Author Journey (February 3, 2025)

I’m still ironing out my new routines with the change to my work/life balance, but there has been some progress. However, every time I take a step forward, I seem to end up having to take two steps back…
Author Journey (February 3, 2025)
What happened?
I wish I could tell you that I was stepping back to get a better view of the whole picture, but that’s not what I’m talking about. With the kids and the weather, I ended up losing four days of productivity. And when you consider that the weekends are always harder to get anything done anyhow, I only really had one day to try to get everything done. I really need to work out some time for myself because you know what they say about all work and no play! On top of that, there was no sales tax in Canada for the last month so I may have bought a bunch of books that I had on my watch list. And when I say a bunch, I mean a lot. It’s going to take me a while to read them all, but at least I don’t have to buy any more for the rest of the year…

How is it going?
1. Health
I’ve been slowly reorganising the things in my house and attempting to make healthier choices when it comes to food and snacks. Sadly, with all the interruptions to the daily schedule, that’s been way harder than it should be. It’s also made it impossible for me to get on the treadmill. I can’t believe I went through the whole of January without doing a single run. At least, I’ve had Gus to walk so that keeps me somewhat active. Plus doing the housework requires constant effort. All these shows that show housewives sitting around watching TV are incredibly unrealistic. I’ve barely sat down in weeks.
Goal: 10 km daily average, Current status: 7.8 km daily average.
2. Writing
So, I’ve been slowly chipping away at my writing and it’s been frustratingly slow. One of my problems is that I have so many unfinished stories that my mind often jumps around between them, making it very hard to focus on one for long. Well, that and the fact that I have almost no time to do anything fun at the moment. Everything I’ve achieved lately has been at the expense of sleep. Of course, that doesn’t help my health so there needs to be some changes to the routine.
Goal: Publish a book, Current status: Trying to pick a project to finish!
3. Art
Last week, I mentioned that I had been planning out the cover for one of my books. I’ve worked out the poses. I’ve got lots of reference material to work from. The next step is actually sketching the outlines. This is also something that I really need to get on with for my mental health as drawing is one the most relaxing things I can do. However, I really don’t like interruptions so it’s something that I would need to do when I have a nice block of time. I know what needs to go into my routine, the problem is trying to make it all fit.
Goal: Complete artwork for my book, Current status: preparing to sketch!

4. Watching
I finally did it. I watched two episodes of anime this week and it felt so good. That was a forty-three-day dry spell which is the longest I’ve gone without watching anime in years. The episodes in question were from two different series, one I had not seen before and the other was a series I covered five years ago and want to revisit. I have another series that I’m planning on watching, although that’s going to be my treadmill series which I hope to get going again this week.
Goal: Watch more than 629 episodes of anime, Current status: 2 episodes watched
5. Reading
With my current post schedule, I need to be reading six volumes of manga a week. Last week, I only managed five which is still better than I was doing this time last year, but that also means that there is no room for me to slide. If I don’t read six volumes this week, I’ll fall behind in my blogging goal. The other thing that I noticed this week was that I forgot that I was reading Please Put Them On, Takamine-san. I’ll be sure to continue that series once I’ve finished one of the other series that I’m reading.
Goal: Read more than 159 manga volumes, Current status: 13 volumes read
6. Blogging
I’ve managed to keep up with my daily posts for the first thirty-four days of 2025 which has been a lot more challenging than it has in the past. There have been periods when I was posting three times a day. Oh, to have that much time on my hands again… Anyhow, I do have two posts scheduled for later this month and hope to keep adding to those as I attempt to build a nice buffer and make the entire process a little less demanding.
Goal: Publish 365 posts, Current status: 34 posts

What are you planning?
I have another two weeks of six manga posts a week before I’m ready to start posting about anime again. Hopefully, I’ll have several posts scheduled and ready to go which will make things a little calmer. After revisiting Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher!? and rewriting my reviews, I’ve decided to do that again, but this time for a series of posts that have not done very well. It’s a shame because I think it’s a great series which is why I want to see if rewriting and republishing them will give them better exposure. I’ve made a note of how each of the posts has done over the last five years so it’ll be interesting to see if there is any sort of improvement.
I’m going to continue to play the long game by slowly building in a buffer of scheduled posts and looking to improve my routine. The more I get through at home, the easier that’ll be. Hopefully, a more structured and relaxed household will see fewer interruptions in my routine. It’s frustrating at the moment, but also know that I need to put the groundwork in first. Thanks for reading!

Real-life always has a way of butting in, doesn’t it? The important thing is you take care of yourself while juggling your goals. I hope you find some balance soon!
I feel like real-life has been on my heels for the last couple of years constantly waiting for the opportunity to disrupt my stride, which it does whenever it can. I hope I find some balance too. Thanks