I don’t really have energy so much as drive. I like to work, and I like most of the things that come with it. Even when I’m exhausted, I find myself drifting work-ward because I enjoy it. I get almost as frustrated not working as I do when I’m overloaded. It’s screwy, but that’s okay. :)

It’s so hot today I was afraid to even walk up to the gym, though. I haven’t been outside at all – this is prime seizure weather and it’s spooking me a bit.

I also feel bad when I’m not devoting 100% of my attention to the baby. Sometimes I find myself playing with her, but then zoning out and thinking about a new chapter or a new blog post in my head at the same time. Ahh, the guilt. I have a feeling it will never end.

Getting those three things can be tricky. Sometimes, I end up dictating into my phone, or writing notes as I’m walking the baby (in the park, where I can’t run into things). Most of my correspondence is done via my phone when I’m walking/sitting down at a cafe while he sleeps, in the car when Joe’s driving, or late at night, when I’m watching tv. That’s how I keep up with necessary reading, like PW and your blog, too. I just star the things I need to come back to.

The actual writing comes when he’s napping, or at night. I can write almost any time of day, even when I’m exhausted, though I’m more likely to make errors then. So if it’s late, as it so often is, I write detailed outlines for articles, or sentences I’ve come up with for a story, and why I think they’re important. Why a sentence is important usually tells me a lot, but that’s just the way I think. I also collect all the links I might need, and pull the quotes that are interesting. I write notes all day long, too, because I’m apt to forget important things.

In daylight hours, again, during the naps, or when we have Araci (alas, just Thursdays so far), I fill in the gaps. This way, it takes me between one and two days to write a post for PopMatters, and one to write for the NRI. Book reviews, unfortunately, take me weeks, because not only do I have to read the book, I have to digest it. Most of those end up being dictated into my phone so I get a clear sense of how I feel about the book before I try and write something coherent.

The biggest problem for me at the moment is interviews. Going through the material from a 30-60 minute sit down requires a lot of attention to detail, and a lot of time.

Some days, nothing comes together, and I’m happy to get one thing dealt with. If I can’t concentrate, I run over to Hootsuite and read and tweet for a bit, or schedule my tweets. I have a rule that for every link of my own, I should find 5 links for others, and give back. Of course, that takes time!

The downside of this system is that I am rarely not working in some way, since I try not to work when I’m with kidlet, and give him the majority of my attention. I am forever worried I don’t devote enough time to him.

I like the way you’re switching back and forth, and it does sound like you’ve got a pretty efficient system!