by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Life is busy. I
know this fact catches no one by surprise.
We all fight
the battle of too much to do and too little time to do it. And it’s one of the
biggest struggles writers face. I know we all have the same 24 hours in each
day, but at times it’s harder for writers. Juggling family, commitments and
writing can seem like an overwhelming task.
Not because we
face more time commitments, but we have the added challenge of working from
home—at a job many people consider nothing more than a pleasant hobby.
Even if we have an additional job that takes us away from home, the time we
spend writing is a job, and deserves the same kind of respect and priority. I
address this issue specifically in my blog post, I Don’t Get No Respect!
Today I’m going
to address how to give writing the time we need to, and still fulfill our other
commitments? It’s not easy, but I’m going to share some tips that may help.
Decide where
you want to go with your writing. You don’t have to schedule your time to get there overnight, but to
get there, you do need to know where you’re going.
Take an
inventory of what’s happening in your life right now. This is also going affect how much time
you can realistically spend on writing.
Now answer
these two questions:
- What are you doing now, that you love MORE than writing?
- What are you doing now that you DON’T love more than writing?
Once you have
these three issues decided, here’s how to move forward.
Set
deadlines. Even if you
don’t have a client waiting for an article, give yourself a deadline. Then,
write it down. It’s easy to fudge a deadline when it’s just in your head.
Set a weekly
writing goal. If you
write fiction, it may be a word goal. If you write articles or devotions, it
may be a finished product goal. (For example, I’ll have 2 finished devotions
every week.) I recommend a weekly goal rather than a daily one because it’s
easier to meet when life happens. Here are three options to setting this goal
that you may not have considered:
Weekly
Word Count Goal. One of
the things I've found most helpful when setting word count goals is to set my
goal for the week rather than the day. I still have two teenagers in and out of
the house so sometimes life interrupts life. To combat this, I set a weekly
word count goal for my fiction endeavors. Then, I break it down into daily
totals. If I miss a day's goal, I can make it up later in the week and I don't
wind up feeling like I've failed.
Weekly
Project Goal. You may
normally work on smaller projects, like articles or devotions. If that's the
case, try to set a goal of one devotion or article a week.
Revolving
Weekly Goal. You might
want to try something I call a revolving weekly goal. This is where you have a
different goal every week for 3 weeks and then it starts over. The first
week you might complete a small project. The next week, you look for markets
where you can sell it. The third week you might spend learning about the craft
of writing. Then you begin the cycle again.
Build in
some room to breathe.
Let’s face it, life happens. And more than that, unscheduled crisis come up at
the worst possible time. To combat that, I’ve learned to build some additional
time into my schedule. For example, if I have an article due on August 15, I
put August 10 on my schedule as the due date. This gives me room to maneuver in
case I have an emergency. It also gives me the opportunity to turn something in
early (always a plus for you as a writer), as well as have some extra time for
editing.
Find a
critique group or partner. If
you’re meeting regularly with someone, you’re more apt to be producing
regularly. What if you don’t know any writers nearby to meet with? Look for an
online group.
All of these
things can help us find the write balance in life, but I'd like to know what
works for you. How have you managed the juggling act that is life today? Leave
your answers in the comment section below.
Don't forget to
join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
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