If you're like many writers, you've probably convinced yourself that you don't have enough time. Whether it's finding time to send out submissions, edit your work-in-progress, set new writing goals, finish your novel or just about anything…we often give up before we even start because we believe it's just not possible to fit writing into our busy lives.
Well, the interesting thing is, if you sit down and do the calculations, you'd be surprised at just how much time you really do have.
To make it easier to figure out how much time you actually have to write, check out the Free Time Calculator at the link below. It's a simple, but effective, spreadsheet that will reveal the time you actually have to work on things you've been putting off - such as your writing. And it will help you identify the time blocks you can use to your benefit each day.
Quick Instructions:
1. Simply open the spreadsheet and you'll see all the days of the week across the top and then 60-minute time blocks on the side. These time blocks should start from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, so you may need to make adjustments. You can also switch to 30-minute increments to be more precise if you prefer.
2. In each time block, mark all the times you are busy. For example, include time at your job, exercise, family time, church, meal preparation and eating, commuting, etc.
3. Then for open blocks, write in “1” for each hour block that you have free. If you switch to 30-minute blocks, enter “0.5”.
4. Once you've completed these steps, you'll see how much free time you have each day AND the total free time you have each week.
Of course, this calculation is just the first step in getting more done with your time and possibly reaching those writing goals you never thought you had time for. From here, you'll need to connect that time to the writing goals you want to achieve.