Episode 009 | A Good IDEA for Finding More Time to Write

Everybody’s busy and overwhelmed, so how do you fit something as big as writing into your already jam-packed schedule? Start with a good IDEA!



I – IGNORE: Are there things that you can put off for a little while? Not EVERYTHING needs to happen right this very minute. For instance, we moved to a new house three years ago that has a much larger yard. Our old house had a tiny, in-town lot, and I invested a lot of time in the landscaping. I pretty much went all in and filled the yard with perennials, fruit trees, and the like. I mulched. I made and installed pavers for winding paths. You get the picture. When we moved to our new house, I decided to hold off on getting to work on the landscaping. In addition to the fact that we went from a small yard to acreage that was seriously daunting, I had a realization that at this point in my life landscaping simply isn’t a priority. My kids are very active, and I’m often attending their games in the evenings and on weekends. I’m also not willing to yield any of my daytime work hours to landscaping right now. Days are strictly for writing. Since my time is booked, for the time being, I do the bare minimum. My husband and I will likely be empty nesters before you know it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if our green thumbs came back with a vengeance. We’ll probably fill a decent amount of our evenings and weekends with gardening and landscaping pursuits. For now, though, my thumbs (green or otherwise) just have to be team players. They’re needed on the keyboard helping me to pile up the words.



Challenge yourself to think of at least 3 small things and/or 1 big thing you can ignore right now.







D – DELEGATE: Are you doing things that someone else could be doing at least as well, if not better? Sometimes our ability to delegate is limited by our resources and situations, but sometimes we’re just stubborn or in the habit of doing something. Are there things that you have become responsible for and/or in charge of by default or habit? How many of these things really require that you do them? Example: For a long time, I did the grocery shopping and most of the errands because I had the most flexibility during the days and could go when the stores were less crazy. I actually hate grocery shopping and errands. I often find that when I enter a store, time seems to speed up. By the time I leave, I realize I’ve wasted a fair amount of time (and decision-making energy) wandering the aisles. My husband offered to take over the job and grab what we need for the next day or two on his way home from work a few times a week. When our son started driving, he would look for any opportunity to drive, so we started sending him to pick up the odd ingredient. Guess who we recently put in charge of grocery shopping around here: the 16-year-old. Either my husband or I do the menu plan and make the grocery list, but our son (and sometimes his younger brother) are sent to go pick the actual items up for the week. My son learns some life skills, and I have more hours back in my week to spend on things like writing and self-care. Our family is made up of a bunch of pretty stubborn DIYers, so we’re not great about hiring out tasks. I can see that it would be a game changer around here if we would/could, though! One last tip: Back when Dr. Phil was still on Oprah, I remember him having an exchange with a woman in the crowd on this topic. She was saying that she would love to have more help, but that her husband folded the towels wrong, for instance. His answer was (paraphrasing), “Either make peace with how he folds the towels or fold them your damn self.” Keep that in mind when it comes time to delegate. Time is not limitless. Would you rather have a book at the end of the year or perfectly folded towels, for example.