Four Ways to Find Time to Write

When you have a lot of commitments and a lot of things which need to be taken care of long before you begin your day. You want to write and you need to write, you are a writer, and it seems life will not allow you to write that book you want published as soon as you can. In other words, you need to find time

For myself, I have used many different ways to crave out some extra time to write. Some have worked not so well, and four of them I still use now, after many years. Below are my list of four and why I use them.

1) Set an office time: If you think of your writing as a business, you need to set aside a time to get things done. By this I have a small desk with my computer on it, and I have posted to the desk, a sign which says “office hours.” It took a long time to get others to understand that it is in fact office hours and I am in fact working. Now, that I have been doing this for a while, most will understand that my office hours are only for so long during the day.

2) Make a list of what you need to do: I have three one for each day, one for each week and one for the month. What needs to be done everyday is listed, well every day. And so it goes. I also have a larger calender for “bigger” things, such as books and other things, but that is to help me plan a more specific monthly and weekly and daily plan.

3) Know what is needed for others: This is one that allows you to find the most time to write, if you have a blog post to write for someone else, that is more important then a chapter of your novel which you have just begun. Know what is needed for each person and when. Be firm about times and dates, and do not let others try to put more on your plate than you can handle.

4) Set aside some time for others: This helps find time to write as if others know and understand that you have time for them and what they need from you, they tend to respect the fact that you write. This is most important if you have a family. time is also important when you write as a freelancer writer or something else, your writing time must be valued. This is a matter of choices, but the choice between family and you, and burnout and you should be a simple one.