Jonathan Maas's Blog - Posts Tagged "tips"
Eight Ways a Working Parent Can Find Time to Write
Originally published on jonmaas.com
Eight Ways a Working Parent Can Find Time to Write
You get up, shower and commute to the office. You work all day, commute back, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner, and then bathe your kids. Now it’s 9 pm and you’re too tired to think, let alone work on the novel.
Well I’ve got news for you; you’ve got the time to write, you’ve got the energy to write; you just have to know how to grab them both. Just follow a few of these steps and your writing will get back into high gear.
Commute to Work on Public Transportation Every Once in Awhile, and Bring Your Laptop – The subway and the bus can be your writer’s haven. Your kids aren’t there yelling at each other and your spouse isn’t there yelling at you. The crazy guy next to you is yelling at a pair of flip-flops, but he’s comparatively easy to tune out. It might take half an hour longer to get to work, but that’s a half hour more time for you to write. If you don’t live near a subway or bus station, drive to one in the morning. Do what you need to do.
Your Lunch Hour is for You to Write, not to Chat With Your Co-workers – It’s noon. Your co-workers are headed to Togo’s and want to bring you along. Say no. Writing is more important than a banal, stilted conversation with Sally from R&D. Bring a sack-lunch, find a place away from prying eyes and as soon as you’re off the clock, you’re Hemingway.
Talk With Your Spouse and Get an Evening to Yourself once Per Week – If you’re fortunate enough to still be with your spouse or partner, tell them that you need a Writer’s night once per week. He or she takes the kids for an evening, and you go straight to the Coffeeshop from work. Boom, you have a four hour stretch of writing. Make it early in the week too; a boring day like Monday or Tuesday. Things are less likely to come up early in the week, and if they do, it’s easier to reschedule.
Your Laptop Goes with You Wherever You Go – You’re at a P.T.A. conference. You’re early and the teacher is late. You can either spend thirty minutes checking your Smartphone, or thirty minutes writing Historical Fiction about Pope Pius II. It’s up to you. Bring your laptop with you wherever you go, and you’d be surprised how easy it is to pop out two hundred words.
Have a Four Hour Block on Your Day Off – Embrace the weekend warrior lifestyle. There are four hours on Saturday and/or Sunday that can be yours – mornings are usually best.
Set Small, Achievable Goals – If you can’t seem to get things going with the Two-Volume Biography of Spiro Agnew, try writing a short story, and failing that, a poem. Fifteen hundred words and a few Haikus can come in a week, but an Eight-hundred page tome can’t. Remember to post on a blog somewhere; tangible goals with a definite end are easier to tackle.
Perhaps the most important tip for finding an hour to write are these two ways of reimagining writing, and reimagining your role as a parent:
Understand that you Deserve an Hour a Day to Yourself to Write – There are sixty minutes out there that should be yours, regardless of how much responsibility you have. It’s up to you to find those sixty minutes, but know that you deserve it. Drop the guilt.
Understand That Years From Now, Your Kids Will Respect you for This – Once again, drop the guilt. In 2045, there will be a grown adult thinking back that his mom “always seemed to be working on her book.” It doesn’t matter that you never made it to the bestseller list. Your kid had a parent who “always wrote,” and your kid will benefit from growing up in that intellectual climate.
You deserve it, and you can do it. As a working parent, you’re either working, commuting or taking care of someone else for 90% of your waking hours. The last 10% is yours.
Jonathan Maas is a full-time 40-hour/weeker and a proud father of two. He takes the bus as often as he can to get in some writing. He has written City of Gods: Hellenica, Spanners: The Fountain of Youth and Flare. All are available on Amazon, and all are free with Kindle Unlimited.
Eight Ways a Working Parent Can Find Time to Write
You get up, shower and commute to the office. You work all day, commute back, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner, and then bathe your kids. Now it’s 9 pm and you’re too tired to think, let alone work on the novel.
Well I’ve got news for you; you’ve got the time to write, you’ve got the energy to write; you just have to know how to grab them both. Just follow a few of these steps and your writing will get back into high gear.
Commute to Work on Public Transportation Every Once in Awhile, and Bring Your Laptop – The subway and the bus can be your writer’s haven. Your kids aren’t there yelling at each other and your spouse isn’t there yelling at you. The crazy guy next to you is yelling at a pair of flip-flops, but he’s comparatively easy to tune out. It might take half an hour longer to get to work, but that’s a half hour more time for you to write. If you don’t live near a subway or bus station, drive to one in the morning. Do what you need to do.
Switching to public transportation a few times a week adds time to your commute – but it also gives you time to write.
Your Lunch Hour is for You to Write, not to Chat With Your Co-workers – It’s noon. Your co-workers are headed to Togo’s and want to bring you along. Say no. Writing is more important than a banal, stilted conversation with Sally from R&D. Bring a sack-lunch, find a place away from prying eyes and as soon as you’re off the clock, you’re Hemingway.
Talk With Your Spouse and Get an Evening to Yourself once Per Week – If you’re fortunate enough to still be with your spouse or partner, tell them that you need a Writer’s night once per week. He or she takes the kids for an evening, and you go straight to the Coffeeshop from work. Boom, you have a four hour stretch of writing. Make it early in the week too; a boring day like Monday or Tuesday. Things are less likely to come up early in the week, and if they do, it’s easier to reschedule.
Your Laptop Goes with You Wherever You Go – You’re at a P.T.A. conference. You’re early and the teacher is late. You can either spend thirty minutes checking your Smartphone, or thirty minutes writing Historical Fiction about Pope Pius II. It’s up to you. Bring your laptop with you wherever you go, and you’d be surprised how easy it is to pop out two hundred words.
Have a Four Hour Block on Your Day Off – Embrace the weekend warrior lifestyle. There are four hours on Saturday and/or Sunday that can be yours – mornings are usually best.
Set Small, Achievable Goals – If you can’t seem to get things going with the Two-Volume Biography of Spiro Agnew, try writing a short story, and failing that, a poem. Fifteen hundred words and a few Haikus can come in a week, but an Eight-hundred page tome can’t. Remember to post on a blog somewhere; tangible goals with a definite end are easier to tackle.
Perhaps the most important tip for finding an hour to write are these two ways of reimagining writing, and reimagining your role as a parent:
Understand that you Deserve an Hour a Day to Yourself to Write – There are sixty minutes out there that should be yours, regardless of how much responsibility you have. It’s up to you to find those sixty minutes, but know that you deserve it. Drop the guilt.
Understand That Years From Now, Your Kids Will Respect you for This – Once again, drop the guilt. In 2045, there will be a grown adult thinking back that his mom “always seemed to be working on her book.” It doesn’t matter that you never made it to the bestseller list. Your kid had a parent who “always wrote,” and your kid will benefit from growing up in that intellectual climate.
You deserve it, and you can do it. As a working parent, you’re either working, commuting or taking care of someone else for 90% of your waking hours. The last 10% is yours.
Jonathan Maas is a full-time 40-hour/weeker and a proud father of two. He takes the bus as often as he can to get in some writing. He has written City of Gods: Hellenica, Spanners: The Fountain of Youth and Flare. All are available on Amazon, and all are free with Kindle Unlimited.
