Can't Find Enough Time?

How to squeeze your writing in

Hi, Kelly here from Medium,

Last week I asked you what held you back in your writing career and one of our writing family said her main issue was finding time. I think we can all relate.

Life is busy, right! I’m with you on this one!

I balance full-time homeschooling with my two kids, running a household as a single-parent, and working as a freelance writer. It’s non-stop.

But in the 11 years I’ve been writing, I’ve realized a few things.

One is we all have the same 24 hours and how we use those is mostly in our control.

You need to decide what your priorities are

For me it’s these:

Writing, my kids and their education, my partner, my health (including mental and spiritual health), friends, and my home.

Everything else is extra.

That makes it easy to remove the things that take up time unnecessarily. When my eldest daughter was a baby, I got rid of the television. It freed up an incredible amount of time!

Another area I cut was community work. I love it, but when I became a solo mum it became unmanageable—so, for now, I’m focused on my home and writing.

We CAN’T do everything!

We need to prioritize sleep, exercise, and health too. We’re no good to anyone when we’re sick and burnt out. (I’m feeling better now, by the way, thank you for your kind “get well” wishes!)

Finding time to write is about creating the time. If writing is your passion, then say no to another activity, cut something out, and make the time.

Making your writing time count

When I carve out writing time I also do it efficiently. I never stare at a blank page.

I take notes whenever I’m inspired throughout the day—when I’m doing dishes, gardening, etc.—then, in my writing time, I simply find a set of notes to work on and fill them out.

Thinking about your articles throughout the day is a big part of writing! Often an article is fully formed in my head before my fingers get anywhere near a keyboard.

You can get a lot of writing done in an hour a day if you make it a consistent habit.

Here are some inspiring articles I’ve found this week

My friend Matt Lillywhite has great tips for a daily writing habit. I don’t write daily—four to six days a week is enough— but if you’re struggling to write regularly these will help.

For those of you pitching editors with books or articles, Austin Hackey has some fantastic advice for making your article submission shine!

And I LOVE these 13 editing ideas from Josh Spector. (I use number 9 a lot.) It was great to be reminded of these—I must admit, I’ve been getting lazy in my editing!

From me this week

4 Powerful Writing Styles that Help You Find Courage. Even if writing is your job, you can use it for your own personal journey.

If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please share. It helps expand my audience and I really appreciate it!

Have a great week of writing

Kelly