Hello and happy #MummyMonday on the SpookyMrsGreen blog! Today I want to discuss best use of time and what I should do with my spare time now that my children are older, and I have more freedom to work for myself.

How do you use your time? Do you work a full-time job and never find time to do everything that you feel is necessary or that makes you happy? Do you have a settled work-life balance and would like to share your tips on how to achieve this balance?

What Shall I do with my Time?

My life has reached a crossroads. For the past ten years or so I have worked hard to try and sell my self-published books, to develop a residual income stream working from home, and to be available for my children and give them the care that they need as they grow. It hasn’t been easy. My books are still mostly hidden in the dusty recesses of internet bookshelves, patiently waiting to be discovered. But I am not patient. I want to be seen. I want to be recognised. I want to be a famous author!

But am I too old to chase my dream now? Maybe not. We live in an age where people are encouraged to keep trying, to keep learning, to never give up on their dreams. But how many of those dreams are truly achieved? I need to be realistic. I recently took on a part-time job working as a store assistant for a large discount retail chain that opened a store in our town, and I am very grateful for this job. It has helped to lift my husband and me out of financial lack and into a more settled position. We are nowhere near able to do everything that we would like to do, but we can at least feed our children and enjoy family activities without fear of how to pay for it all.

I am grateful for everything, but I want more

Am I selfish for wanting to be a famous author? Am I silly for holding onto this impossible dream? I know I am a good writer. I know that my books are well written and well presented to the best of my ability and the tools I have available. I also know how to write a business plan and I know that all I need is a money to pay for advertising to get my books seen and read by more people. But I am just one person, I have no inspiring story to tell, no PR hook that will get me in the right places at the right time. I’m just another average middle-aged white woman with dreams and a personal life story that the wider world is too busy to listen to. And I don’t say that in a negative way. I’m being practical. This is the way it is.

Back to the question: What shall I do with my time?

I currently spend a lot of time working on my blog. It has become a habit, and I’m not sure that it is a healthy habit. I also spend a lot of time scheduling social media content which again is not necessarily a healthy habit. I have tried to network with people and make connections over the years, but nothing has ever really stuck. I jumped onboard with new author support groups, I networked with indie authors, I have attended lots of online training courses and last year I even got a Digital Marketing Skills degree.

But now I need to learn how to make it pay. I don’t want to work a full-time job for a corporation. I want to earn a decent income from the sales of my books, and I want to keep writing and publishing more books. Should I give up and accept that it’s never going to happen? Or should I keep trying to “make it?”

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