Ever since I made the decision to get serious about my writing journey, it seems like life’s thrown me some crazy distractions. 

I started fighting more with my boyfriend, work seemed more stressful than usual, and my neighbors started having parking lot parties outside of my window every freaking night! I couldn’t get any sleep.

And on top of that, me and a few friends are making travel plans because I’m planning on moving in less than a month. It’ll be the last time we get to hang out before I’m gone, so I really can’t miss it.

The point is that every time I plan my day, it seems like something else takes priority!

Of course, I can’t just blow off my boyfriend when he needs me, I can’t just quit my job, and I don’t want to be a bad friend. It just seems like the only time I get to myself nowadays gets snatched away.

The struggles of a people-pleaser.

If you’re like me, you want everyone to be happy, but in doing so, you tend to spread yourself thin. But this can sometimes compromise your own happiness.

What I learned is that if you don’t treat yourself like a business, then you’ll never be successful. What I mean is that, most jobs don’t allow for any distractions. So you can’t allow distractions into your life, otherwise you won’t be as productive.

My mom taught me this lesson the hard way. She is utterly unreachable when she’s working on something she’s passionate about. She’ll ignore my call, but then immediately text me “please just text me.”

This used to annoy the crap out of me!

But it taught me that sometimes you have to put your foot down and not feel bad about it.

If your friends and loved truly support and respect you, then they’ll understand that you need time to be productive. And that’s okay.

Setting this healthy boundary will make you a happier, more productive person. So stop working so hard to please everyone else and put that same effort into pleasing yourself.

Dedicate yourself to what you love the same way you dedicate yourself to your job.

If your job’s anything like mine, then you can’t be on the phone all the time, it’s a distraction. So give yourself that same respect and establish that amongst your loved ones.

You can thank me later!

Peace.