Do you make time to write?

How often does our writing take the back seat to other pressing needs in our lives? Of late, I’ve noticed that I’ve had a bit of a struggle getting to my writing because of deadline client work that has been very labor intensive and has started to creep into my personal time. I haven’t had much time to do my morning journaling, and at the end of the day after being at my computer working since the early morning hours, I don’t have the energy or the brainpower to string two words together.

I talked with my business coach, Maryanna Young, about this dilemma, and she came up with a simple but brilliant plan to help me start my day. I call it the 3 W’s.

During our discussion, she asked me if there were things I wanted to do more of every day. Of course, I said I wanted to make sure I wrote every day. Then I mentioned that because I was working so much my level of activity had decreased. “I have two dogs at home who would really appreciate being walked a bit more,” I added.

So, she devised a simple plan for me every morning: Walk, Write, Work, in that order. She reminded me that if I don’t make time to do what I am passionate about, I would eventually begin to resent everything else. She also said something very empowering. She is right! I had gotten myself caught up in a habit of getting up in the morning and going right to work, answering emails and jumping into projects, in an effort to be responsive to some very busy clients. It is easy to be sucked into a work, work, work mode when you have a lot to do. But, as Maryanna said, “Not one of your clients would even notice if you responded to their email a little bit later in the morning.”

And, with that, she just bought me a couple hours during which I could take a nice brisk walk with my dogs, then sit down and do an hour of leisurely writing before jumping into the fray. I’m happier and I know the pooches appreciate the extra attention too.

Granted, this plan is not nuclear fusion, and I probably already knew in in the back of my mind. But sometimes we need an outside perspective to validate what we already know and give us “permission” to be self-centered enough (in a good way) to follow our dreams and passions.

Do you have any tricks, tips and ideas that help you make time to write each day? If so, I’d love to hear about them!  Thanks for reading and visiting Murphy Writes!