Fun fact one: You will never find time to write.
You won’t because time isn’t loose, lying around waiting to be picked up like mythical bags of gold.
Time is already imprisoned. In use. In chains.
You will never find time. Instead, you must take it.
Fun fact two: in order to In order to take time to write, you’re going to have to take it away from other things.
Likely, your time is not eaten up by frivolous things. Writers tend to be driven people, even when disorganized; the things you’ve filled your time with are good and necessary.
One of those good and necessary things still has to go.
Taking time to write means stealing it from something else. It means less lunch time, or sleep, or less convenient times for exercise or entertainment.
For me, this is hard because I am definitely a workaholic. I’m a perfectionist, but not in the usual way. My drive is excellence. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be damn good.
I’m learning (slowly) that I need to rein that back in a little so I have more time to get my story written.
This video is a huge help. Do yourself a favor and listen to Hank Green:
His secret to productivity? He’s learned to strive for 80%, then move on to the next thing. After hitting 80% over and over, his 80% is significantly better than the 100% versions he would have managed – and he’s getting a LOT more done.
That’s my lesson for me: learn to accept 80% as done, rather than 100%. This will give me more time to take and give to my writing. I think this will help me balance myself in a LOT of ways.
Now it’s your turn. Where will you take that time from?
