6 Ways to Fit Finishing a Book Into Your Busy Life
Of all the reasons writers give for not [yet] finishing their books, time is at the top of the list.
We think we would finish the book we’ve started – the one gathering pixel dust deep in the recesses of our laptops – if only we had more time.
How much more time?
Heaps! Gobs! Bunches! Loads!
At least one completely free day every weekend, but preferably just weeks and weeks of open time as we go off somewhere alone and away from all our daily tasks and distractions.
We want a long stretch of time with nothing to do but write, ideally with someone bringing us yummy food, and changing out the towels and bed sheets every 2-3 days. (I confess: IT ME!)
For many writers, it’s impossible to conceive of finishing a book without a blank calendar that stretches miles out into the distance.
And when was the last time any of us had one of those?
You can see the dilemma.
But here’s what I’ve learned the really hard way: you don’t need swaths of open free time to write a book.
You need time, of course, but this time can be found within your current daily life. I know this because that’s been my own experience, and the experience of all the writers who’ve finished their books with me in my First Book Finish program.
6 Ways to Fit Finishing A Book Into Your Busy Life
1. You get up a little earlier than usual for a while.
I’m actually writing this blog post in a writing session with a group of writers who rose at 6am and 7am to write this morning. Because it’s how they like to start their day and because if they didn’t get up early, they might not get any writing time at all.
2. You stay up a little later than usual for a while.
I’m not personally a Night Owl but I have friends who do their best creative work at night. Or at least can string some sentences together, which is most of what’s required for a first draft. It turns out we can all write when we’re a little tired. (Hey, did you know that Patricia Highsmith wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley while drunk? She’s not the only one. If they can do it wasted, you can do it at 10pm.)
3. You fit writing into your work life, consistently, for as long as it takes.
I wrote some of the entries in my book of short stories (Welcome to the Circus) during my lunch hour when I worked at Amnesty International. I’d leave the office and go to a local cafe and write for 30-45 minutes a few times a week, as often as I could manage it. I’ve also added an extra day or two onto work trips and holed up in the hotel to finish a story or start a new one.
4. You get someone to help out with your usual duties.
I get it – you have a LOT of stuff to do! Maybe it’s care responsibilities, with children or elderly parents. What if you asked someone in your family or from among your friends – who also shares responsibility for raising your children, since it takes a village – to help out by caring for your loved ones in your place for just 2 hours once a week?
YES, you can write a book on two hours once a week! And YES you’re allowed to not care for someone else every hour of your waking life!
I think here of Jessica, who lives with chronic illness and has small children yet managed to finish her book. Or Julie and Kim, who fit writing their books in among care responsibilities for elderly parents. Or Ioanna, who wrote some of her book while on vacation with her family.
Again: it’s not forever and you’re allowed to have time to yourself. If you’ve been blaming your kids or your partner for you not finishing your book, stop that ish right now and take responsibility for achieving your own dreams, my friend.
5. You take a break from your extra commitments.
Not all commitments need to be forever. This is a lesson I learned the really hard way by way of burnout, along with its cousin: it’s not your job to save the world.
If you have taken on extra things – a turn on the Parents Committee at school, a volunteer gig in your community, organizing the annual family reunion, or even serving on a writers’ group of some kind – you can lay that extra work down as easily as you once picked it up.
This doesn’t have to be forever, just long enough for you to finish the work you’re here to do and write the book only you can write.
6. You remove social media from your phone and watch a little less Netflix.
Don’t get heart palpitations, Dear One – none of this is forever and you don’t have to go cold turkey. But I am willing to bet good money and a box of doughnuts that you get those Screen Time notifications on your phone showing that last week you spent 3+ hours with your face in the wrong kind of book or enjoying a few too many grams of Insta.
And what if you had one or two evenings in the week when you turned to your own book instead of something Shonda Rhimes wrote for the screen? I mean, bless the perfect bottoms of Regé-Jean Page and Jonathan Bailey but those glutes will still be there when you’re done.
The 100% Real and True Secret to Finding Time
Take the drama out of it. You only need a couple of hours a week and those really can be found if you get creative about it. You can fit it into your life and you can ask for space and help to do that.
A few months from now when the book is finished, you can go back to your regular routines and pick them up again. (Or..ahem, start the next one??)
**THE NEXT FIRST BOOK FINISH PROGRAM**
I’ve had some folks asking about dates for the next cohort of First Book Finish, and here they are… NOTE: THESE ARE NEW DATES!
- I'll be running a Book Finish Bootcamp in advance, so people can get a taste of what it's like to work with me on a deeper basis.
- Bootcamp registration will be open from 20 September to 3 October.
- Last day to register for the Bootcamp will be 3 October 2023.
- First Book Finish registration (for those not in the Bootcamp) will be open from 9-13 October 2023.
- First Book Finish will run for 12 weeks starting on 16 October 2023!
Would love to see you in First Book Finish -- let's get it done in 2023!
