What a difference a year makes...

[seanan_mcguire]

Today is January 15th, 2015. My last day of full-time employment for someone other than myself was January 15th, 2014. The last time I set an alarm for anything other than a trip to the airport or a convention was a year ago.

A year ago today, I started sleeping.

It's sort of remarkable: I hadn't realized how much of myself I had sold for health insurance and a desk with my name tacked to the wall next to it until I started to sleep again, and started to wake up. Because seriously, that's what sleep allowed me to do. I slept ten, eleven, twelve hours a night, with two-hour naps every day, for three weeks. Not out of depression; out of the sheer joy of sleeping, the restorative delight of starting to feel like myself again. The sleeping tapered off. These days, I go to bed at 11:00, go to sleep at 11:30 (slow sleep insomnia), and wake up between 7:00 and 7:30. Naps are rare.

I have had two major illnesses in the past year, versus ten to fifteen a year for the last several. One was a twenty-four hour stomach bug that could have hit anyone, regardless of how rested they were; the other was a cold brought home by my housemate and incubated on my flight to London. I have slept through the night almost every night. I have become happier, more stable, and more productive.

(The more productive has actually been a problem, as I'm flooding my poor proofreaders with material. I was always fast. Now I'm working at more what I consider my "normal" speed, and it's terrifying.)

A lot of people asked how I was going to stave off boredom. The answer was, and remains, that I will let them know when I actually get bored.

It hasn't happened yet.

Comments

[anna-en-route.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you were able to do this, long may it continue.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[julzerator.livejournal.com]

You are an inspiration to find what lets me sleep.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sleep is magical.

[vulpine137.livejournal.com]

Yay for things going well, sympathy for your proofreaders, and a slight amount of sleep envy.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sleep is so nice.

[docpockets.livejournal.com]

Yay! Sleep good. Regular, unhurried, unscheduled (no alarm) sleep is the best.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sleep is amazing.

[nutmeg-44.livejournal.com]

This is awesome. I'm jealous hearing about how much sleep you're having and how it has improved you writing output. Congrats! The proof is definitely in the quality of your work.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that office set-ups are contrary to the way I work.. (I was going to say "to the way we're evolved" or "to the way most of us function", but I don't have evidence that it applies to anyone but myself. And now you, I guess.) I took 6 months off and wrote a (nonfiction) book and it was wonderful - working on my own schedule, setting my own goals and deadlines, setting up my own work environment. Unfortunately it wasn't a way I could earn a living, so I had to return to office work as planned.

It's good to see someone else escape, though. I hope you are able to maintain your freedom and the resulting productiveness, health and happiness forever.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I hope so too.

[serverwench.livejournal.com]

This is so awesome!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Glee.

[listicath.livejournal.com]

Yay to sleeping (I vaguely recall that was a good thing) and Yay to productivity!

You can employ more proofreaders, right? :)

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, the trick isn't finding more proofreaders, it's finding good proofreaders. There's a certain set of skills that need to be covered, and some are easier than others.

("Finding proofreaders that do not make Seanan want to release the pandemic" is a relatively easy problem.)

[gwynnega]

This continues to be an awesome state of affairs!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[marziek.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy for you that you are finally able to work full time as a writer (and filker). The rewards for your readers are many, but knowing that you're so happy and now have sufficient time to adore Alice and Thomas, as is their due, is the greatest boon. A happy author make me happy inside!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Aw, yay. :)

[beccastareyes]

I'm glad.

I teach at a university, and I know that as soon as I turned in my grades last December, I crashed hard. And that even if I nominally work 8-5 on the clock with a lunch break*, plus occasional weekend afternoon for grading and admin stuff, I've found that the drive to make sure I have the next day (at least's) lesson ready to go by the time I leave work means that I come home, cook and conk out in front of the computer. Hobbies are for weekends and a half hour between when breakfast and tea kick in and leaving for work.

I wonder how much of that was knowing that I could take the afternoon off if I needed it. Or switch to working on my science instead of figuring out another way to explain acceleration to my physics students. (Seriously, getting them to know the direction of acceleration is hard: I hope forces clear this up.)

My mother noticed the same thing, in particular how she often needs Saturday to recover from work, and Sunday to do house stuff.

* I teach 12 hours a week and hold five office hours, but there's some rule that you spend about 2 hours out of class for every hour in front of students. The students are expected to do the same.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I hope this improves. :(

[anne_d]

I'm happy for you too!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Yay! Happy for you and for us!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Aw. <3

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Hail the presence of adequate sleeping!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

HAIL!

[jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com]

So awesome. When I first started writing full time, I did what you and it was fabulous. I'm glad you are enjoying yourself and your working-at-home routine.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I am doing pretty much okay.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

Here's to doing what you love and being happier and healthier for it! Congrats and hooray.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[greg rheam (from livejournal.com)]

Glad to hear that you are happier and healthier.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[nurseiris.livejournal.com]

Yay, I am glad for a happy and healthy Seanan! May the next year be even more awesome than the last!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I hope so!

[sylviamcivers.livejournal.com]

I am so very happy for you.
Sleep is wonderful, even when you don't have to knit up the ravell'd sleeve of care.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sleep is amazing.

[phoenix-singing.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy for you. Here's hoping for many more happy, healthy, well-rested, full-time-writerly years! :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

YES.

[beth woodward (from livejournal.com)]

Congratulations! My first novel is supposed to come out later this year, and it is incredibly difficult trying to manage the demands of a full-time job with writing. But since I'm not making any money off the book yet, I can't justify quitting my job. I've been trying to find the balance of giving as much time as I can to writing while still maintaining my physical health, and I don't know if I'm there yet.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Don't quit your job until you can live off the royalties, if at all possible.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Yay for sleep! I'm so glad you get to work for yourself, now. :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It's amazing.

[archangelbeth]

1: I cheer you getting to sleep!
2: ...slow sleep insomnia? Wait, what, this is a THING? *runs to the search engine*
*discovers Bing doesn't have enough data here*
*goes to Google*
Hmmm.

(Thank you. O:> )

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

(You're welcome.)

[falnfenix]

i really think the lack of illness is the most remarkable change. it's amazing what a lot of just plain ol' sleep will do to restore the body.

i am glad this is working out for you. :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how rarely I'm ill.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Here's to sleep! I'm being forced to take scheduling it seriously after years of being a carefree night owl. It's shocking how much of a difference it makes. (In related news, apparently I'm not 18 anymore...)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It really, really does.