by Bethany Jett, @BetJett
One of my favorite online mentors, Brendon Burchard, has a key phrase: “Protect your mornings.” Let’s apply that beautiful advice to our writing and schedule specific times to actually work on our craft.
Know Yourself.
Are you a morning person? A night owl? Do you work best in the afternoon after a pick-me-up cup of joe? I honestly believe that we each have a natural inclination for a time that we work at our best capacity, but I also know that life’s circumstances can force us to adapt.
Naturally, I despise mornings but on the days I do get up super early, I end up having my best days. I get my devotional reading done, the house is quiet before little voices invade the calm, and I have the space to think and breathe. By the end of the day, I’m mentally and physically exhausted, so no matter how much I want to sleep in, getting up early makes my day a surefire winner.
One of my best friends, however, is the opposite. Her kids are grown and out of the house, so she’s able to indulge in those beautiful late night hours. Admittedly, I’m super jealous of that! The point is, if you have to force yourself to work at a time that’s not your ideal, you can do it!
Buffer it.
It’s also important that we protect our writing time by scheduling some buffer zones. If you have to be at work by 8 AM, then writing until 7:30 in the morning might not be the smartest idea. Several bestselling authors say they get up as early as 5 AM to write because they know those hours are protected. They can still shower, dress the kids, and get to work or drop children off at school on time because they’ve created enough of a buffer zone to complete all those tasks.
Another way to protect our time is to say “no” to requests that don’t fit into our purpose or mission for our writing or work. When someone requests something from you, remember that you. are. a. writer. This is your job. You get to choose your hours. This freedom of flexibility often gets us into trouble because since we’re only accountable to ourselves, we feel like we can’t say no.
“Of course I can help in the nursery.”
“Yes, I can lead the committee.”
“Sure, I’ll make eighty-two cupcakes for the bake sale.”
It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to protect your writing hours but we can’t protect those hours if they aren’t scheduled!
Schedule it.
If writing is your job, career, or anything more than a hobby, then it must be scheduled in your calendar. It deserves a prominent place in your week and during your day. When I was in direct sales with a prominent cosmetic company, we learned time management skills. This included how to color block your calendar with the order Faith, Family, Career. If you’re a person who loves a paper calendar and color-coding, grab your favorite pens or highlighters and your planner. If you love online calendars, Google Cal has color-coding options as do several other programs.
- Mark out your faith times–church attendance, activities, Bible studies, and devotional times.
- With a different color, mark out or schedule your family activities like kids’ sports events, music lessons, school functions, and date nights (so important!).
- Now schedule your working times. If you have a job besides writing for a living, block out those times first. Then mark out the times you’re going to choose to write.
The next time someone asks you if you’re free, you’ll be able to honestly answer without losing your writing time. If we want to be great writers, we must practice. A lot of prolific authors talk about the importance of writing every day. Protecting your writing time is a way to get started on that goal.
[reminder]What is your best writing time? How do you protect it?[/reminder]
Bethany Jett is an award-winning author of The Cinderella Rule, speaker, ghostwriter, and founder of JETTsetter Ink, a consulting and editing company. She has written for numerous publications, created the My Moments Planner, Serious Writer Companion, and is the founder of Serious Writer Academy and the Build Your Brand Program.
Bethany is a military wife and all-boys-mama who is addicted to suspense novels and all things girly. She writes on living a brilliant life at BethanyJett.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (new profile), and Twitter.
The Conversation
Thanks for sharing your insights on protecting our writing time. They are spot on.
My best writing time is early in the morning–before anyone else is awake, before the phone begins ringing, before I check email and blog posts, and before the “honey-do list” builds up. The key for me is self-discipline that produces habit. I don’t always (seldom, in fact!) feel like getting up at 4:45 a.m., but I’ve forced myself to do so for so long now that even when I don’t set the alarm, I usually awake within 15 minutes of that time anyway. I get a cup of coffee and spend time in devotions and some writing. Next, I watch the news on TV while putting in my time on the treadmill. After shaving/showering and eating breakfast with my wife before she heads out to school, I knock off the first item on her list (it’s always cleaning up the kitchen) before beginning work on the current writing project. When I break for lunch between 11:30 and 1:00, I’m generally finished with any actual writing for the day. I usually devote the afternoon to editing/revising/rewriting, subject matter research, and/or market research. But it all boils down to self-discipline. I generally have few interruptions from outside; my problem is getting distracted by my own mind-wandering or frittering away of time on nonessentials. Without self-discipline, not much would get done.
I really loved reading your schedule – discipline is something I’m really working on. Thank you so much for your comment – I feel inspired!
Bethany, I feel like my writing time gets sucked up by life. I now get up at 5am to write and do my social media postings. I am praying hard to see what I can remove from my schedule. Thank you for your post.
I constantly have those prayers with God, too!! What can I drop? Good for you for getting up so early – it’s so hard to do!!!
Thank you for this whole article, but especially the idea of color coding a working calendar. Now to find the proper style that will give me a whole month with blocks and still fit into my purse. Any links to resources would be appreciated.
If you go on Pinterest, you will be overwhelmed with ideas!!!! I’m always partial to the one I created, which is quarterly-based. http://www.liveinyourplanner.com.
Absolutely agree! It took a long time for me to learn that it was okay to say no to things that might take me away from writing. I think we sometimes feel guilty about making time to write because we love doing it—we almost feel like it’s selfish to write. And then, when you’re in the phase of your writing career when you aren’t making money yet, it can feel like a pipe dream, not a “real job” worthy of regular hours. But it’s not selfish to protect our writing time—it’s a calling and a mission, not just something we enjoy. And the more consistent we are with our writing time, the sooner we will be able to quit our other jobs and devote ourselves full-time to the job we LOVE!
Elizabeth – I think you really hit it on the head. It IS super hard to feel like it’s not worth protecting when it’s not pulling in income or feels like a hobby. Love your comment – thanks for adding to the discussion!
Thank you for these awesome tips I am a writer at heart (always gives me satisfaction) but 5 years ago knew it was also part of my calling. I will be implementing these tips.
Awesome Renee!!!