September 5, 2005
Today is Labor Day, which, traditionally would suggest that I wasn't supposed to work. But I did. And I did yesterday, too. It's that pesky urinalysis article, which needs to be completely finished on Friday. I have two experts who I was hoping to get to look over the article, so I wanted to be able to e-mail it to them today, which I did. I still have work to do on it, but the bulk of it is finished. And I worked on the novel, as well.

I'm not sure this is a good thing. I undoubtedly do have workaholic tendencies when it comes to writing. I feel like I have considerably more balance in my life now than I did when I worked at the hospital. Then, my schedule looked like this:

Get up around 6:00, get the kids off to school (latchkey), drive 60 to 70 minutes to work, starting at 9:30. Work until 6:00, drive home 60 to 90 minutes. Eat dinner with family. Do dishes. Help kids with homework and read to kids. Chat with Leanne. Get kids off to bed. Head to office around 9:00 and write until 10:00 to 10:30, read for 20 minutes or so, and go to bed. On the weekends I'd put in a couple hours each day writing.

No, I'm much happier now and life is much more balanced. We probably would have done more today except my youngest has a cold and he's crashed out on the couch with a box of Kleenex and movies on TV. Today here was my schedule:

7:50 Got up, ate breakfast and finished the book I was reading to review: "The Grail Conspiracy by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore"--If you liked The Da Vinci Code, you'll like this. Took shower.

9:15. Went off to the gym and worked out for 25 minutes. This is new. I joined at the beginning of last week. I go 3 days a week--M, W and F, about 30 minutes. Dropped off videos at Blockbuster. ("Shanghi Noon" and "Hostage." We also rented "Sahara" this weekend.) Drove back home.

10:15. Checked e-mail.

10:30. Swept, mopped, vacuumed.

11:30. Continued to read a book on writing nonfiction book proposals.

12:00. Hit the office and worked on the re-write of the urinalysis article.

12:30. Helped fix lunch, ate, washed dishes.

1:15. Back in office. Finished off re-write of article and e-mailed to my experts. Re-wrote chapter of novel.

3:00. Hung out with youngest son. Read more of proposal book. Read some of Michael Connelly's upcoming novel, "The Lincoln Lawyer."

4:15. Walk the dog with Leanne.

5:00. Back in the office checking e-mail (none) and blogging.

Yesterday I worked an hour or two on the article and the novel, as well.

Healthy? I don't know. I was a bit grumpy today for a number of reasons--end of summer being one of them--and I really didn't want to work on that article, but I thought I would free up things by cranking through it. And it's definitely a happier healthier lifestyle than I had before. Balance is important, though. Getting away from work and spending time with family, having vacations, it's all good for your mental health. Yin and yang, and all that stuff.

Best,
Mark Terry