How to Find Time to Write 

Finding time to write can be hard, especially if it’s something that you consider a “hobby.” Things that we consider hobbies are always at the end of our to-do list. People always say that if you want to do something consistently, you have to make it a priority. So easy to say. Not so easy to do. So many obligations, responsibilities. So, how do you find time to write?

We so often put ourselves last, but sometimes, you have to bump yourself up that list. My number one recommendation for finding time to write, is to put it in your calendar and add a reminder. Pick a time in your schedule—early morning, late at night, during lunch, right after work—and block it off in your normal, day-to-day calendar.

And then, and this is the important part, give it the same weight in your schedule, the same inability to be rescheduled that you would to a doctor’s appointment or a work meeting with your boss.

This is where bumping yourself up on your mental priority list comes in. Do not reschedule, remove, or ignore that time in your calendar except for emergencies. Emergencies being actual emergencies like going to the emergency room or your plumbing explodes. This does not include needing to run an errand or having coffee with a friend because it’s the only time that works for them. NO. That time doesn’t work for you to run an errand or meet for coffee, so you’ll have to choose another.

You have to keep the promises you make to yourself. If you tell yourself you’re going to sit down and write, you put it in your calendar, and then you don’t do it, you break the promise you made to yourself. It’s easier to keep promises to other people. It’s a lot harder to keep the promises we make to ourselves. If you don’t keep those promises, you stop trusting yourself, making it harder and harder to make or keep commitments to yourself.

When that calendar reminder pops up, keep that promise to yourself. Sit down and write.

There are three additions to this guideline.

• Don’t wait for inspiration.
• Don’t wait for a magical feeling.
• Don’t wait for large chunks of time.

Inspiration is fickle, about as fickle as feelings, particularly magical writing feelings. Block out that time on your calendar and stick to it, whether or not you’re feeling inspired, feel the muse coming on, or just don’t feel like writing. Do it anyway.

And don’t wait for large chunks of time for writing. If you’re making a living from writing, that’s a different story. But most writers I know hold down day jobs, meaning writing gets added into the cracks of time during the day. If you can only block out 15 minutes, do it. If you can find a 30-minute time block, awesome.

I wish there was a magical formula to add more time to a day, but there’s not. You have to make time within the time you have, and then stick to that time, rigorously and diligently.

If you need a little more inspiration, check out our blog posts on:

• Embracing Imperfection: How to Silence Writer’s Imposter Syndrome
• The Power of Persistence: Three Famous Authors Who Conquered Rejection
• What to Do with Perfectionism

If not, go block off some time in your calendar next week to write.

~By Melissa Burnham

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