Some Thoughts on Consistency

Do you have to be consistently consistent?

I started this newsletter on MailerLite and sent out 26 newsletters in a row…and then I skipped on. These were my thoughts about staying consistent and how things changing is a-ok.

Well, I didn't send out last week's newsletter. After 26 consistent weeks, it completely slipped my mind. Didn't even remember until Thursday afternoon.

I was bummed when I remembered. I've been so consistent! Do I just quit now? Do I pick it back up?

So that got me thinking a lot about consistency, failure, and a myriad other things.

Photo by Muneeb Syed on Unsplash

Story time:
A few months ago I got a bow for shooting 3D archery, and I LOVE it. Some random background is that I don't have a ton of "hobbies" and never really have. I have things I like to do - decorate cakes, do puzzles, workout, eat snacks and watch a show, read. But I don't really count any of them as hobbies.

For the most part, they're either a means to an end (working out for health) or things to do to pass the time (puzzle or read etc). So when I started shooting I fell in love with a lot of things - it's challenging, I can do it quickly and in little moments throughout the day, and the kids can get involved, helping pull arrows and scoring shoots. I love it so much that I've shot every single day since I got it. In horizontal snow, when I had a cold, the morning of my colonoscopy, at night when I forgot and my husband shined a light for me.

I've been SO consistent that I'll feel really sad if/when I miss a day. And I was sad when I realized I missed the newsletter. I mean I've done it every week for over 6 months!

I immediately fought the feeling of failure and decided to take a few lessons and reminders from it.
1. I can pick it up again next week and get back on track. There's no reason to completely derail.
2. Just because someone has always done something or done something for a long time doesn't mean they always have to do it or do it in the same way.
3. Sometimes life is really life-ing and you have to put your focus where it is most needed.
4. Priorities shift and sometimes not everything is a priority

What are your thoughts on consistency?

As always, you can Ask Me Anything about freelancing, morning routines, work-life balance, and all things Placed. Just click up there 👆. This week, I received a very sweet message from one of you with a few different questions. I’ll answer the first two this week and save the rest for next week. (P.S. If you’re the one who sent the message, I’d love to chat more! Feel free to DM me here or on LinkedIn! *This also goes for anyone else reading!)

Question 1: How do you manage juggling home life, kids, chores and meeting your deadlines?

This has actually been a source of stress for me, particularly lately. I go through phases where I feel like everything runs so smoothly, and I can get everything done with time to spare. And then other time, the laundry seems never ending and the kitchen never seems clean and the deadlines keep piling up.

I find that when I’m super slammed it’s almost easier to pack everything in because there’s no time to fuss around. When my deadlines are further out, I feel like I let house stuff pile up even though I don’t know what I’m doing with my time.

The kids are getting older now, so they definitely help with certain chores like emptying the dishwasher or putting their clothes away, but overall, I feel like I’m winging it most of the time. My husband works ~12 days outside the home, so I like to have most of the house stuff done before he gets home, so we can do family time without a bunch of chores though it doesn’t always work out that way.

My best advice would be to keep up as best as you can - I know that’s not great advice, but let me explain a bit. Things ebb and flow. So on weeks that I have a lot of deadlines, things might pile up a bit in the house and then I’ll become a raging cleaning monster for the weekend (ask my kids about this past weekend) and things will get put back in order. And then they’ll messy, and I’ll get behind, and then I’ll catch up again. It’s a never ending cycle, but I think that’s just life?

Question 2: Does the rise of AI use and AI generated texts scare you at all? It seems like we are being forced to either embrace AI or be left out of the future of technology.

I’ve watched enough futuristic movies that the rise of AI does scare me. I mean, honestly, have these people never watched I, Robot? But for work, it really doesn’t scare me much. I don’t think I’ve lost clients to AI, and I heard someone say once that if a client is going to drop you in favor of an AI generated article, then they maybe weren’t the best client to begin with. I think that there’s definitely a place for AI in freelance writing.

I actually had a client come back with some edits that used an AI generated explanation of a concept I was struggling with. It really helped me understand the concept, and then I tweaked the description to fit the article. I wish I would have thought of using it first!

I think it’s like any new, shiny thing. Some people are going to go fully in while others are going to fight it. Most of the people in the middle will dabble a bit and work it into their lives in ways that make sense. But human stories will, I think, always win out over AI…until the robots take over.