MAKING THE TIME TO WRITE.

“You got to do what you HAVE to do before you can do what you WANT to do. It’s called priorities”

Endlessly pondering about where you could possibly find the time to write? When you can finally sit down and pour out your creative juices onto the blank canvas, that’s ready to transform into a masterpiece? Eventually, the amount of time you wasted in futile contemplation could have been used to write out a couple of pages.

Tediously long, unpaid hours spent sitting in front of a screen can often feel like a waste when there are never-ending distractions and responsibilities around, which always seem more important. You want to binge watch the latest season of your favourite show, take your dog to the vet, look after your brat of a son, your friend’s getting married or any one of the thousand other things that you just cannot ‘not do’.

How do you possibly squeeze in the time to sit down and write in your ever so hectic schedule?

1. Make an appointment with yourself to write –

 In our hectic daily lives we make appointments and meetings with our friends, family, business associates etc. We set aside time for every other occasion, be it personal or professional. Since finding the time to write has always been such a colossal task, schedule time into your cramped daily calendar to sit and write. In the exact same manner as you treat an appointment, where your focus during that span is solely on the object of the appointment; when you set aside a time to write, cut everyone and everything else out.

 

2. It’s not about ‘having’ time, it’s about ‘making’ time –

 Firstly, figure how important writing truly is in your life. Figure out where exactly does it stand in your list of priorities. If writing genuinely is important to you, whether it’s a passion or your way of making a living, prioritise it. Many people feel that you should make writing one of the first things you do when you wake up. It is the most productive time, since you avoid the risk of losing out on your valuable writing time because of all the unexpected, unavoidable obligations that come up through the course of your day.

3. Be ready to sacrifice –

Writing, like any other profession requires time and effort, which leads to sacrificing few things you enjoy but yet are not necessary for you to do. A night-out with your friends, binge watching your favourite show, a few extra hours of sleep, a trip to the salon or spending a day at the mall, all or some of these may be things that make you happy. But when you realize you’re spending more time doing things you enjoy doing over things which you need to do, that’s when you need to make a change and start sacrificing. This does not mean that you cut out all the activities that bring you joy, but instead cut them down till you find a proper balance between work and play.

4. Time Yourself –

When you go about your hectic day, time management is key. From the numerous different tasks you have to do in a day, figure out a way to do some of them that little bit faster than normal, so you can use the spare time to write. Also, in the time you set aside specifically for writing, use a timer as your motivation. Let the ticking of the clock push you to get the optimum productivity from the limited time you have. Set a goal and push yourself to achieve it, whether it is 20 lines in half an hour or maybe even one blog post in an hour.

5. Stop everything and just do it –

Writing is important to you. For ages you’ve been wondering when you’re finally going to get the time to sit down and actually get to it. Yet somehow you managed to find the time to read this post. So STOP, stop reading, stop procrastinating, stop falsely prioritizing your life and pick up that pen and get to work.

Happy Writing!