Finding the Time to Write
Do you ever look at the ones who have ‘made it’, the successful authors who have a list of published books as long as your arm, and who in their biographies mention that they also perform in a rock and roll band, travel the world, have become martial arts masters, or played professional football, and feel a grinding envy?
Well, if you don’t, you’re a better person than I am.
I look at these people, and others like them, and think to myself, ‘Where on earth do you find the time?’
I’m lucky, I work part time, and write part time. Not everybody has that luxury, and this hasn’t always been the way for me, either. I used to juggle a full time job with writing. It’s difficult.
But let me tell you something. Writing part time and working part time is still difficult. Every day I feel like I am juggling a hundred different priorities. When I’m not at work, I still have to get the children’s lunchboxes made, get them to school on time (dressed and washed, which sometimes seems like an impossible feat in itself) and then do the jobs around the house, or get the shopping, and then I have to collect the boys from school, ferry them to their clubs, take them swimming, and all the other activities associated with having a family.
On top of all that, I’m thinking to myself about how many words I need to write today if I am to meet my weekly goal, have I tweeted any meaningful content yet, did I respond to that email, did I send out my free joining gift to my latest email subscriber, how far am I into formatting my last novel for publication, and on it goes.
No wonder I sometimes feel like I am going a little bit bonkers.
This week my wife and I sat down and had a little talk. She was concerned that I was starting to prioritise my writing over my family.
And she was right.
I was.
And that’s something I had always promised myself I would never do.
But it had crept up on me, without me realising it.
If there was ever a moment in the day when I saw an opportunity to sneak out, and tinker with a manuscript, I took it. I was beginning to resent the time spent doing necessary, real world type stuff, when I could be in my study, transcribing the goings on of that other place, that place that only I can tap into, and where all sorts of weird shit happens. And if something unexpected rose its ugly head during the day, and actually stole writing time from me, boy, that made me angry.
This is the solution I came up with.
Haul my sorry backside out of bed a little earlier than usual in the morning, and write whilst everybody else is still asleep.
This has two immediate benefits.
One is that I am clear headed, refreshed from a night’s sleep, and ready to do the work.
The second benefit is the sense of pride and satisfaction I have for the rest of the day, knowing that, no matter what the day might throw at me, I have already completed my daily word count.
Now, I am not a natural morning person. In fact, the idea of waking late, having a leisurely breakfast, and then spending the rest of the day in bed reading, would be pure heaven.
But I am doing it. One morning at a time, I am hauling myself out bed as soon as I hear that alarm, and taking myself downstairs where I feed the cats, get myself a bowl of cereal, brew myself a strong, black coffee, and lock myself away with my imaginary friends.
If I can do it, so can you.
I’ll leave the final words on rising early to two men much wiser than I am.
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin
“Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated Franklin …” – Mark Twain
Everybody has their own opinion!
How do you cope with juggling the stresses of daily life and writing?
