Anne Fotheringham

Finding time to write is a common complaint of writers everywhere. I know – a few years ago when my children were younger, I was working full time and had a house to take care of, I rarely found enough time to write. The result was frustration and anger. The time I could have been writing was taken up with complaining about my “misery” and sadness at not finding enough time to write.

Most writers have day jobs. We have families, significant others, relatives and pets all making demands on our lives. We hear their calls for our attention and respond. In doing so, we ignore the most important call of all – the one from our creative muse asking us to take time to write.

Being able to sit and write is a necessary part of your life. It has to move further up your list of priorities. That novel in progress ends up sitting on the shelf while you run in place to keep everyone around you happy.

There is only one person who can change this situation – you.

Stop complaining about finding time to write. Identify potential time in your busy schedule when you could be writing and then write! The best way to do this is to conduct an audit of what you do each day and then identify what unnecessary tasks or activities can be eliminated or reassigned. Suddenly you will find there is time available.

For me the catalyst was my acceptance at university to do my M.A. in creative writing. I was elated about being accepted but, faced with all the responsibilities in my life, I worried that I would not find enough time to write and complete my thesis. My solution was to take a business approach to the situation. When the staff of a company finds difficulty achieving all their tasks due to time constraints, businesses often do a study to determine how much time each task takes, what can be done to improve performance and whether more staff is needed. This is the approach I took.

First, I drew up a weekly schedule with spaces for each time of the day. Then I dutifully recorded the tasks I was trying to juggle at each hour of every day and night. At the end of the week, I sat down to review the results and they were mind-boggling. Yes, I had certain hours which I had to use for such items as my job, activities with the family and household necessities. But I also discovered hours where I was not making the best use of my time.

I commuted twice daily by bus and train to work. I usually sat there and stared mindlessly out the window or flipped through a magazine. What if, I thought, I took along a notebook or a netbook and used that time to write? Suddenly I had a space in my schedule twice daily which I could devote to my creative muse.

Another surprise was how much time I spent watching television. I had a few shows I liked to watch each week but found that I often sat through uninteresting shows or reruns waiting for my favorites to come on. I could use the time I usually “vegged” in front of the television more productively by reviewing my daily commuting “scribbles” and adding to them.  

And best of all was my realization that, yes, my family members did sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I, however, was an early riser and was often awake and up at least two hours before them. Instead of staring into my mug of tea bemoaning my lack of time for myself, I could be proactive and devote that time slot to my writing passion.

It wasn’t easy at first, but with self-discipline and determination I taught myself to take back my time and use it for my creative needs. With school lurking on the horizon, I now had enough time for my studies and my thesis as well as for writing other personal creative projects such as stories and poetry.

So stop wondering when you will have time to write. Be proactive. Find the potential for writing time in your weekly schedule and then put it to good use. Here’s a checklist to help you out.

Finding time to write audit checklist

• Make a weekly schedule including all seven days and leave a space for each hour of the day and night.

• Be diligent and record your activities in the space provided for each hour.

• At the end of the week, review the “snapshot” schedule you have drawn up.

• Highlight with yellow marker all “must do” activities, such as your job and family responsibilities.

• With a green (or other colour) marker, highlight the areas where you can recover time for yourself.

• Make a new schedule for the coming week and, this time, include those potential writing sessions.

• Arm yourself with notebook or netbook, iPad, whatever your chosen writing materials and make sure you have ready access when a spot for writing opens in your schedule. Then use it wisely. (The laundry can wait!)

The first week will be hard, but soon those around you will adjust and some may not even notice what you are doing. Meanwhile you will find you are happier, more grounded and, above all, more satisfied creatively. Good luck and keep on writing.