Managing Writing Goals and Everything Else

Life is full. Meaning there is a lot of life happening at all times. And I don’t know about you, but at times it feels like balance is impossible. I’m starting to think that we misunderstand what balance even means.

Somewhere along the way, I heard someone say, “Some days, I’ll be a great Mom. Some days I’ll be a great businesswoman. But I won’t always be great at those things at the same time, and that’s okay.” Essentially, that’s what I’m learning about managing our writing.

One of the first things that I’ll say is that it’s important to prioritize writing. Most often, when I find myself frustrated with making my writing goals, it’s because I’ve put it last on my list. Once I finish X, Y, or Z, I’ll write. And that was not a productive way for me to think about my writing. So I had to start putting it high on the priority list, which meant, often adding it early in my schedule. So, when I have a huge writing goal in front of me, I tend to make it the very first thing on my agenda. I wake up before the dog even has to go out and at least try to write for 30 minutes to an hour. And honestly, when I do that, I feel so accomplished. I feel so capable of taking on the rest of the day because at least I know I’ve written.

The other important thing here is understanding that sometimes, other things will come first. This month, I’ve been insanely busy at work, so writing during the week has been a non-factor. But that has meant I’ve had to schedule longer sessions for the weekend because I still have these deadlines at the end of the day.

I will not be a great writer every day. But that’s okay. When we’re actually productive with the time we do set aside to write, it’s easier to prioritize other things sometimes. It’s like those moments when you know you haven’t been doing what you’re supposed to that you’re most frustrated because life will happen. So we can’t be scrolling Twitter or entertaining other distractions when we’re actually supposed to be writing.

Lastly, I believe in taking my writing seriously. It can be difficult because sometimes we’re not being paid upfront for the work we do. Unless, of course, we’re commissioned to write something. But books are A LOT of work with no guarantees that they will actually be published. But like we talked about with finishing, you have to learn to take yourself seriously. You have to come to a place where you treat your writing like the job that it is.

All the courses, all the reading in the world, will not do the work for you. At the end of the day, eventually, you will have to make the time if writing is something you actually want to do. Unfortunately, this is one of the fields where there aren’t really shortcuts. I say this to you as I am desperately trying to finish my book to move on to the next part of the publishing process. It has been tedious and many nights where I thought, “maybe I can’t do this.” But it’s only because each new level will require a new level from you. So it’s best to get some good working habits as early as possible so that you’ll be highly developed in being productive as you receive more opportunities.

Believe me, discipline will not kick into gear once the feature piece or the book deal is in front of you. You’ll need it to get there.