How to Find the Time to Write (Even if You Have a Full-time Job) is one of the most popular webinars I’ve offered over the years.
The training is filled with tips and hacks for better time management and productivity. The hundreds of writers who have attended the training come away filled to the brim with exciting ideas, and they tell me time and time again how much they love the training.
The funny thing is… they love it even though the title of the webinar is a little misleading. Nowhere in the training do I actually teach writers how to “find the time” to write.
That’s because you can’t find time.
There isn’t a chunk of time hiding under a couch cushion in your living room.
You aren’t going to slide a ketchup bottle aside and discover a little time lurking in the back of the refrigerator.
There is no risk of accidentally sucking up a piece of time from under the driver’s seat the next time you vacuum out the car.
Time to write is time made, not time found.
In his excellent book on time-management, famed copywriter Dan Kennedy puts it like this:
“You can load yourself up with big, hunky dayplanner devices, computer software, notepads, different colored pens, stickers, strings tied around your thumbs, and a million little “techniques” and still be pitifully unproductive if you don’t have your “inner game” under control. Productivity is an inside-out game.”
Look around all you want; you aren’t going to be able to find time outside of yourself. As Kennedy suggests, the time you are looking for comes from within. It’s the result of decisions you make and actions you take.
The time to write is an inviolate appointment you make and keep with yourself with such regularity and persistence that it becomes a habit, and thus second nature.
I know, I know… You have a job, kids, and endless responsibilities.
So does everyone else.
I wrote these words with frozen fingers while sitting in the stands of a hockey arena while my kids were down on the ice taking skating lessons. I didn’t find the time to communicate this message with you. I made the time.
This level of self-discipline is, of course, a skill, and as with the development of any ability, you’ll probably need some help along the way. Accountability buddies can be excellent for this. As can writing groups, critique groups, and writing coaches like yours truly.
Time is precious, and it’s fleeting. The best time to get serious about your writing was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
Don’t go around looking for time. Create it. Carve it out of your life, insert it into your calendar, and treat it as sacred.
Because it is.
—
Grab your FREE copy of Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors by acclaimed writing coach Kevin T. Johns. Click the image below now:
