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The woman of the Eighties did it
all--she could bring home the bacon and cook it up, too. The
woman of the Nineties does it all, too. She's just too tired
to enjoy it.
When I first decided to write, only my husband supported
me. Everyone else told me it couldn't be done.
"You don't have time to be a writer," they said. "You have
a husband, a full-time job and two dogs. And just wait until
the kids come. You won't even have time to breathe. Why don't
you wait until you're older?"
I felt old enough already so I started writing.
The first manuscript took eight months to write and another
six months to get rejected. At the rate I was going, I'd be
dead before I got published. I needed more time to write.
I got a time management book out of the library. I'd only
read a few pages and already I was exhausted. Sort your
mail while stuck at traffic lights. Dust while you're talking
on the phone. Cook three dinners at the same time and freeze
the other two portions. Get up a half hour earlier.
Their time management seemed more about running myself
ragged than finding time to daydream, plan and write. I didn't
give up, though. Instead I took a hard look at my life.
First, I decided my priorities. Easy. My husband, my dogs,
my writing. Simple. I could just cut out everything else and
I'd have plenty of time to write.
But, I forgot a few things. That writing room I loved so
much came with a hefty mortgage and we were all fond of eating
daily. So, I added in my day job. Along with the day job came
an hour commute, laundry, cooking, food shopping, cleaning the
house, walking the dogs, and all the other responsibilities
that devoured my free time.
I was back to square one--doing it all and hating it.
I looked at my schedule again. I realized that I had been
looking for large blocks of time to sink into my writing. I
couldn't manage that, but I could manage an hour or more each
day, especially if I divided it up.
For two days, I kept track of everything I did. I was
amazed. I had a lot of free time, I'd just been filling it
with other things.
Some of it was necessary. I couldn't change driving an hour
each way to work, but I could go directly to my writing room
when I got home, instead of unwinding in front of the
television. I didn't have to cook dinner each night, my
husband could also cook. And there was always pizza
delivery.
But the biggest and most consistent writing time for me
turned out to be my lunch hour. I spent my lunch hours running
to restaurants, gulping down food then racing back, more
exhausted than when I left. I knew writing couldn't tax me
further.
It was hard at first. In the beginning, I spent more time
settling in to write than actually writing. But then I got the
hang of it and soon I could write eight first draft pages in
that one hour. I had a routine, I was writing regularly, and I
hadn't had to give up much at all.
And then I changed jobs.
I could still write at lunch, but the work was so much more
solitary that I craved contact with other people. I
compromised--writing three days a week, lunch out with my
friends the other two days. Around that time, my husband began
attending college at night. Two nights a week the house was
quiet. Perfect for writing.
It was difficult to adjust from writing mid-day (when my
energy level was high) to writing at night (when I was ready
to unwind and go to bed). But I persevered and soon enough my
creative muse followed and I was able to write equally well at
both times of the day.
And then I changed jobs again. And moved. Overseas. New
culture, new life, new schedule.
I didn't have a lunch hour, or even my own desk to scribble
some notes. I work shifts--mornings or evenings. Pure havoc
for a woman who thrives on routine and a set writing schedule.
I had to adapt.
When I work mornings, I write after work. When I work
evenings, I get up early and steal time to write before work.
Since my Embassy work schedule changes weekly, so does my
writing schedule.
It isn't always easy, and I don't always put in the writing
time that I'd like to. But the end result is still the
same--I'm writing.
Everyone's priorities are different, everyone's schedule is
different. For me, writing is a top priority, so I take the
time to do it.
Only you can decide how you can fit writing into your
already busy schedule. But, I guarantee you, if you want to
make the time to write, you
will. | 
