How to find more time to write
“I don’t have time to write” is something I hear a lot from writers. I don’t think there’s a single writer out there who hasn’t felt, at some point, that they don’t have the time! More things are demanding our time and attention now than ever. Not only that, writing doesn’t usually pay a living wage, meaning the majority of us are doing it as a side hustle. We’re trying to balance full-time work, families and young children along with the pressures of churning out as many books as possible and marketing them. Honestly, it’s a miracle that anyone succeeds at getting a novel out. If you’ve done it, you deserve a parade in your honour! As a book coach, I help writers finish their novels by getting to the root of their writing challenges. These are some of the most common reasons I’ve found that writers don’t have time to write.
An overinflated sense of responsibility or people-pleasing
Women and moms struggle with this a lot. If you’re a people-pleaser or you feel the need for control, this might apply to you. I know it applies to me! People-pleasers are always stepping up, taking over and volunteering their time. We often feel that it’s easier just to do it ourselves. The truth is though, if you’re taking on too many responsibilities, you’re likely not taking time to do the things you enjoy, like writing. Not only that, you’re probably preventing others from stepping up into their responsibilities. The solution is to let go (of some things). Obviously, there are some responsibilities we can’t let go of. But could you ask a partner, older child or grandparent to step up in childcare or household responsibilities? Even if things aren’t done exactly the way you would do it? Could you leave the laundry for a day while you take time to write? Or could you say NO to that one potluck at your church (since you’ve gone to every other one)? Remember, when you say YES to something, you’re saying NO to something else. Writing has to get our NOs a lot. But it shouldn’t be all of the time. It’s as simple as this: when you start prioritizing your writing, you’ll find more time for it.
Distractions and procrastination
I don’t know a single writer who doesn’t struggle with distractions and procrastination! It might look like this. After a hectic week, you finally have an hour to yourself to write. You sit down at your desk, face that blank page and then the next thing you know you’re scrolling on social media or watching YouTube. You might justify it to yourself as research. Social media is a writer’s biggest distraction. We’re encouraged to be on it for marketing our books (even if they’re not published), so it’s easy to convince ourselves we’re being productive. More often than not though, we’re not being productive, we’re avoiding the hard work!
So why do we crave time to write all day and then when we finally have time for it, we would rather do anything else? Because writing and creativity are difficult. They are hard work and there’s a lot of pressure to create something great. Our minds and bodies resist difficult things. We seek things that are instantly gratifying over long-term gain choices. That’s why you’ll have every intention of having a productive writing session only to find yourself wasting an hour doing something easier or more fun.
Beware! Distractions will derail you. You’ve got to use your time wisely. If you have an hour of writing time, chain yourself to your desk, put your phone in a locked drawer, set a timer for a writing sprint or do whatever you need to to make yourself write (or plot or revise). Here’s what I do. I sit down at my desk and acknowledge to myself that this is going to be difficult but I’m going to do it anyway. I’ll be tempted to do the easier/instantly gratifying thing but I will remind myself that I have a dream of finishing this novel. Then I’ll lock my phone in my drawer and set a timer for 30 minutes, during which I will write/plot/revise to the best of my ability - regardless of my mood, feelings or mindset. (Sometimes it’s not wise to follow our feelings because they are leading us to instant gratification). You’re creating a habit. Like exercise, it’s tough at first but over time it becomes more enjoyable.
Prioritizing your writing and time management
We all have the same amount of time in a day or week. Most writers are writing and working full-time and writing is our side hustle. It would be nice if the world wanted to pay writers a living wage, but it does not. Art is not valued enough for artists to be able to be paid well unless they reach rare levels of success. The first step is accepting this. When you start out, you are going to have to figure out how to balance your writing time with everything else. A gazillion things are demanding your time and attention and if you just go with the flow, without purposefully carving out and committing to writing time, your calendar is going to fill up with everyone else’s agenda for you.
The second step is accepting that you are allowed to take time to do something you enjoy and love, even if it doesn’t bring in money or it takes time away from other things. Don’t ever let anyone tell you writing is selfish or pointless. You crave writing because you were designed as a creative person and it is your outlet. To deny it, is to deny a part of yourself and you will slowly lose yourself to what everyone else thinks you should be doing. Of course, we also don’t want go in the opposite direction where writing is all that matters to us and we neglect our families or responsibilities. But you can find a happy balance. The best way to do this is to prioritize your writing and then carve out time for it. Don’t allow other things to override that time. Purposefully carving out time for your writing is the only way it will happen. Writing is a habit. We have to block it in our calendars, commit to it and not let anything else override it.
A busy or stressful life stage
You might actually have ZERO time to write. This is entirely possible, especially if you have young children or a new baby or you’re caring for a sick family member or experiencing a health crisis. When my daughter was born, I was a single mom. I was primary care-giver and primary earner. Not only that, the girl didn’t sleep. My mind was completely fried from lack of sleep, lack of energy, and trying to hold our life together. I didn’t have a millisecond to give over to creative pursuits. I thought about writing all the time and felt guilty about not putting time into it. I can’t believe I put that kind of pressure on myself. There was no way for me to be everything and do it all, yet I still thought I was failing because I wasn’t writing.
If you’re in a stressful, painful or busy season of life, know this: it will not last forever. Your attention and time may be needed elsewhere, leaving you little time for the things you enjoy. Every person experiences this at some point in their life. But things will ease up. Children grow up too quickly and we’ll never regret spending time with them. My biggest regret was that I didn’t tell myself that it was okay that I couldn’t write because I was doing something more important. (My daughter is 15 now and I welcome any distractions from my writing to spend time with her because they are rare). Be kind to yourself. Writing will always be there and any time crunch or urgency you imagine is not real. We can write until we’re 80, 90 or 100 years old and we’ll only have more stories to tell as we age!
The most important thing to do to find writing time is to treat it like you would any other habit. It might not feel natural or fun at first, but you’re aiming for a long-term goal. That means you’ve got to take the small steps that point you in that direction. To do that, you need to prioritize your writing, minimize distractions, carve out time and give yourself grace when life is just too demanding or busy to write. If you need help designing a writing schedule that is perfect for you, my book coaching services help writers design better schedules and processes to finish their novels.
