Enthusiastic Focus or Unhealthy Crunch?

The past couple of weeks have been...different...around here. Whirlwind that is my personal life aside, I have been closing in on the final edits of Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett. Today I find myself with 9 pages left until I let my book go out into the world to see if it will find its footing.

Around the beginning of October I began to feel the pressure. I wanted to get this book done this month. The holidays are coming up and the last thing I wanted to do was fall off my schedule and end up secluded in a dark corner of my house while family and friends are wondering what the heck happened to me? (Most don't even know that I've been writing a book.)

So I started staying up later, working longer, but I never thought of it as 'work.' I was immersed in it and enjoying the journey through these final edits. I had heard the term 'crunch' many times, even working through a few on previous jobs, but I never for a second considered what I have been doing over the past couple of weeks to be a crunch.

That is, until the end of last week when I took a 2 day break from editing and realized that things weren't completely rosy around here. I had been neglecting my health, skipping a few meals, and it threw my blood sugar completely off. My 3 year old was becoming a bit extra clingy since I had been isolating myself a bit more to complete the work. It occurred to me that I may not consider it a crunch but I'm sure those in my life definitely did.

It's so easy to get lost in something that I enjoy, though, that I never considered it a strain! I probably would have kept on in the same routine until I eventually flopped over into a diabetic coma. The descent from enthusiasm for a project into unhealthy crunch is a seamless transition. That's the trap of it for those of us who control our own projects.

Make sure to pull back every so often and take a breath. It may feel embarrassing but don't be afraid to ask the people in your life if you have been ignoring them or unintentionally contributing to tension in your household. It can be all to easy of a thing, neglecting other responsibilities while enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes from finishing a huge project.

Remember to be kind to yourself, and those around you. The destination is completely worthless if we sacrifice everything else that we love along the journey.