The #1 Habit To Help You Be A Writer, Friend, Parent, And Full Time Employee…All At The Same Time

This saved my writing life.

Writing books is not my only source of income. Okay, who am I kidding? It hasn’t quite reached the status of “income” yet. But it does take up a huge part of my time. After all, I love writing. I breathe writing. I’ve been writing ever since I learned how to pick up a pencil and draft a story. It’s in my blood, and I like it that way. If I could, I’d spend every day writing, all day long — or thinking about the stories I want to write when I’m not writing them.

But that’s not reality.

Reality is that I have a full time job that has nothing to do with my book. Reality is that I have a family who requires my attention. Reality is that we have to eat dinner every night, and the house isn’t going to clean itself. Reality is that my calendar is a jumbled mess of activities and obligations.

Reality is that I have very little spare time — or so I thought.

When I published my first book, I thought the hard part was done. Boy, was I wrong! Turns out that writing a book was the easiest part of this adventure. The marketing, that’s been the hardest part. And it threw me for a loop. Marketing consists of social media, blogging, book talks and signings, swag…. How was I supposed to do all that, plus my job, plus write another book, plus maintain a social life, PLUS keep a family?

That first month and a half, I kind of resembled a chicken with its head cut off. And my family suffered the most. I was using every second of my day to blog, Tweet, obsess about sales, Facebook, and repeat. I felt exhausted, and like I was getting nothing done. And honestly, I really was getting NOTHING done.

It was obvious something needed to change, and so I stopped everything, reassessed, and then took my time back into my own hands. How? I created a schedule. This saved my sanity….and possibly even my marriage.

The trick is to use pockets of time that are unused by the other obligations of your life. For the majority of us who have jobs and families outside of our writing lives, that means you have to sacrifice a little bit of sleep. I wake up every morning at 5 a.m., giving me two full hours of quiet time to write, or whatever I need that time for. Sure, it sucks, but you get used to it. Plus, I’m a natural morning person. This is when I’m my freshest, and get my best work done.

On weekends, I use the morning hours for blogging. I don’t wake up at 5 on these days, since I do have more time to play with. But I naturally wake up earlier, so I still have a few quiet hours to take advantage of before the family wakes up.

I utilize my lunch breaks at work for phone calls, to schedule Tweets or Facebook postings, or to obsess about sales. 😉

In the evenings, I keep the computer closed, focus on my family, and relax. Or at least, that’s the plan.

By keeping a schedule, I’ve noticed that I get a ton more done with my time, and I’m definitely not overwhelmed. And no one is feeling pushed aside because of my writing. I feel like I finally have some order in my life!

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. — Stephen Covey

Here are some tips for you as you start scheduling your writing time:

Keep a writing calendar. Write down on each day what you plan on accomplishing, and then do it. Put even the smallest thing down there, because the sense of accomplishment of crossing things off your list feels huge.

When you carve out time for writing, use it for writing. Turn off the internet, ignore your phone, keep yourself separate from your family. The better you use this time you’ve gifted yourself, the more available you’ll be to the rest of your life when you’re done.

Schedule your blogs, social media, etc. Sure, you can blog, etc in real time. But if you already have stuff in the hopper, it allows you to still build up your Internet presence even when you’re busy with “real life”.

When you promise your time to the rest of your life (your job, your friends, your FAMILY), keep away from the computer. This is what your writing time is for. This is why you’re scheduling your writing time — not only to get more done with your writing, but so that your non-writing life doesn’t fall apart. Your family needs you. You still need that paycheck. Your friends miss you. Use your scheduled time wisely so that when “real life” calls on you, you can be totally present.

(Want more tips on keeping creativity in your busy life? I write all about this in my book, Reclaim Your Creative Soul: The Secrets to Organizing Your Full Time Life to Make Room For Your Craft.)

I don’t just write articles for Medium, I also write novels. My latest novel is For the Birds, a humorous second chance romance.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, website at crissilangwell.com.