Hi, I’m Bethany. And I’m busy. (And tired. And probably hungry…)
We live in the land of the chronically busy and always tired. If you always have plenty of time for writing and sleep and general life, kudos to you! (And tell me your secrets!!! Seriously, inquiring minds want to know.)
For the rest of us mere mortals, well, I’ll make this short since we have a million things clamoring for our attention. Today I want to share with you a few things I’ve learned through trial and error over the years regarding being busy with life and also productive. I understand the struggles of finding time to be creative! So learn from my mistakes 😉
1. There Will Always Be More To Do.
There will always be more things on our to do lists.
If we’re “waiting until things slow down,” “I get a few moments to myself,” or “things are finished up at work,” well let me tell you a little truth: they won’t slow down.
Most of us don’t have summer breaks (Hats off to all the teachers out there! You work hard for your vacations- enjoy!) and even if we do manage to take time away it’s likely busier than our every day schedules. Ever need a day off to recover from a day off?
If we wait for the perfect moment, it will never happen.
If we wait for a lull in the storm to write, we will never write.
Which means what? That we should simply give up? Groan under the weight of the to do list and throw away our writing?
No giving up today, friends! Instead we need to recognize where we are and start anyway.
Maybe all we can carve out is five minutes a day. Maybe by writing it means the windows don’t get washed or something else has to be put off. (I’m terrible about washing windows anyway so it’s no great loss.)
I’m not saying we need to neglect responsibilities. I’m saying we need to realize that moments of perfect readiness and free time are rare. Realistically we need to start our writing and make a commitment to work on it in spite of other activities.
We might not have a quiet environment when we write. We might not have time to ourselves or a writing desk or even a writing corner.
Instead it might mean carving out ten minutes in the middle of unfinished chores to jot down a few ideas. It might mean staying up twenty minutes later and instead of watching netflix we’re outlining the next scene in our novel. It means planning out our writing while we do the dishes.
It’s not orderly or ideal or frankly always that fun.
Until we become famous and ridiculously wealthy of course, then we can do whatever with our time we like 😉 Until then we need to learn to write in the midst of other life activities. We can find ways to make it work for us. For more on this, check out my post 3 Ways to Write More in Less Time.
2. Our Days Are Made Of Moments
Our days are made up of events, chores, work schedules, and errands… but if we break it down even further we have hours and minutes one after another.
This looks like five minutes waiting in line. Twelve minutes for a quick lunch. Ten minutes to shower. A twenty minute drive.
These minutes add up to make our days, our weeks, our years.
So far as our writing goes (and really any project we have kicking around) we want to harness these moments. We need to use them instead of letting them go by.
We want to brainstorm while doing the laundry. We want to figure out character motivations while driving to work. We want to outline our next scene on a napkin at breakfast.
Small moments add up.
What starts as a few words scribbled down here and there can turn into an outline and can turn into a draft. So let’s not say we can’t do it. Instead let’s take what time we have and learn to use it.
Write in 15 minute chunks if you have to. Just make sure you’re writing.
If you write for two 15 minute sections a day, that’s 15 hours a month. A lot can happen in 15 hours. A lot can get done.
By being aware of these spare minutes here and there and utilizing them, we can make small but steady progress toward our writing goals.
3. Things Change (And That’s Normal)
One week we’re getting half an hour of writing time every morning before the day gets crazy. And then the next week that system goes out the window.
Why?
Because life is crazy. It changes. Kids get sick. Work schedules get adjusted. We sign up to play ultimate frisbee for the summer (yes I’m excited!).
Whatever it is, change happens. Life happens. (Read more here about How To Take a Writing Break Without Quitting!)
Now it’s true that sometimes we should protect our designated writing time. Make it a priority and guard it. Make those moments happen at their scheduled time no matter what.
But sometimes we also need to be flexible and adjust accordingly. Expect these changes to happen and allow our writing to change as well.
That time in the morning no longer works? How about half an hour at lunchtime. No longer time in the afternoon? But now there are a few 15 minute breaks throughout the day.
Obviously this is going to look different for different people depending on how much control over your schedule you have. (For instance, I have two small children. While in theory I am the adult in the household… I don’t usually feel like I have much control haha.)
But the idea here is that WE DON’T GIVE UP. We acknowledge the change and we figure out a new writing strategy.
That’s the real truth here. We don’t give up.
We know what we want. We know it isn’t easy. We realize life is crazy.
But we’re going to make this writing thing happen anyway.
So there it is folks. Lessons I’ve learned from my crazy, messy, and chaotic life in which I continue to write through the pandemonium.
What are your truths of writing? Share below! I’d love to hear how you make writing happen in your life!
