♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #96
How Do You Work While Traveling?
Many people work remote and travel with their work now.
It really helps to see how others work and reach their goals while they’re traveling.
Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.
The best part of being a writer is that you can do this work from anywhere. Certainly, there are moments when you need to be in a research library trying to answer a question that came up while working out the narrative, but for the most part, anywhere will do. Quite frankly, you can find libraries in most destinations. And, there are those times when you are travelling to do work, so there is no question there. Thankfully, technology has caught up to allow travel and work to mesh easily.
What if you scheduled a vacation a year or more prior, and a deadline hits around the same time? A year or more prior, you can’t predict with absolute certainty where you will be in your writing (projects and career). If you’ve been at this awhile, then you also know you can’t let opportunities pass you by. In this business, many of the opportunities you need to really make your career come but once. Certainly, you know when the vacation is and when the deadline is, so you can plan accordingly. That only works if everything is straightforward. What about the times when you have other work to do before you can get the piece done? Well, you could cram it in ahead of vacation and get the piece done ahead of the deadline. But then, what if things get in the way? Or, what if someone you need information doesn’t get back to you, so you’re left hanging or have to find another resource?
There is nothing worse than having to rely on someone else who doesn’t feel the urgency you do for the work. I can’t tell you how often I’ve ended up in this situation. The best plan is to have a back up. Once you’ve gotten past an established deadline for this resource to get back to you, so you can continue your project in a timely manner, it’s time to reach out to them and remind them that you’re waiting. While you do that, seek other assistance. Don’t feel obligated to that first person. If they cannot be professional enough to keep to a deadline, then they’re not worth risking your work on—no matter how good they are believed to be.
As an author, you might be facing a difficult project that requires a lot of your time, and taking a full vacation is just not possible. Working while on vacation happens a lot more than we realize. It’s best to schedule your time in limited spurts so you’re not missing out. Maybe there is time to do something in the morning before getting ready to go out? You may prefer to do some work when you get back from a day’s outing. Either way, you need to accept that you must limit your time to work to only a couple hours a day while on vacation. Otherwise, what was the point of vacationing?
Several years ago, my family planned a trip to my brother’s home for Christmas. At the time, I was not blogging yet, but I had put my first book into publication, and I was considering my next. A smartphone hadn’t become affordable or feasible to me yet, either. What I was still needing to do was build my social media. There is simply no way around that necessity as a modern author, and it takes a lot of hours to manage. Thankfully, I only had Twitter and Facebook back then. Both had a small number of friends/followers. I kept my work to an hour or two a day, broken up, so that I didn’t miss out on being with family over the holidays. It’s much easier now, even though I have many social media pages and many more followers and friends, because of technology advances. Sticking to set hours can be more of a challenge because of the ease of getting lost in the apps.
Being able to work on vacation depends on the type of vacation you’re enjoying. Going to Disney is going to be a lot less conducive to work than a relaxing beach holiday. Regardless, keep in mind that the point in going was to take time away from work. Such rests are necessary. You just might have to unplug for a week or two. You’ll thank yourself when you do. Seriously, don’t take yourself for granted. Rests must happen. Since vacations are planned ahead of time, you should get everything in order so you can take some time. Honestly, did you spend all that money just to see the inside of a hotel room or wifi cafe? I didn’t think so.
Remember to take care of yourself. Your mind and body are what allow you to write. Without them in top condition, that gets a whole lot harder to do. If you’ve missed a deadline because you forgot, or couldn’t get to it in time, accept that without berating yourself. Looking for the next opportunity is an ongoing quest. You will miss most of them. Be as prepared as you can be to receive opportunity and let go when they are not serving you, or you cannot bring things together to accomplish them.
Let’s see what advice the other authors have for you about traveling and work…
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For those following the blog, you already know I work a regular job to support the writer life. New readers, you just found out. Either way, you can imagine that scheduling time to blog and work on my writing can be difficult. I’ve been doing this a few years now, and I’m still working out the kinks.
My regular readers know that I am currently carrying my first child. So what is going to happen to my schedules and plans then? Maternity leave is planned in advance. Let me tell you, I am a busy beaver getting ready for it. I’m literally writing every day to get the blog settled and ready for this big adjustment through December. Wish me luck! I’ve already had my second cold, and that put me a week behind. The goal is to be done by early July. The outlines of each month are done. The artwork is mostly completed. The taping videos happens on the day that I create the post to house them. On days that I work my regular job, I only work on one post in the evening, weekends, I am doing two a day.