After several unsuccessful jobs, you have finally landed your dream job. You are a writer for a game show. You work from home, which allows you to spend time with your family, fix tasty meals like soft tacos, spinach lasagna, and meatloaf, clean the house, and get your beauty sleep. Your workday begins at 9:00 every morning. You fix yourself a cup of black coffee and a whole-wheat bagel spread with cream cheese. You eat and then sit down at your computer to begin your work. You write a variety of questions, from the easy to the hard. The questions cover many different subjects, such as college life, books and writers, fitness, food, cooking, and phobias.

You love what you do. Whether you are home or away, everything that you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell inspires ideas for more questions. When you get ideas for questions, you grab your notebook and pen and hurry to scribble them down while they are fresh in your mind. The notebook and pen travel with you wherever you go so that you can write down questions as you think of them. To the casual observer, this seems like the perfect life.

However, you are spending so much time on your work that your friends are beginning to feel neglected. Because your attention is divided between your friends and your work, they feel as if you are not all there when you get together with them.

Part of being healthy and happy is learning to balance your professional life with your personal life. Do your friends know what you do for a living? If they do not already know, tell them. Writers get their writing ideas from the world around them. Anything they experience can be inspiration for a piece of writing. It is wonderful to love your career. If you love what you do, you will be more likely to stay with it rather than changing careers. However, if you do not also maintain your relationships, they can suffer. Friends can feel alienated and may alienate you.

When you go out, carry a notebook and pen with you, but put these items away until you need them. That way, you will have your supplies, and your friends should not feel slighted. Then, when inspiration hits, pull out the notebook and pen, jot down a quick note plus enough information to help you remember where you were going with your idea, and then put the notebook and pen away. Your friends will have you back, and you will have a piece of writing in the works.