Pursuing anything seriously takes time. Sometimes, time we don’t seem to have.

But maybe you have more time on your hands than you think. Maybe, with a little arranging and smart planning, you can create more blocks of time to focus on writing and your author business.

And you can. I think, with these tips, you’ll find that you have more time to give the writing business the work it needs. But we’re also going to talk about how to use that time well to get the most done as possible in your time slots.

Set monthly, weekly, & daily goals

Setting achievable goals will help you accomplish more, which makes you feel more motivated. 🙂 Click here to find out how to create achievable monthly goals that you can accomplish EVERY MONTH, and find a printable template for your goal planning.

Calendar blocking

Blocking time for tasks throughout your day will help you see where all your time is going and give you clear slots of time when you want to work on specific things. Click here to learn how to begin calendar blocking using Google Calendar. By using the calendar blocking method, you can accurately see how much free time you have in a day outside of immovable responsibilities and commitments.

Content planning

One thing that takes a lot of time is figuring out what you’re going to post on your different social channels. You can use Google Calendar to create another calendar specially for all your posts for every channel (I do this) and just separate the channels by organizing them by color. You can include posting times as well and notes. Plan out a month of content ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about racking your brain for ideas every day or week.

To make things even easier, you can invest in content scheduling services, like Later. I haven’t tried this yet, but it’s definitely something I’d like to consider in the future.

Make daily to-do lists

Every evening, it’s a good idea to take just 10-15 minutes to calendar block your next day and make a to-do list for the day of things you want to accomplish related and not related to writing. You can use these physical lists to check off (and feel accomplished! 😉 ) and use as a habit tracker as well (i.e.-drinking more water, working out, etc.).

Be wise with your writing time by…

Having a productive session every time…

With the limited time we have nowadays to dedicate to writing and the author business, we need to take full advantage of the minutes we do get. Here’s how to have a productive writing session every time. 

…And battle procrastination

Procrastination, the old beast. This can totally eat away at our time until we’re left with a day we didn’t get anything done in, despite having the time set aside to. Here are some tips on battling procrastination so you can be more productive:

• Make time for wandering. Yes, set aside time for breaks and wandering and Pinterest and random stuff. Just a few minutes. But know that when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. Help keep yourself on track by using the…
• Pomodoro technique. I tried using this more actively during NaNoWriMo, and it was one of the biggest things that helped me make the most out of my writing time. I set a timer for 25 minutes and wrote without stopping, then took a 5-minute break. Sometimes the five minutes can feel like too little, so play around with the time to find a good ratio for you.
• Reward yourself. Writing’s hard. You deserve rewards for what you accomplish. It could be something as small as a bowl of ice cream or a piece of chocolate, or even a book for reaching a big goal. Or you might tell yourself you can’t watch your favorite TV show until you’ve reached your weekly word count goal. Or give yourself extra relaxing time instead of writing if you reach your goals early.
• Remove distractions. Turn off the wifi if you have to, put your phone in another room, install apps to restrict access to certain websites or apps. Make yourself focus. 
• Set yourself up for success. Before writing, make sure you’ve set yourself up to succeed. Make sure you have a clear goal of what you want to accomplish in this writing sessions, make sure your working space is neat, get your music on, water bottle, etc.

Some other things to remember…

Breaks are important

Don’t work yourself to the bone. Don’t let yourself burn out. Being productive, setting goals, and dedicating time to your passions are important, but still be mindful of your health. Physical, emotional, and creative health. Take breaks BEFORE you’re burnt out. Give yourself time to reset, relax, think and breathe.

Other things might have to go

If you’re struggling finding bits of time during the day to write, look at what you do with your free time. Maybe you’ll have to skip your favorite TV show or reading another chapter of that book. I’m definitely not recommending that you do this ALL the time, but sometimes the things not as important to us have to be set aside for what’s more important to us.

Remember what’s really important

I have been told several times that I am “driven.” I like to dedicate time and work to my hobbies and dreams and goals. I like to work hard. Make things happen. But it can get in the way and cloud my vision. I can forget about my higher priorities like God and my family. Don’t do this. Even if you’re writing stories for God, it can still end up becoming too big and crowd out other more important things. So join me in reminding ourselves that there are more important things than writing in this world. 😉

Okay, then! I got a lot of feedback before this series started about time-management to get all the things done that are involved in the writing business, so here it is! I hope these tips and practices will help you craft more productive days, weeks, and months. It’s not always easy, but it pays off. 🙂

End of the Series Q&A!

Thank you all for sticking with me so far through this whole series! I’ve had so much fun telling you about what I know, but I couldn’t possibly cover everything. So if you have any questions about the business of pre-published author life, then drop them in the comments! As many as you like, and I will compile them in the next post (or two) of the series. And if there are any questions that I can’t answer, then I will do some research and provide you with some links to articles or websites that will answer your questions. Ask away! 😀

Drop your Writer to Author Series questions below!

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