Sixteen Ways to Find More Writing Time
Posted by Jo | Filed under Productivity
I’ve been thinking lately about ways to find more time to write. I’ve been working on that for a while now, since I tend to be pretty busy in general. I’ve made a list of some of the things I’ve tried, and how well they worked for me.
- Get up earlier. I’ve tried this one (barely), but I have a really tough time dragging myself out of bed any earlier than I have to. I’m already getting up around 5:15 to get to work, so this is a toughie. I’m sure it works for some people, and if I didn’t already have to get up so early, it might for me too. I’ve found more success with…
- Stay up later. I tend to be a night owl, so staying up an extra hour isn’t nearly as difficult for me as getting up early. During that hour, I only allow myself to write. No reading, no surfing, etc.
- Use “dead” time in your day. It might be your lunch time at your desk, or appointments, or even standing in line. No, working on your novel might not be practical, but you can make notes, do research, even edit a few pages. For me, working on a rough draft is a good way to make use of these small bits of time. (As an aside, I’ve been looking for something portable and cheap ($100 or so!) to carry along for writing. No, I’m not found of the Dana. I’m looking for something like the old Jornada. Ideas?)
- Housework help. I’m not the world’s greatest housekeeper; it just doesn’t seem to come naturally for me like it does for some people. I’ve worked hard to get some routines down. I spend a little time every night doing housework, and I do it first thing, since I know it’s the most likely thing to get postponed. I also ask for help! Believe me, just asking for a hand makes a huge difference.
- Workspace. I keep my writing handy and my workspace relatively neat. It’s easier to sit down and work if I don’t have to do a lot of cleaning or paper shuffling first.
- Set aside time to write. For me, that’s evenings, but it might be any time. Committing to writing every evening has really helped me be more productive.
- Re-evaluate what you need to do. Think about all the tasks that infringe on your writing time. Can you eliminate any of them? Can you ask anyone else to help with them? How about paying someone else to handle them? Don’t think I’m kidding on the last one. We pay to have our grass mowed, and it saves us both lots of time and aggravation, and it’s more than worth what we pay to have it done.
- Re-evaluate what you want to do. Again, think about all the things that take away from your writing time. Is it reading? Research? Television? While these may be things you enjoy, do you enjoy them enough to let them keep you from writing? In some cases, the answer may be yes, but be sure you’re making the decision to not write, and not just having it happen without thinking about it. I know that I don’t read as much as I used to. I don’t knit as much as I’d like, and I only watch shows on television that I really, really enjoy.
- Take time off. This may seem counter-intuitive, but I need some time away from writing occasionally. Give yourself permission to goof off and do whatever you want. Just as you’d take a vacation from your job, it’s good to take a vacation from writing as well.
- Find quicker ways to do other things. A couple examples come to mind. I spend less time on housework now because 1. I’m keeping up with it better and 2. I’ve decluttered a lot. You’d be surprised how much quicker it is to clean when every surface isn’t covered in stuff. Another thing I do is use an RSS reader (I use Google Reader) to manage the blogs I read. I still get to read what I enjoy, but it’s a lot faster than visiting each individual blog.
- Set writing goals. Whether it’s a daily goal, or weekly, or whatever, goals help me stick with my writing plans. I tend to use time goals rather than length goals; length goals have me checking my word count too often!
- Don’t work on too many things at once. I’m bad to start multiple writing projects and make little progress on any of them. I try to limit myself now to one or two (max!) projects at once. I find that jumping between projects really wastes lots of time. By the time I remember where I was and what I intended to do, my writing time is over for the day.
- Make yourself notes. No matter how soon you plan to get back to the work, make yourself some notes about what you want to do next, where the scene is going, the plot twist you’re about to write, etc. Believe me, I can’t count the times I’ve forgotten what I meant to write. Talk about frustrating!
- Mark where you leave off. This applies more to editing, but I find it handy to make where I left off in the draft. If you’re using paper, that’s easy. If you edit on the screen like I have been lately, then put something in the text you can search for and find your spot. I use ###.
- Stay stocked on supplies. There’s nothing more irritating than needing to print something (or make notes, or do an outline, etc.) and not have the supplies you need to do it. Make a list of supplies you need and pick them up on your next trip to the store. Stay stocked up.
- Keep track of your accounting. If you’re not writing for money, it may not be worth your time to track expenses, but if you’re getting paid to write, then you’ll need to keep some track of it. A simple spreadsheet does fine for me.
Further Reading
- None Found
