Making Time to Write

Our beautiful amaryllis bloomed just in time for Valentine's Day. Isn't it stunning? Thanks to our dear friend, Dr. Burr Field, who grows these in this home and gives them away as gifts.

A dear friend and encourager, Kim Smith, asked me the other day how I juggle writing with the rest of my life.

I'm sure a lot of my readers are in the same boat. We're busy with day jobs and families and housekeeping responsibilities. Sometimes it feels like we're pulled in ten different directions at once.

But we still make time to write.

I'll tell you how I do it ... but keep in mind, I'm not perfect. There are many days I don't open my laptop to type. I often fail, allowing my time to be eaten away by social networking traps like Facebook or Twitter. And forget weekends and holidays; what I'm about to say doesn't apply to those days! (Unless the dashingly handsome sidekick is feeling especially generous and takes the kids out of the house.)

My secret?

SCHEDULE.

How hilarious is it that I just typed that word? If you know me at all, you know I'm annoyingly free spirited. I'm the type of extreme weirdo who never scheduled my children's feedings; they fed on-demand all through their first and second years of life. It's only recently that I've tried to get on a sort of blog schedule. Until now I blogged when the mood hit me.

And writing was the same. I wrote when I felt the compulsion.

Until I had kids ... and more kids ... and more kids. When compulsion came in the middle of cooking dinner or changing a diaper, I couldn't just drop everything, grab my laptop and disappear.

So, yes, now I'm a scheduled writer. I write at a certain time every day-- after I put my two youngest daughters down for their naps late morning.

I write for as long as I can until they wake up.

And then, some evenings I also write if I have time and energy.

Keeping my writing schedule means a certain amount of sacrifice. I might have a filthy house, but if I'm going to get any writing done I have to turn my back on those household chores and write while the kids are sleeping. I tell myself I can do those chores when the kids are awake. After all, it's more fun when they "help me" fold clothes and vacuum and load the dishwasher.

Their sleeping time is my writing time. And that's that. As much as I love being with my kids, I admit, I look forward to that quiet hour or two every weekday.

How do you make time for writing (or your favorite pastime)?