Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? I mean, when it comes to ice cream my answer is no. Perhaps I feel the same way about sleep and margaritas. And good books. But a couple of weeks ago I reached a point where I had too much good work.

Please hear me when I say this was (is) a good problem to have. I am not complaining, so much as sharing some insight in the hopes that it can help you if you ever find yourself in the same position.

Let me explain.

I’ll start by sharing another question I sometimes get asked. “Can you really make enough money as an authorpreneur? Like as much as you did when you were a teacher?”

And the answer now is, YES. I officially left the full time teaching world four years ago and in that time have built a fully functional career as an authorpreneur. BUT, in order to do so, I do a lot of things.

In June, here are the tasks and activities I did to earn money.

2 vendor events (book selling)
Ghostwriting project
Meeting with my writing mentee
Real estate listing write up
YouTube video creation
Teach (part time) at Western Technical College

Here are the things I did that didn’t make me money (yet or directly) but someday will:

Work on my novel in progress with my mentor
Attend writing club
Volunteer presentation for my Wisconsin chapter of SCBWI
Social media posts
Blog posts
Write and send out newsletters (4 a month)
Work with a bookstore to create book bundles (more on this soon!)

Things I didn’t get done but are on my radar and know I need to work on:

New/updated Teachers Pay Teachers Products for upcoming school year
New videos for the upcoming school year
Bridging the Tides makeover (like the one I did for Breaking the Surface)

I have my content creation calendar down. I know what I need to do to crank out my usual content (one blog post and one video per week and 4 newsletters a month). But the addition of a huge ghost writing project (that comes with a nice big paycheck) is new. Learning how to balance that project with the rest of my tasks, as well as a full summer schedule that includes zero nights at home with a computer on my lap, left me scrambling. I was scrambling for every spare minute I could find. I was waking up very early to get as much done as I could before the rest of the house woke up. I was working hard to maximize my time in every aspect of my life. Because people wanted to read and listen to what I wrote. People wanted me to create things and were willing to pay for it. It was a dream come true, a plan come to fruition. I had worked hard (so very, very hard) to reach this spot. I was proud (still am) and also maybe a little … tired/overwhelmed?!?!

When baseball o’clock hit, I shut off work and drove kids to practice or attended games (and sometimes both). This also involved eating dinner as a fam at 4:15 and often not getting home until 9pm. Most days I was grateful for a reason (and a fun one!) to step away from my computer, but my brain never really left the work. I carried it with me. In the form of my thoughts, phone, backpack contents (even if I didn’t pull out the manuscript I’d put in there… and sometimes if I did.) I took one Tuesday afternoon off to go with my family to the movies (Jurassic World!). We had a blast and the movie was great, but the time away left me feeling behind. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to touch all the things that needed to be cared for. (And that’s with an educator husband who isn’t teaching this summer! Thank goodness for him and his driving, laundry folding and more!)

During the school year everyone is gone all day. I usually have 8 solo hours solo to work, as well as accomplish a few household chores, shower, and exercise. When everyone is home (eating all the time!), dishes are never-ending and I always feel like I am missing out.

In June I had too much work and too many family fun activities. Two, too much of a good things. At the same time. It was hard to balance and also hard to hold this concept in my head. I was happy for good-paying work, wasn’t I? I loved watching my family play ball and spending time together, right? ABSOLUTELY! This wasn’t a bad thing. So why did I feel that way? Really, my body felt bad. Like sick-ish and heavy. I wasn’t eating enough. I wasn’t sleeping enough. I was thinking too much. All the time really. Even before I went to bed I’d ask my brain to work on a solution or plan or piece of content so that when I woke up, I’d have ideas ready to go and flow. It was all the result of too much… too much good.

Luckily, we live in a world where we are told we don’t have to do it all. I mean, society as a whole tells us that we do… but I am fortunate that I’ve put people in my life who tell me otherwise. (My husband, chief among them!) He, along with a few other voices in my universe, saved me.

Last Sunday my pastor, Karyn Bodenscatz, shared a sermon (starts at 37:00) about overpacking, both for travel and in life, and how perhaps, you don’t need the four inch heels (among other things). It resonated with me big time. Thank you, Pastor Karyn.

Jenna Kutcher came out with a book last week, How Are You Really, and thanks to pre-ordering it months ago, it arrived on my doorstep just in time. Reading it has offered some solid reflection time and affirmation that I am not the only one who feels this way. Thank you, Jenna.

My friend, and coach, Robyn, listened to me while I verbally processed all these thoughts as we sat in bag chairs watching our sons play baseball. Thank you, Robyn.

Listen, I am a hustler. I work hard. It’s how I’ve gotten to the position to have good-paying work and lots of it! I am not afraid to put in the time and energy. But last month I learned that there is such a thing as too much good work (at least for me). I learned that giving yourself a chance to sleep in and spend a day doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, is good for the soul. Working hard is good. Working hard all the time, might not be.

Next week I’ll be going on vacation. So this week will be bananas as far as work is concerned. I’ll be trying to shove 10 days of work and content creation into 4 (thanks 4th of July holiday!). It will be early mornings and full days (and baseball at night, duh, hooray!). But then, I’ll rest up.

I know this post is about me, but I wrote it for you.

If you are feeling like work and life are too much (even if all of the things are good), it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. It’s okay to take a break, to sleep in, to say no and to give yourself some grace. Without the wise voices in my life I wouldn’t have realized this. So in case you don’t have any of those, let me fill that role. The work will still be there, and likely, getting it done at a slightly slower pace will not result in death or dismemberment. It will be okay. You will be okay. And if you take some time to slow down, you might even just be able to get back to GOOD. I did.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy…

The Working Mother Balance Dance (Blog Post)

How Does an Authorpreneur Earn an Income? (Blog Post)

Conversations with Myself - 1st blog post after quitting full time teaching

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