One of the first exercises in Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s Pen On Fire: a busy woman’s guide to igniting the writer withing is to search your schedule to find pockets of time for writing. The idea is to reorganize your other commitments to find time for what is important for you.
Women, in particular, need encouragement to find time for themselves. Too often we put our children, husband, home, or employer ahead of our dreams.
So, how do we find the time for that which is important to us?
When I gave birth, I lost all control of my life.
Suddenly, these incredibly needy time-suckers took up whatever time was left to me. Over time they became less dependent, and I was able to reintroduce reading into my life. Really, I don’t know how I survived those months without reading. I am addicted to reading and I can’t relax without a daily reading session. I can’t go through the week without checking the newspapers to find out what is going on in our world.
More recently, I’ve been reintroducing writing into my life but it’s not as easy as finding time for reading. Perhaps it’s that I have lots of practice reading in every situation. Since I was a kid, I’ve found time to read late at night, on the toilet, while walking home from school, on any kind of moving vehicle – anywhere and everywhere.
Finding time to write is much harder because I’m not always as productive as I would like. If I’m too tired, or stressed, I find it difficult to focus on my writing. I can ignore everything to read, but it’s much harder to achieve the serenity for writing. It’s difficult to find productive time for writing, but it’s not impossible.
First, I have to assert that writing is a priority in my life, and in my family’s life.
Through constant multitasking, I can find pockets of time for some writing. However, to find the longer periods of writing and reflection necessary to produce this blog and other works, I have to ask for my family’s support.
Now, many women find it difficult to ask for what they need, but I’ve never been afraid to ask. And, my family is supportive. My husband helps with groceries and cooking, and everyone is helping with the daily chores. Some days, the house is a mess and dinner is a bowl of cereal or a can of spaghettios. It isn’t always ideal.
Our home life isn’t ideal, but it’s good enough.
Most important, we support each other so that we each have the opportunity to follow our dreams. Isn’t that what family is all about? We all want the best for those we love. Helping each other to achieve our dreams is just one aspect of family love.
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I will be interested in hearing how you manage to work in more writing time, as I deal with the same issues you mentioned. My family is supportive, too, but for me, writing gets pushed to the late afternoon after other things are done, and somehow still *more* things manage to seep in and take up that time and then it’s suddenly time to think about dinner–and there went my window of opportunity. So anyway–I definitely can relate!
As you can imagine, something has to go for me to have productive writing time. Sometimes, the thing that goes is dinnertime. My husband cooks (and brings me a plate of food) while I write. Sometimes, I write while my son reads during “school” hours. Many times, I stay up long after everyone is asleep to get uninterrupted hours of writing.
Each day, I have to find ways to prioritize writing. My family is supportive as long as I make it clear (by my actions) that this is of paramount importance for me.
Copyblogger has some great advice for finding time to write. See http://www.copyblogger.com/find-time-to-write.
Thanks for reminding me I am not the only one who messes up dinner in pursuit of the written word. My writing sessions are often marred by the smell of dinner burning! *sniffs, and runs to the kitchen in panic*
I can completely relate to the reading part. I’ve been a book worm ever since I learned to turn a page, and since I began writing, I’ve found barely any time for books. Scanning through two of my daily newspapers is all the reading I can squeeze in.
Which I find a little ironic. Considering I crank out words on a daily basis for others to read, you’d think I would be able to make time to read myself.
Preschool Mama, it is difficult to put yourself first and find time for important pursuits.
However, finding time for reading is important to you and for your kids. When you can find time for reading (and snuggling) remind yourself that you have to do this to set a good example for your children!
So, how will you “steal” time for reading?
“And, my family is supportive. My husband helps with groceries and cooking,…”
This will make you the envy of many women…
Ah, the time problem. I never have enough time to do anything I really want to do, and yet, I have come to realize that that was the case before I had kids, too. Now it’s just magnified.
I find my life is a series of works in progress, and it’s an apt metaphor for life itself, actually. In regards to writing, my blog keeps me thinking more consciously about writing–from topics to who I think may read it–and that’s such a positive thing.
My big means if stealing time is by “writing in my head.” I have always believed that the “writing” you do in your mind does really count, and now I make a point of jotting things down or just memorizing key phrases so I can put them into real text later.
So glad I found your blog!