Evening Shift
I am going to try an evening work shift tonight. I truly do not like the sound of that. But my work day today is being split by some kid things that don’t make sense to outsource, and I need (NEED) to get some writing done.
(It did not get done before now, because I had course-related stuff to do. I have been pretty focused today, but I had two presentations to create + prepare, so that took up much of the morning.)
((Why am I not doing the writing now? Because I only have 30 minutes and that is a perfect create a blog post type of time interval, not a get deep into your big writing project kind of interval. For me, anyway.))
(((Maybe I need to change my mindset about that? But it’s hard. And really, 30 minutes probably would not make much of a dent. I need ~2ish hours, I think, to meet today’s writing goal.)))
Note that I did say “evening” and not night. We are talking like, 5:30 – 7:30 pm here! And just on a few selected nights, perhaps once/week. Personal pep talk: working until 7:30 pm (when you took a kid-related “break” from 2:30 – 5:30) isn’t exactly a terrible hardship. The problem is that my brain typically goes off-duty at about 5:30 pm. CAN I get it back into gear? WILL I write nonsensical things? WILL it be terribly inefficient ( <– this is a legit concern; I am generally a pretty efficient person but I’m not sure that is true at night and I don’t want to end up having to work far longer because I become slow/clunky at dusk.)
ON THE UP SIDE, those are my peak toxic-waste-scrolling hours as of late, and so having something else to do probably isn’t the worst thing ever.
Will report back!
17 Comments
I am definitely a morning person, but I work 12:00-8:30 most Thursdays (I am a public librarian). I struggle with being productive sometimes in the evening hours, but then I usually get a second wind. Especially if I can really make myself focus and get into what I am working on. I feel like a little physical activity (a quick walk outside or some jumping jacks in my office) can help jumpstart productivity mode.
Good luck!
Morning person here! Once a month I have to work in the evening and I am talking after the kids go to bed late evening – the worst, in my opinion! It’s to prep for an important monthly meeting where for a variety of reasons mostly beyond my control, I just don’t have all of the materials until the night before. Anywho, sometimes it feels painful to get started, but ultimately I end up in a great zone and get everything done and am as productive as any other time. You got this!
Hi Sarah! Thank you again for generously sharing your process. I recently watched Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron documentary a couple of times which basically followed him for 7 years as he created his last movie which won the Oscar. I am mentioning this here because what struck me as a new insight during this documentary is how much Miyazaki relies and needs other people around him to energize himself and keep going when he is tired and stuck. We always think we need to just dig deeper in ourselves to do “deep work” and keep the discipline and motivation going. I think we actually need collaborators, other people who care similar to our running buddies to get ourselves to the next level of what we want to do. Just a thought.
Hi Sarah, I found this article really helped me develop the mindset needed to just plug away at projects when I had time. https://medium.com/creators-hub/no-time-write-anyway-7b525c028d4e?sk=v2%2F9b6caee1-8a16-4168-820d-5abf5e16a56e
I’m not an evening work person either! Is there a coffee place close by that stays open that you could work from, just to send your brain the message that this is a work session and not it’s normal 5.30 chill time? I find context matters a lot when trying to write or do other deep work. Good luck!
Seconding this, as someone who has often had to employ a second shift specifically for writing. I find that I need some kind of “This is work time” context-setting. If I can’t leave the house, then at least being in a separate room, having a cup of tea, putting headphones in. Good luck!
Yeah, if I need to write at night, I just go to a big chain coffee shop that’s open late/I don’t feel guilty about hogging a table.
My mind can’t function past 5pm for sure but I’ve found that if I take a mental break doing some manual things, I can focus again for 1-2 hrs if It’s quiet, which is hard when the house is full of kids interruptions and dinner prep. But if I can go to my study pod, I could I think. Not ideal, but doable.
30 min is definitely the perfect time to write a blog hehehe…
Just finished a decent session in my closet. I thought about a coffee shop etc but nope, I just want a boring office setting. Thankfully it’s pretty quiet if I close the door. (This is also my ‘podcasting studio’. Who knew a walk in closet could be so much!?!?)
Good luck!!! Another idea- flip your running and do the work time in early AM? You’d be able to dedicate your high focus time towards work (instead of running) but you probably would have to skip running with your friends… which would stink
reporting in: just wrote for ~1.5 hrs and got a good amount done. It’s an interesting idea to swap the running but my body says NOOOOOOO. I think my muscles are even more tired than my brain at this point!
Hi Sarah – I am a retired Marriage and Family Therapist, a mother of 2 adult children and grandmother of 3 – so in a different phase of life for sure. In reading your posts I am amazed by the amount of things you do ! Wow! However have noted that your are experiencing a ton of stress lately as you have mentioned. You may want to ask yourself if accomplishing all of these interesting things in this season of life is working for you . Maybe it is-maybe it isn’t- only you would know this. Raising 3 kids and working full time is a lot . If you have put a lot of stress on yourself- you can also do less and take some stress off!
It’s a great question. Long term, definitely not the lifestyle I want. It was generally fine until I added the current writing project and some kid things popped up too- kind of pushed me over the edge. But a book has been a dream of mine for so long and this particular push is temporary. So … not an answer but I appreciate the thoughtful comment and will think about it !!
Soooo… can you clarify whether these evening shifts are “voluntary”? Are these shifts going to be expected of you on a routine basis moving forward on top of your regular work? Maybe you don’t feel free to say. I can say that the addition of mandatory (often un- or poorly compensated) shifts at odd hours does seem like something that would… “happen” to physicians in a health care system, don’t ask me how I know. Sorry, feeling salty this morning.
Ohhhh no this was a self imposed writing shift!!! I didn’t mean to be unclear about that. I have a book writing deadline (others involved not just self imposed) and am trying to keep up because it’s very tight. 100% no voluntary clinical shifts.
Oh thank God. Good for you for getting it done!
Hmm, maybe this could become a new (occasional) thing? It’s an interesting thought- if you’re feeling overwhelmed, is there a pocket of time that’s not usually a work time, that could be used if needed? Sounds like it worked for you this time.