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Sometimes just doing your best is all you need
After a long day at your 9–5 you come home, prepare some tea, and then start jotting your thoughts as the evening horizon’s gold tones spread across the sky…
It never is that easy though, right?
As writers, or even partial-writers (like me), finding a schedule to write isn’t an easy thing. Nonetheless of our day job, we have to worry about deadlines, finding ideas, and simply fitting things in.
Like any of the global population, things happen that causes us to adapt & rush to get projects out the door. Yet writers have a special need to write when they feel inspired, meaning it’s not always planned out.
So how can you schedule your day to fulfill your passion & feel your best self?
Find your eureka moment
Planning for this “moment” & including it as a routinely thing every day is near impossible.
Yet, you can track when each moment happens & see what events trigger it.
Consider these scenarios:
1. You visit a zoo with your family & spot a tiger scratching its back on a tree. You’ve never noticed this before in any animal, and suddenly you have the urge to write down your observations… yet, oh no! You didn’t bring a notebook!
2. When taking a walk around a local park, despite having gone here everyday to run & listen to your favorite Taylor Swift songs, you have a sudden idea that needs an immediate story to be written! Yet you don’t have anywhere to sit.
Whenever you have an “Eureka moment!” like this, jot when it happened & where in a planning app like Notion or simply Google Calendar. Over time, you’ll be able to see a pattern & be prepared to write.
Planning in time
When having to run to & fro between work and home, even if you work remotely, things can come up unexpectantly.
How can you curve these interruptions when you need to write?
- Keep in mind what you need to do — by outlining ahead of time & having an easy place to take ideas from, you can prepare your mind to write so everything flows easily & smoothly. Helping you that if you need to write later than you want to, then you can still find your groove to get into.
- Interchanging time blocking & task batching — the Pomodoro technique helps many of us writers, but also by task batching similar writing with each other. If you find yourself with limited time, try this combo together & see how it helps!
- Spoiler yourself — even if you have only 5 minutes of free time, you can at least read a book & make note of the different terms it uses. Or even if you decide to write a bit in that time, every minute counts! So doing something you like no matter how limited time you have can keep yourself motivated in the long-term.
Enjoy being alone
Even in those moments where you strive to have a writing buddy or want to get out instead of staying in. Having discipline to sit down, get some cozy music, and start writing will compound over time to help you effortlessly write without any distractions around you.
Using the time you have to stay focused will help you not worry about fitting into other’s schedules, keeping you be able to do more work in whatever time you assign yourself.
As the Writer’s Path says about being alone,
“I realize that the noise of the city never stops and that silences are as rare as they are precious. I also realize that life without screens is restful. I come to wonder if they’re not responsible for my misfortunes.”
This way, you can appreciate every moment you have to yourself & your thoughts — keeping you further along on your writing instead of behind!