You have more time than you think

If there’s a common complaint nowadays it’s that people insist that they don’t have time for the things that matter to them… but it begs the question, is that true or are we just squandering our time in things with little or no value but that chip away at our time?

Working in advertising, odd workloads are common, meaning that one week you’re chill and then you forget what the sunlight looks like for 2 ½ months. But even so, there’s time to do what matters. 

The first things you have to take a look at might be at what time do you wake up and go to sleep? I ask this because I normally get up between 6:00 AM - 6:30 AM. This gives me at least an hour to do my “me things,” which go from social media, promoting events or my books, or writing. Other activities include contacting people to do blog hops, appear on their podcasts/booktube channels, etc. At night I rarely get many things done, but what I actually do is read books, my notes, plot points, or a to-do list so that while I sleep my imagination is going vroom-vroom-vroom… and yes, you should sleep with a notebook next to your bed.

Secondly, and VERY importantly, what do you do for lunch? For me, I’ve been able to write SO much during lunch hours that you’d be amazed how much of my published work has been written on salsa stained pages and sponsored by the second full meal of the day. You are forced to crunch in time to get at least one or two pages down and if you really get in a stride, you’ll be amazed at what you can do. By the way, I should add that I do most of my writing by longhand, which requires an extra level of editing when I transcribe but it really works for me, so I stick with it. 

And that’s just a couple of examples. I’ve known to go into the bathroom and lock myself in a stall with a notebook. I’ve also known to bolt out running because someone entered an adjacent stall and hadn’t been briefed on the kindness that is encompassed in a courtesy flush… that, plus some people might say that they feel dead inside, but other people smell as if that’s the case. But I digress. 

What I do want to focus on is the fact that I made adjustments and got creative in regards to writing times and capture tools for ideas, notes, or writing in general. I know people who take lunch breaks in their cars. I know people who have voice recognition and use their voice to write while doing house chores. I know people who pick doctor appointments at times that are full to make sure they have time to write. And like this, I’m sure you can come up with several ways to get more time to do what you want to do. 

Some extra tips though: If social media is taking up too much of your time, delete apps for a couple of days to not even have the temptation. If you find yourself progressing levels in smart phone games but not in your projects, delete the apps, hide them, or simply turn off the phone. Be honest with yourself in regards to the time it takes to do things and adjust accordingly. It’s possible. You can do it and I’ve seen a lot of people take all sorts of challenges and persist. You can too and it all starts with you giving yourself the best shot to do the most with the time you have… and finding time where you thought there was none. Hope this helps and hope you write up a storm. 

Peace, love, and maki rolls.

JD