Boost Your Productivity: Learn to Write More, No Matter How Busy You are

Time. It's a concept that's both abstract and real, the currency of our days (we talk of how we'll "spend" our time).

"If only I had more time! Then I'd really write." If you're like most writers who need to earn a living doing something other than write, that thought is the thorn on your rose.

The fact is, you might be more productive if you had more time to devote to writing. But you might not. Many writers find that when they have all the time in the world, they get far less writing done than they had hoped (but their closets suddenly get organized and their gardens weeded).

Still, you may not be able to test that. Odds are, you have obligations you can't push aside when the muse crooks her finger. You can't tell your young children you'll catch up with them after high school; you can't expect your employer to pay you while you take an indefinite "writing sabbatical." That means you need to apply the creativity and ingenuity and resourcefulness I know you have (you're writers, after all) to uncover pockets of time for writing.

Ways to shoehorn a writing habit in to your daily life:

~Learn to blend things.

"If you need something done, ask a busy person" is oft-repeated because it's true. But how do busy people take on so much and follow through so often? By learning how to maximize time and increase efficiency, by combining tasks wherever possible.

For example: Keep a small notebook in your coat pocket. When you're waiting for your appointment with your accountant or your turn in the dentist's chair, be open to ideas that might hit you. If none are hitting you, write anything that comes to mind: little details about your surroundings, eavesdropped bits of dialogue, what you're hoping in that moment, what you hope for next week.

There's no better way to cultivate an idea than write anything when you think ideas are miles away. Take advantage of all the waiting we need to do by filling up that dead space with words.

~Learn to prioritize.

Learning this valuable skill also means learning to say NO.

Most of us spread ourselves too thin, usually because want to please others and to contribute to the lives going on around us. But we have a finite amount of energy (mental and physical) and a finite amount of time. Don't let yourself get railroaded into non-mandatory obligations you have no interest in or that don't coincide with your core values.

Draw a pie chart illustrating how your time is spent now. Then draw one illustrating how you want your time to be divided. Do everything you can (i.e., hiring Merry Maids or a dogwalker) to re-shape your days to approximate the latter chart.

~Learn to simplify.

Set reasonable expectations for yourself. Is it really necessary for the floor under the bed to be as eat-off-it clean as the countertop?

And when you do sit down to write, don't expect your output to be stunning, breathtaking, or even useable. Declare a victory when you get something on the page. Polishing can come later.

~Learn to enjoy the moment.

Although writing is hard, it can be exhilarating, too. Try to focus on and delight in writing as a pursuit in and of itself, not as something that pulls you away from other tasks. Enjoy what writing does for you now instead of how your efforts might pay off down the road.

~Learn to set deadlines for yourself.

Deadlines keep us "honest" and help us focus on finishing. You may be one of those writers who works best under pressure. The pressure is the deadline, and you might wonder how you'd ever get anything done without a due date, without someone waiting for what you're producing. If you know that about yourself, manufacture your own deadlines.

However, if you're like most people (me included), you'll need other people to help with this. You're far more likely to take someone else's deadline seriously than your own, so lean on your friends and family here. Choose the due date, then ask them to mercilessly enforce it.

Much of a successful writing practice is maintaining momentum, and you can only achieve that if you make a commitment to regular writing time.

I don't mean three hours a day. I don't mean two. I don't even mean one. If you've got that much time, fantastic. But if all you have is a half hour a day, five days a week, and if you stick to it, it will become habit. You'll be amazed at how much -- in the long run -- you'll actually accomplish. Even fifteen minutes a day, stretched across hundreds of days, will produce an impressive number of pages.

Research shows that short, consistent writing stints are more productive and build more creative momentum than highly erratic, longer ones. So if you can squeeze out two hours per week for your craft, try to evenly distribute those hours over the course of the whole week rather than taking it in one lump.

As Charles Buxton said, "You will never 'find' time for anything. If you want time you must make it."

To discover additional ways to make your writing habit more efficient and satisfying, visit http://ManuscriptRx.com and sign up for "Write Through It," the FREE monthly e-newsletter that offers practical writing advice and anecdotal wisdom.