10 Ways To Find More Time To Write

Writers have a difficult time finding time to write sometimes. With the burdens of family obligations, daytime jobs, marriage, and church or other activities, it sometimes seems impossible. Here’s a few tips to help you find time to write.

1. Get up an hour early. When you get up early, nobody is awake. This is prime writing time.

2. Stay up an hour late. This is the same principle. After everyone else has gone to bed, you’ll have the time you need. But be careful. Don’t get so lost in the story that you stay up all night. Set a timer if you have to.

3. Spend your lunch hour writing. If your work won’t let you use their computers for personal use, bring a small laptop or word processor to work and write while you’re eating.

4. Assign a certain time every day that you write. Let your family know that this is your “Do Not Disturb” time.

5. Get a maid. No, I’m not kidding. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. Hire a maid or someone to do your laundry. This will give you added time to write. Isn’t it worth the money?

6. Hire a babysitter. You could hire someone to take the kids to the park or to McDonalds Playland a couple of times a week. The kids will love it, and you’ll enjoy the writing time.

7. Stop time wasters. Organize your schedule and see where you are wasting time you could be writing.

8. Turn off the TV. Enough said.

9. Buy a small laptop or word processor to take with you when you go to doctor’s appointments or kids’ soccer practices. You can write during waiting time.

10. Quit playing Facebook Games. Facebook and Twitter are great tools for writers, but don’t let them monopolize your time.

So quit putting it off. Find the time you need to write, and get busy.

Do You Have a Schedule?

Do you have a schedule? I don’t mean just for writing, but for every important part of your life.

I heard a preacher say recently that those who have a scheduled time for prayer and a prayer list will pray 90% more than those who don’t. I assume that’s also true for writing, spending quality time with family, and even doing housework.

I live by my schedule. I don’t always follow it. When things come up, I throw it out the window for a short time. But I always come back to it. I find being scheduled makes me productive and helps me focus on the important things of life and not just the urgent.

Here’s a few tips in making a schedule.

Don’t make a micro-schedule with every event listed. Have clumps of times to do things that are similar. For instance, do all office work (bills, phone calls, etc.) at the same time.

Have a daily to do list, a weekly schedule, a monthly calendar, and yearly goals. The schedule determines when you do certain types of activities. The to do list has specific tasks listed according to your schedule. The monthly calendar lists appointments. The yearly goals will bring focus to what you want to schedule. All are important.

Be flexible. If something interferes with your schedule, adapt the schedule. The schedule is meant to serve you, not the other way around.

Have a weekly planning session. This will help you stay on task.

Always allow more time to do tasks then you think you’ll need. This will keep you from getting frustrated when interruptions come.

Don’t only schedule urgent things. Schedule important things such as prayer time, writing time, time with family, and personal time.

If you fail to follow your schedule, don’t beat yourself up. The schedule is there to help you not to dictate your life. If you can’t follow it, tweak it to work with your energy cycles. If you fall away from it for a few days of weeks, just dust it off and do it again.  You’ll still be further ahead then when you didn’t schedule your time.