Note: Today’s article is an excerpt from my book “Build Your Best Writing Life”.

Time. In this busy modern age, it feels like you’re always fighting the clock.

You know it’s essential to make time to write. You can’t maintain a consistent writing practice without carving out time in your schedule for creative work. But how are you supposed to make that time when you have a career, a family, a home, and other responsibilities to address? 

Stop Looking for Time to Write

I dislike the concept of free time. If such a thing exists, it would imply that “captive time” exists as well. But who exactly is holding your time captive? You have responsibilities in life, but are your responsibilities truly dictating your time? Not at all. You might not like your day job, but you choose to go to work because you want to pay the bills, just as you choose to write that essay or change another dirty diaper. You risk something very important if you don’t do it.

This is all that defines a priority: a task deemed more important than another because of the potential consequences of leaving it unfulfilled. What leaves you feeling stuck isn’t a lack of choice in your priorities. Rather, it’s the choice to fulfill priorities based on need before those based on desire. You do this because it’s in your best interest or in the interests of those you love, even if the resulting circumstances aren’t ideal.

I won’t tell you that making time to write is simply a matter of wanting it enough. Common advice on this topic states that if writing is truly a priority for you, you’ll make the time, and that statement can be true if taken at face value.

But unless you make your living as a writer, writing likely isn’t your top priority. It might be a passion, but whether it’s a priority will depend on a variety of factors, including financial stability, degree of independence, physical and emotional well-being, and where writing falls in your hierarchy of desires.

I can’t decide for you whether writing can or should be a priority in your life. What I can tell you, though, is that making time to write isn’t a matter of carving out more free time. Your time isn’t captive. You are its master—and only you get to decide how to spend it. 

If your need-based priorities outweigh your desire to write, go ahead and take care of them. Then seek what solutions you can to make space for your creativity later on. If you have other desires that you want to fulfill besides writing, then don’t hesitate to pursue those interests.

You only have one life to live. Spend it doing what you love.

However, if you have time to read this book, then you likely have the time and desire to write, so here are five principles to help you make a more conscious effort to prioritize your writing.

Principle 1: Know Your Time

Prioritizing writing often means making at least one other activity in your life less of a priority. This is something you can’t achieve unless you’re aware of how you’re spending your time. Take some time now to evaluate your daily and weekly activities. 

Ask Yourself:

“Which need-based priorities serve as the foundation of my schedule? Which desire-based priorities fill in the gaps?”

Remember that a priority is a task you deem more important than another. You might not like spending so much time on social media, but if it’s filling the gaps in your schedule, it’s a priority because you made it so. 

To better understand how you spend your time, create a list of the top five to ten activities that fill your schedule. If you’re unsure, you might benefit from tracking your activity for a few days or weeks. Laura Vanderkam, an author who explores time management, offers a great downloadable time tracker at her website LauraVanderkam.com. 

Principle 2: Be Ruthless

You likely can’t ignore your need-based priorities without negative consequences. But if you haven’t put good habits into practice, you might be filling the remaining time in your schedule with activities that don’t truly align with your values. 

Ask Yourself:

“Is writing a desire I truly wish to prioritize? If so, what other desires am I willing to limit or sacrifice to make more time to write?”

If you’re happy with the desire-based priorities that currently fill your time, you don’t need to cull them from your schedule. It’s true that social media, television, video games, and similar activities receive a bad rap where time management is concerned.

But social media can be a great tool for connecting with loved ones or like-minded people (hello, writing community), and television and video games are often fantastic storytelling mediums to study. Never mind the fact that making time to relax with entertaining activities is an important part of self-care. 

That being said, you only have so much time in your schedule and so much energy to give on any particular day. You might need to cull activities from your schedule that you genuinely enjoy to make time for the activity you like best: writing.

Principle 3: Set Boundaries

It’s normal to be busy. But be aware that busyness can cause the lines between priorities to blur. A quick moment spent browsing social media after dinner can easily turn into the hour you meant to spend writing. To stay true to your priorities, set boundaries that protect your writing practice.

Ask Yourself:

“Which activities distract me from priorities such as writing? What boundaries can I set around these activities to limit their potential for distraction?”

Personally, I’m easily tempted by online distractions like YouTube and Netflix. While some writers find it easier to cut these distractions altogether, I allow myself to indulge in these activities only after I complete my daily to-do list.

In some cases, other people might distract you from writing. When this happens, politely request that they honor your writing time, but bear in mind that you can’t control others’ actions. Focus instead on cultivating time in ways that are firmly within your control.

Principle 4: Play to Your Process

Every writer’s process is unique. Therefore, the only right way to structure your writing time is the way that works best for you. The common advice to write every day, which was introduced in chapter 6, might work for you—but it also might not.

The same goes for other popular suggestions, such as writing whenever you have ten minutes to spare (it all adds up!) or only when you have a large block of time to dedicate to your work. 

Each of these approaches will work well for different writers. To utilize your schedule wisely, first discover the approach that works best for you—a topic we’ll discuss in chapter 9—then structure your writing time in a way that honors your unique process.

Ask Yourself
:

“Do I work best in small or large blocks of time? Based on this knowledge, how can I best schedule writing time into my week? How can I make it easier to write when I have the time to work according to my process?”

Principle 5: Find Balance

Writing can be demanding. It requires mental and emotional effort that isn’t always easy to muster, especially if you aren’t taking care of yourself. To maintain a consistent writing practice, try to find balance between your creative work and other important aspects of your life.

Spend time with your kids. Get some fresh air, read a book, or call a friend. Reduce unnecessary stress by prioritizing needs over desires. When you nourish yourself and your relationships, you can put your best effort into your creative work.

Ask Yourself:

“What aspects of my life matter most to me? What activities do I find nourishing when I’m feeling physically, mentally, or emotionally drained? Based on what I know about myself, how can I reorder my schedule to find more balance in my life?”

Making time to write is key to developing a sustainable writing habit, but it’s okay to practice flexibility when necessary. If you need an extended break to care for yourself or fulfill other priorities, then go ahead and give yourself that break. Your stories will be right there waiting for you when you’re ready to return to them.

Finally, remember that good time management is a muscle that must be strengthened and maintained. It’s unrealistic to expect to overhaul your habits overnight. Instead, focus on slow and steady improvement.

Can you carve out five minutes each day to write? How about one hour a week? Fantastic! Work toward that goal until you can do so with little resistance. Then, when you feel comfortable, increase your goal to ten minutes, two hours, or whatever time interval works best for you. 

All progress is good progress. Big writing gains might seem more productive in the short term, but patience and persistence are the true keys to long-term creative success. Are you willing to put in the time to build a writing practice you can sustain?