and to keep up our passions and hobbies, like you writing in your blog. It gives our minds a chance to refresh our thinking.
In a way, taking a week off work has been a way of saying "no" because almost everything can wait, and we need to realise that life is not an emergency.
thanks for a great post!
Lynn xx
Hi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment!
In the months after this post I came to realise that this magazine and the way everything worked, or didn't work, around it was not the right forum for my writing.
After that first issue of the magazine was finally out, I stopped writing all together. I didn't write here, or anywhere else,for months. Until I decided that I was not going to keep doing the magazine, once that decision was made I started to write again and I am currently writing on two different books. One fiction, and one in Quality Inside And Out style. At least the latter will be available to buy here on my blog. I am not sure when yet though, I still got a long way to go.
Anyway, since I was doing the magazine because it gave me a chance to write and it ended up completely blocking my writing I am positive I made the right decision to quit it. I am still happy I did though. I am still a published and payed writer. Nothing and nobody will never ever be able to take that away from me. And for that I am very grateful!
You are very much correct in your statement that everything can wait and that it is important to learn how to say no. I am happy to say that I did learn that a few years ago and that it has truly helped changing my life to the better.
I hope you are well!
Love
Carina xx