Finding Time to Write During Your Busy Season

At our house we’re in manic mode. Our daughter is a senior in high school this year and involved in a variety of activities—one of which is varsity tennis.

While we enjoy watching our daughter play, tennis season is always a busy time of year for us. When she isn’t practicing, she’s playing. (At the end of this week, she will have played three days—four, if you count the upcoming all day tournament.) Going and coming around our place just now is the norm.

Sports parents, you know what I’m talking about. Can I get an “Amen!”?

Besides being crazy-busy with school, appointments, and being a mom, I’m also knee-deep in writing mode. Finding the proper balance is key to productivity and something I think all writers struggle with from time to time.

It’s a judgement call.

What works best for one may not work at all for another.

I think most writers would agree that busy seasons are the hardest ones to write in (without losing our minds and our dignity).

There I said it.

And while I’m at it, let me direct you to this post—> Don’t Compare Your Productive Season to Someone Else’s.

How, then, do we write during all the craziness of a jam-packed schedule?

Is it even possible?

I think it is as long as we’re realistic about it.

We set manageable goals. We don’t set ourselves up for defeat.

We dispense with the “I have to do it all right now” mindset. No, we don’t. Some things will wait.

We realize that one well-crafted paragraph is better than a blank page. Even a sentence is better than none.

We carve out quiet time despite all the noise. We whip out a notepad, our phone, or something to take notes on if we’re not at our laptops.

We multitask, but we also know when to turn off. Sometimes our best writing happens when we stand down from expectation. (Yes. I’ve blogged about that, too.)