I started bullet journaling in September 2017. As the year was approaching its end, I stumbled upon Sublime Reflections‘s Design your Destiny Program. This is a 5-week email course that helps in reviewing the year that was, and plan the one ahead. My word for 2018 was ‘Proactive’ because I wanted to think ahead, plan better and take as many opportunities as I could. By the time 2019 rolled around, there were some lessons learned from being proactive and I decided to focus on Balance instead. Following the program again, I came up with a vision board for balance, as shown below.
I have not proactively thought about the word every week but it stays at the back of my mind. It comes up when I have taken on too much and am feeling overwhelmed. Once it crops up in my mind, it remains in focus until I feel better about my routine. I was reminded of my word of the year at the end of October.
Since beginning bookblogging and finally having time in the evenings to dedicate to myself rather than school work, I started reading with a new zeal. I was connecting with authors about their books, writing about their works, doing interviews, becoming a part of the writing community! If you have been following my blog in recent months, you know I have had some deep conversations and times to reflect on where I am going and why I am doing what I do.
I am a Data Analyst, which means I spend most of my work week dabbling in numbers, creating visuals and analyzing trends. I started keeping track of where I was getting all my books, how much I was reading and, if you have ever sat and looked closely at numbers, they tell a story – not one we are ready to listen to sometimes. Here are some of my preliminary graphs.
From August-October, I read 10 books each. Of these, 7-9 have been reviewer copies, whether from authors, publishers or as part of blog tours. Though I have not stopped buying books myself, in the excitement of connecting with authors and reviewing their works, especially when they reach out to me, I have ignored the books that I have found interesting and accumulated on my own.
By the time I hit # 10 in October, I was exhausted. Between writing consistently on the blog (September saw 15 blog posts while October was at a highest-ever 22!), trying to meet the review commitments I made to authors, and sometimes, scrambling to satisfy the perfectionist in me, I was loving it all but feeling the need to take a deep breath. Guess who came knocking?
Balance.
Excitement fueled the momentum to read and write so much. But the fear of being able to sustain it started to show itself.
10 books a month is fantastic! I am reading so much. I am writing so much. But can I continue to do this? Will I always be able to do that?
I will be honest, I am my own competition and it was time, I had a chat with the competitor.
Why did I choose balance in the first place?
At the end of Design your Destiny, one has to write six sentences that act as vision for the coming year. Below are two of my answers:
This year I will not procrastinate any more on… the many things I juggle. I will do what my heart wants to work on and celebrate milestones. I will practice self-care.
This year I will advice myself to… be happy and work towards a lower stress level, meaning I will take the time to enjoy the little moments and balance my expectations and responsibilities.
I generally operate on a high stress level, but I started to question myself if I really needed to, especially when it comes to reading and writing – two things I love dearly! I can’t let myself burn out! I have only just started!
Changes I made: Balance is in the messaging
I looked at the books I had scheduled for November, and I decided to try out an experiment – instead of planning out the order in which I would read them and commit to dates on posting about them on Armed with A Book, what if I went with the flow? I noted down the important deadlines (like the blog tour that is coming up) and committed to finishing that as soon as possible, but nothing else was set in stone.
At the beginning of the month, I send emails to the authors who personally reached out to me and requested a review for their book. Instead of telling them what dates I would post on (lessons learned from my dear author friend Erynn Lehtonen’s feedback, when I was scheduling her series article and interview), I said I was going to read their book this month and, if they are still interested in a Q&A, I would be happy to send them the questions when I was done.
Did it work?
Yes! So far, I have already finished one of the three books and made a new friend in this author. I read at my own pace, not worrying about what else is coming up. I’ll get to them all in time.
I also decided not to set up my blogging schedule in advance (except for the dates that I committed to as part of blog tours). Related to that, I changed my reading/writing routine.
In the past, I was leaving the blog posts to the weekend, or certain days of the week (in A Rock-Solid Writing Routine, I mentioned that I keep Fridays dedicated to writing). But as situations evolve, so must habits.
Keeping the blog posts scheduling to weekends wasn’t working because I spent most of the weekend catching up on reading! Writing on certain days of the week didn’t work either because I felt I was coming too close to (self-set) deadlines, and honestly, just wanted to read! I was leaving things for later, and somehow managing them all, but I wasn’t happy. Where was the balance?!
The change I made: I am trying out both, reading and writing, every day now!
I usually get home around 5 pm and after dinner, I spend as much time on the blog as I need. I try to stop at around 8 pm and then switch to reading. Yes, the progress is a bit slower on both fronts but I feel better. And without the committed deadlines for posting on the blog, if I don’t complete something in one sitting, I can come back to it tomorrow.
I am on my way to balance.
A note on books (because how can there not be one 😉
Sometimes, you go looking for an answer, and find other things that can get you to it too! Things just fall into place.
I looked closely at my reading list and there are at least 3 books in there for November which I know will teach me about balance. I recently finished Beth Koritz’s Resilience Road and took away so much from it. I’m listening to Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business and hope that it will have some gems I can apply to my routines. Mark Tittley’s The Productive Life is another book that will offer inspiration.
Resilience Road 
The Power of Habit 
The Productive Life
Pam and I talked at length about bookblogging and bookblogger problems, last month. It was great to know that I am not alone in many of the situations I face, but ultimately, it all comes down to how I choose to manage my time and energy.
No one is perfect. As a bookblogger, we all love reading but we also like dabbling in other aspects of the profession – author interviews, bookstagrams, blogging, buddy reading, book clubs, buying books to show our support for authors… there is so much that we do, and wish could spend more time (and money) doing!
- I am hoping that I find a balance eventually. These are just the first steps.
- I am hoping that you get some ideas too on where you can find balance in your life.
Keep pursuing what you love! 🧡
Do it for yourself.
Don’t forget to share your strategies for balance below! 👇🏽
PS: If you are curious, all the graphs I made are from my Goodreads data. Shoot me an email (kriti.khare@gmail.com) if you want to learn more!
Photo of the stones by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash
I’m really glad you made this decision, Kriti! I imagine the sheer number of books that come out every month and the authors you want to meet and interview are super overwhelming. So impossibly high that you can’t do everything while staying sane and potentially losing your passion. I think it’s important to realize how critical balance is, and how quickly it can fall into chaos and stress, even if you just take a few extra hours for self care or for an emergency. Having looser deadlines that give you more time to read, think about the books you’ve read, leaves less potential for stress and is a big leap toward achieving balance. 🙂
Thanks, Erynn! I don’t think I would have been able to get to this point without our conversation. 🙂
It was fun to see your very organized graphical data, Kriti. I have to admit the anxious bean in me will always feel intimidated by numbers and data, but you managed to put them all simply <3
It's great that you're seeking out balance; I think that's what a lot of us are craving – balance between reading and writing. Recently I'm slowly realizing that the more that I try to set a strict schedule for my blog, I am more likely to not write blog posts (compared to just going with the flow). That's why I'm going to take a break from blog tours (because of their strict schedules) and just read books that I want to read first, since busy months await me.
I wish you luck in your further search for balance. 🙂
That’s what I am going to aim for next year. I was talking to Stephen Zimmer who organizes blog tours and he said I could still be part of the tours by hosting guest posts rather than reviews and interviews. So I’m going to be trying that out – read only what I am super interested in but still be a part of blog tours. That’s also a target for next year by doing more buddy reading and book discussions, at least two with you. 🙂
Yas! The Handmaid’s Tale is still in our pipeline 😀
A well built article, I must say! And an equally interesting take on reading and writing. Often times instinct can take us farther than a schedule would. And while the sheer number of books we buy and receive from authors or publishers would want us to pen out a plan so as to satisfy ourselves and others, you’ve shown us that that’s not always necessary. The graphs are exemplary: they make your point without being intimidating, something that a lot of people struggle to achieve.
Good luck for the rest of this year and I hope balance takes you forward more than you’d expected in the next year as well.
I am glad you liked it, Varun. Finally the time to show the graphs I had been working on arrived. 🙂
You even did a day chart! I love it 😀
And it’s really funny how the review copies go up after the middle of the year xD it’s all so similar to me.
I really loved your charts. I am already getting motivated about making a new spreadsheet for next year – and looking at this year’s charts when it’s over!