For most of the time I’ve dabbled in writing, I truly was dabbling. It was a hobby I ran with when I had time and inclination, and let slide when I didn’t. Things got done when they got done, if they got done at all (I have a huge folder of things that petered out in 80 pages or fewer).

And that was OK, for a while. Then I decided I wanted to get more serious- buckle down and actually finish the novel I started in 2009. I’d be done in 2012, for sure! Then 2012 slipped by, as did 2013.

Making that commitment didn’t make me any more productive than before. It frustrated me. How was it that I could always power through my work assignments, even the boring stuff, but couldn’t make progress on things that truly meant something to me?

The problem was that I’d changed my attitude, but not my behavior. I was terrified to make writing anything at all like work. Work was an obligation. Writing was my glamorous secret identity where I could relax and play. If writing gained even the slightest stink of work, I’d start to hate it- then what would be left?

Was it really all or nothing, though? Could it be possible to import my work ethic, but not all the other stuff I disliked (meetings, test plans, dragging my butt out of bed at unholy hours)?

I decided to give it a go. The first step was freeing up time to write. Never mind that I’m a zombie most weeknights- I’d worry about that later. I’ve been experimenting with different tricks to houseclean my schedule, and I hope you find them useful as well:

1. Journal your time for a week or more

Record what you do for every hour of the day. As with all budgeting activities, it’s a truly eye-opening experience.  How many hours are devoted to sleep, work, commuting, chores, TV, goofing off on social media, or playing The Walking Dead (and then curling up in a corner to sob)?  Once you have hard data, you can start on analysis.

Congratulations- you’re a manager!

2. Decide what your priorities are

Soul-searching time.  Decide what activities are important to you (ex. work, exercise, cooking) and what aren’t.  Now, where does writing rank among those?  For me, it’s pretty high, so stuff that isn’t as important as writing is getting reduced or eliminated.  I’m not giving up Google+ or sobbing because holy shit they killed off another character, but I split my weeknights so some are devoted to decomposing on the couch, and others are devoted to writing.

Also, are there any tasks you hate doing? Do they sap a lot of your time, mood, and energy? This may be a great time to figure out how not to do them, or do them better. I’ve successfully negotiated work-from-home arrangements because I really dislike commuting, for instance.

Everyone’s priorities and schedules are different. You may have a grueling schedule and can’t do much about it right now. In that case, you may need to acknowledge that writing isn’t a priority for you- right now.  It’s OK- where you are currently is never permanent.  You can always take steps to re-prioritize in the future.

Once you’re down to the essentials, you can look at ways to save time on the stuff that can’t be eliminated.

3. Delegate tasks you don’t have to do yourself

My spouse and I split chores.  We use Amazon Subscribe & Save to have some items shipped on a recurring schedule, saving us trips to the store.  Others go so far as to hire personal assistants from India to handle their bill-paying, blog-writing, and other stuff. That’s a little extreme for my tastes, but the option exists and works well for some people.

4. Consolidate tasks you have to do yourself

Most of us can’t ask to work fewer hours in a day, but we can reduce the amount of time errands and chores take out of our schedules. Tim Ferriss broke down the concept of “batching” tasks in his book The 4-Hour Work Week. Bundle up related items to do just once or a few times each week.

For instance, save up all your bills/invoices from the week and spend 30 minutes on one night of the week reviewing and paying them. Go grocery shopping no more than once a week. Wait to do kitchen-related chores when you’re in the kitchen anyway.  (Waiting for the microwave to beep is a great time to put away dishes.) Other ideas: make meals ahead of time to be frozen/consumed through the week, or run multiple outside errands in one trip.

5. Relax standards where possible

Let things be “good enough” rather than “perfect.” For example, I’m toning myself down from super-anal to just mostly-anal when it comes to keeping the house clean.  Certain chores are still weekly affairs (ex. laundry), but others are now just for when company’s coming over, or I can’t stand it anymore (ex. dusting).

6. If you can’t overcome temptation, get rid of temptations

Cancel cable TV and put away gaming consoles. Write in a notebook, if you find yourself hitting your web browser every five minutes. Drastic perhaps, but you can’t waste a whole evening farting around on the Internet if you’ve put away your computer and unplugged your router.

7. Make writing appointments, and keep them

Once you have room on your calendar, decide when it is you like to write and make recurring appointments at those times.  Don’t let anything short of a true emergency disrupt them. When appointment time comes, create a little ritual to get your brain used to the idea that this is writing time. I like to sit down with coffee, start up music, and occasionally light a candle as well.

Ooh baby, you’ll be dropping 3,000 words like THAT

It’s not guaranteed that I’ll throw down gleaming pages of awesomeness every time.  That’s not the point. The important thing is not letting myself wimp out. Even on days I don’t feel up to it, I’m surprised what happens once I sit myself down and grind out a few sentences.

8. “Ninja” writing into your day

If nothing else works, you could try sneaking writing into your normal day.  Jot down notes during your commute, if you’re not driving or biking.  Slip away to write during your lunch break.  At slow points through the day, write in a notebook or application like Evernote, Simplenote, or Google Docs- that way, you can access it from other computers without having to save and email files around.  Throw on headphones and look busy.  If you’re super ballsy, you could even schedule a meeting just for yourself on the calendar so coworkers don’t bother you.  (You could.  No actual endorsement of this suggestion implied, OK pointy-haired bosses of the world?)

Personally, I don’t get good fiction done this way, but it works well for blog posts and articles. Slow time at DAYJOB might also be a good time to do light research for anything you may be writing- unless Internet traffic is heavily monitored. If you’re not an IT nerd already, make some friends in your IT department and ask them about how/if Internet activity is watched. We don’t bite.

Good luck!

With more time to write- even if it’s only an extra 15 minutes a week- you open up an opportunity you didn’t have before. Taking maximum advantage of that opportunity is what I’ll be breaking down next. What are your favorite time-creating tips?  Feel free to comment and let me know!