I’m often accused of burning the candle at both ends. And it’s true, I get obsessive about work sometimes and once I’m in, it’s difficult to stop. It’s part of the problem with working in a creative industry, when things are going well, keep going.

A lot of the time my sleep hours will suffer and often I won’t even notice. Last night I was working on some piano arrangements of songs, I sat down to work at around 10pm and by 3.30am I was still working. I had sketched out most of them so decided to call it a night but often I would have continued until it was complete.

Often I have too many projects; as well as professional projects and I have many pet projects that I work on and right now I have too many. Something has to give and sometimes you just have to prioritise or shelf something until a later date.

I keep a traditional paper diary (A5 page a day) and I not only keep all my appointments, meetings and birthdays but also sketch out my work and projects. Digital diaries just don’t do it for me, even my notebook and notes are always on paper.

Right now I could probably think of ten pet projects I want to work on; out of those I can realistically work on maybe three along with my professional and commissioned work not to mention my work with Big Blue Scribble and other business ventures.

Retirement is unlikely to be an option in the future, even though technically I consider myself semi-retired; there’s just too much to do. I’m not good at taking time off but to be honest taking a break for me means moving onto another project or doing something else that is work based. I don’t keep regular nine to five hours; my usual day consists of an early dog walk, breakfast, emails and planning, a long dog walk then I begin properly around 11am. Then it’s lunch and another dog walk. Another afternoon session before a short dog walk. I like walking and so does the dog. After dinner it’s, you’ve guessed it, a dog walk. Then when most people would be watching tv, I’m working on another project or at the piano before finally letting the dog out for ten minutes before she goes to bed. For me I’m probably at the computer recording, composing or arranging; sometimes I try to read or catch up on writing. Unless there’s something specific then I’m asleep by midnight although often a project will keep me up until whenever I’m happy to finish.

Burning the candle at both ends. It’s a life I’d never change, but it’s not for everyone.