Many people believe, you write a book and then you can live full time as an author. Unfortunately, this does not correspond to reality. I have met only a few authors who manage to make a living from writing. So it’s normal that authors have a main job that pays the bills and have writing as a side job. That’s how it is for me as well.
I’m not saying that I do my main job only by necessity. On the contrary. I love being an engineer. Managing large projects, coming into contact with lots of people, solving problems, traveling to foreign countries – it’s all possible because I work as a project manager. And I don’t think anything will change any time soon.
During my world trip 4 years ago, I asked myself if I wanted to be a full-time writer. I had the whole day to devote to writing. But I realized that I could work on my books for a maximum of 3 hours a day. After that, I lost interest. I needed more variety. During that time, I realized how much I missed my other job. And I realized that I didn’t have to choose one or the other, but could have both.
Of course, since I started working full time again, times have changed. I can no longer sit in a cafe and write for 3 hours every day. Depending on how my week goes and how I feel like it, I can manage up to 10 hours a week. This can be an hour in the evening preparing for the next event, a marketing marathon on the weekend in which I create 15 posts for Instergram and Facebook or my usual 3 hours in the cafe to work on my book.
I’ve been following this model for 3 years now and have found the right rhythm for me.