Rut Race, Day 2: Do Some Work of MINE

I took on too much book-editing work. There, I said it.

It’s not that I have too much editing work that I can’t get it done or do it well, or that it’s too hard. It’s that it’s enough work that I have almost no time left for my own projects. And one of the few rules I must live by is that I need to be working on my own work in order to be happy (where by “happy” I mean “able to function”).

Don’t get me wrong. I love working on other people’s projects. Editing is immensely satisfying. It’s not that I want to stop, it’s just that I’m doing too much of it.

Because the balls-to-the-wall truth is that I love my own projects more than I love other people’s projects. And I don’t apologize for that.

So yesterday, in between editing stints, I allowed myself some time to work on Mighty Ugly. As a bonus, I worked on preparing to bring Mighty Ugly to the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, my favourite event of them all[1. If you’re local and you want to have the Maker experience but you’re not quite ready to show off your own project, please consider helping me out! It’ll be hard work, but crazy awesome. And you’ll get a weekend pass to the event. Here are the details.]. I didn’t rush, and I didn’t feel guilty. After all, and since we’re into confessions, I would very much like for Mighty Ugly to be my main work. I need to build it up from being a wicked fun side project into being a sustainable business. And to do that, I need to work on it even when I don’t have the time.

I woke up this morning knowing I need to seriously crunch with the editing work, but also feeling very satisfied to know I’m feeding my beloved project, too. Overall I’d say it was a lateral move – I’m not feeling more rutless for having done it, but I do know that this effort will eventually pay off.

What have you been doing to combat your rut?

PS Maryse is joining in. Go cheer her on, eh?