What's the write way to balance things?

My life is pretty...busy...right now (that's an understatement). I'm thirty years old, I have a wife and two kids, I go to college full time, I'm a stay-at-home Dad, and I have a part-time job (which I absolutely hate). I'm also a writer, a reader, and a gamer, obviously. But those last three are extremely hard to fit into my schedule and keep everything balanced. I know I should focus mostly on writing, as that is the one that has the highest chance of paying off in the end. But reading and gaming are important, too. They provide inspiration and relaxation, and allow me to "get away" from my otherwise hectic and busy life. We all need some time to ourselves, right?

So the problem I face is how to balance it all out. This summer I spent way too much time gaming, and not enough time writing. I had even planned on doing more reading, as well, but I'm not overly concerned about that. But now school is about to begin again, and I will have even less time for writing. I would really like to get a job as a writer (until I become a full-fledged author), but I need more work to show off, and gaming isn't helping.



I think I had just overexerted myself prior to this summer, when I worked AND went to school full time, and wrote as much as possible in between. Throw in some work and cleaning around the house here and there, and there was barely even enough time to sleep. I burned myself out, and all the stress at work didn't help. So when I decided to relax a bit and start gaming again, I just couldn't stop. I played every chance I got, and neglected the work that I needed to do.

Now, I am scolding myself for all this game time. I don't want to quit again, because I feel it's important to relax a little (and it gives me inspiration and ideas for writing), but I also don't want to continue to get sucked in and neglect my writing and schoolwork. I need to find a balance. And it's hard. What's the right way to balance these things? I guess I just need to be a little more forceful with myself when it comes down to making time to write. I need to just DO IT.

This is the madness that is my life.