Making time to write

The hardest thing about writing for me, was to actually find time to do it.

In our very busy lives it can often seem impossible to carve out extra time for anything. Although I really wanted to, I delayed writing because I thought I didn’t have the time to do it. I actually started a course about this topic, completed one lesson, and realised I just needed to make a start. It was purely about changing my mindset from ‘finding’ to ‘making’.

I started to really focus on writing just prior to the worldwide pandemic. When the first lockdown in Victoria happened, I thought “great, more time to write.” I planned to use the time I usually spent travelling to and from work which was at least an hour each way. After around 2 weeks, I realised this was not working for me. I just couldn’t focus and actually needed that time, between finishing work and cooking dinner, to relax and unwind from the day.

To be completely honest, this would not have worked in the long term anyway – after 9 months, we will eventually (and sadly) need to return to the office in the new year!

I found setting a weekly writing goal worked best for me. I started small, with a goal of writing 500 words per week, but quickly increased this. I enjoyed it, got into the habit of making the time and found myself desperately wanting to write more.

For those who have ideas swirling around in your head but are not sure if you have the time to put pen to paper, this is what worked for me:

• Start off with a small goal per week – this might just be jotting down your thoughts in a notebook
• Don’t be hard on yourself if you are not able to meet your goal every week
• Find your perfect writing time – I find writing late at night works best for me but you may be a morning person!

And finally – just sit down and make a start. It sounds so simple and easy to say but “just do it” made such a difference to my mindset.