The last couple of weeks have been quite a struggle. Working permanent nights has always been taxing, and I find myself very tired when I return home from work, making it hard to push through and get some writing done. Much like the middle of last year, I picked up a few extra hours a week at work, and those few extra hours have made a big difference on my writing productivity.
The good news is that this is the week that comes to an end. From tomorrow I work my last night shift, then begin two and a half weeks off, and when I go back, I'll be working three days a week. I will be dedicating those spare two days a week to writing, and hopefully, I will be able to spend more time on my health goals and get more restful sleep.
I had thought about waiting one more week before I published again; I didn't want to commit to a week of content and not be able to deliver. But I am feeling better, probably in anticipation of my coming rest. This week I want to get back into my minimum weekly content, and starting from next week, I begin writing The Martian Ark in earnest. I have some other business goals that I want to work on, such as building my email list, publishing Solar Flare Vol 1, building my podcast audience, entering writing competitions, and getting published on a wide range of platforms.
I'm not going to dive into all of those at once. I need to make sure that my minimum content is at least a week ahead first, and then I want to prioritise novel writing over business goals for now. I don't want to neglect them, but I feel that I'm building an audience to nowhere without a novel written.
For this week, I still have to get through my last night shift. I'm feeling optimistic about the change of hours and work-life and some trepidation over the amount of work I have ahead of me. I have a mountain to climb, but first, I need to get over the foothills and find a basecamp.