Who Has Time to Write

I hear myself saying I don’t have a lot of time to write. Yes, my life is crazy busy like everyone else, but so? I say over and over, “there are not enough hours in the day.” I have an endless to-do list just like anyone else. I can’t seem to possibly focus on writing for any amount of time without being interrupted. There are too many people needing things from me to keep me from doing one thing I want to do. 

I’ve been dealing with this problem years before Covid-19 and all the 2020 craziness. I don’t say no often enough because I love helping people and teaching them. A year ago, I started to lose hope. There was one year in there where I struggled to have any hope at all in life. I was frustrated by my lack of motivation and the overwhelming feeling of not getting enough done. 

I started watching YouTube videos about self-care and reading blogs about it. One of those books, videos, or blogs had Mel Robbins in. I honestly didn’t even know who she was until a few years ago. Thank god for the YouTube black hole of information. Robbins is a big believer in morning and night routines. I have never been a person who had either, but I know I like a rhythm throughout my day. There are times I like to work on specific projects. I wanted things to change in my life, and I felt the best way to do this was a night routine.

I have a few minutes before bed for myself. During this time, I hadn’t been doing anything consistently. Sometimes I would read, watch TV, or journal. So I decided to think about the thing I wanted to change the most in my life: writing more often. I hadn’t been consistently writing for a while. The story and book ideas have been there, but no stories were getting on paper. So I set a timer for ten minutes to write. 

I know for the first few weeks, I couldn’t believe how long ten minutes took! I was continually looking at my watch. Soon I realized just how much I was getting done in the 10 minutes. Stories were finally reaching the page, and I was allowing myself to dream again. Dream again of finishing the novel and of getting stories published.

I was starting to create. I found when I was trying to edit; I did it faster the next day. If I allowed the writing to sit for sleep, then I could see my mistakes easier.  If I know I am having a hard day or my night will be longer, I move my 10 minutes up to lunchtime. 

Now I find more often than not; I can get a lot more done by writing, even just a few minutes a day than I was before. I now have a morning routine of walking now. It is a beautiful way to start my day. I even wake up early on the weekends so I can enjoy this quiet morning time. There are days when it rains and storms, but I move the time of my walk or mediate day if I can’t get out. When I was walking, I have found a way for me to clear my mind and move. Meditation allows me also to clear my mind even when I am not able to do everyday movements. 

Instead, on those days, I have a dance party in the living room, turn on com crazy music, and just dance it out. There is nothing better than movement, meditation, and a timer for my writing routine. If you have days, you get stuck its s okay. Talk to a writing friend that day or a writing community. If you have signed up for NaNoWriMo, you can have groups that can talk all year round. Just remember to give yourself 10 minutes. So much can be done in just a little amount of time.

It is so much better than being overwhelmed by everything. 

Just write 10 minutes.