A question I see frequently on Twitter is, “How do you write while working a full-time job?”
The answer takes more than one Tweet will allow. This is how I do it but it is not a definitive list. As they say, your mileage may vary.
Select Your Priorities
Time is the most critical factor in this effort. There are certain things we must do like commuting, working, eating, and sleeping. While we may be able to adjust these some, we cannot trim too much time without t causing problems.
Most of us do not live alone, so spending time with the people in our lives is important as well. How much or how little this may be varies with our individual relationships.
Other things we do and not mandatory. Such things include watching TV, playing games, and surfing the internet. These are areas we can reduce or eliminate to carve out more time during the day for writing.
Set a Time
Setting aside a time to write, whether it is daily, weekly, or something in between provides a structure to our writing efforts. It is a way of saying our writing is as important as our other activities. Then, when the appointed time arrives, start working.
It is unrealistic to expect that there won’t be situations when we can’t start at the appointed time. However, if the situations happen too often, we need to re-evaluate the time we have set aside for writing.
Start without Them
Once we have sat down to write, we need to get to it. Staring at a blank screen is counter-productive. On a podcast, I heard the quote, “If you are ready to write, and your muse hasn’t shown up, start without them.”
If the words aren’t flowing in your WIP, try opening a new document and write something else. I am not suggesting that we start on a new project, but the process of writing something, anything, gets our brains into the writing mode. It could be stream-of-consciousness, but if we can bend our writing to thoughts of our WIP, all the better. This method is also good for overcoming writer’s block.
Stay Focused
Once we are writing, we need to keep our minds on the work at hand. We should avoid checking e-mail or social media accounts. These are things that can take a few moments when we are not trying to write, but if done while we are writing, it takes our thoughts away from our WIP. Then when we come back to it, we have to spend precious time figuring out where we were and what we are wanting to say.
Avoid distractions as much as possible. I like to listen to music when I write, but it must be instrumental. Anything with lyrics distracts me.
As we write, we need to make a mental not of what takes us out of our WIP and then see if we can reduce or eliminate those distractions. Some cannot be which may cause us to re-evaluate the time we have set aside for writing.
Seek Efficiencies
As we grow in our writing abilities, we should seek ways to write better. By this I don’t mean improve grammar and spelling, although those are important, too, but rather finding ways to get the words on the screen.
The word processor I use will offer to take me where I left off. I find this convenient. However, as I type, I tend to backspace and correct those underlined words. It would be more efficient if I waited until I was done with the section and then do a spell check.
Being efficient may be as simple as having a dedicated computer with our WIP on it. It may be turning off the WiFi on our laptop. It varies with everyone. The key is to improve the process so the time we spend writing is more about writing than getting to writing.
Self-Care
It is perhaps counter-intuitive to list this. But there are times when we get so caught up on what we are doing, we let self-care slide. Finding more efficient ways to do self-care is acceptable, neglecting self-care will eventually come back to haunt us.
Summary
Writing while working a full time job is all about time. Finding ways to make the most of the time we have will help us get those words down.
If you enjoyed this piece, please follow Mark E. Gelinas, Sr. on Twitter @Elderac.