There are only so many hours in a day, and chances are you’ve already dedicated most of those hours to important tasks. Whether your day is taken up by work, children, social obligations or more, you still need to carve time out for what is most important to you—writing. Making time for writing can be a challenge, but it is not impossible.
You’ve already completed the first step toward making more time without even realizing it. Having a deep desire to write and to make time for yourself to do so is essential to getting started on this journey. So what comes next?
Embrace your inner night owl (or early bird)
Like most people, you probably either tend to steer toward a late night bedtime or a pre-dawn rise. Now, what are you doing with that time? Are you spending the last hour of the night before you go to bed streaming another show on Netflix? Or are you scrolling through your phone for an hour before you have to start getting ready for work?
If so, it’s time to reclaim those hours for your writing! Working with your natural sleep schedule is an effective way to create time for writing that simply wasn’t there before.
Once you establish a habit of writing, you can even extend your hours a little. Go to bed half an hour later, and rise 30 minutes earlier than normal. Build on your already established routine until you’re satisfied with the time you’re dedicating to writing.
Try a writing lunch
Working lunch is out, writing lunch is in—for you at least. If you have time away from work for lunch, use that half hour to an hour for your own purposes.
Pro tip: Pack something simple that’s easy to eat while typing that also won’t make much mess. Get creative and plan your lunches for the week ahead of time so you won’t have to worry about forgetting to pack a lunch, and then trying to squeeze in writing on top of finding and buying something to eat.
10 minutes is better than zero
It’s true, something is always better than nothing when it comes to writing. If you can only dedicate 10 minutes a day, then take that 10 minutes and write as much as you can. After you get into this habit, you’ll realize just how much you can get done in a short amount of time.
You can even split your writing time up throughout the day. When you’re writing, 10 minutes here and 30 minutes there can really add up.
The most important thing about making time for writing is to make it work for you. Don’t blindly follow another writer’s writing schedule just because he or she is successful. What works for him or her may not work for you! When deciding how to create writing time in your own life, be sure to consider:
- Whether a certain tip works in your busy life
- If the time you’ve picked out is sustainable
- If you’re willing to give something else up in exchange for writing time
Making time for writing may be one of the biggest challenges you face as a writer. The good news is once you’ve overcome this hurdle, you’ll know you can face whatever other writing challenges may come your way.
