How to find magical time.
We all have a hard time with this. What’s funny is if someone needs us to do something, we can find time for that. If work asked you to stay for additional work, you can find time for that. When are you going to learn to find time for you and the passion you want to chase? I have about a dozen ways to do just that.
Let’s start with filling our cuppas with some yummy go juice. Grab a nibble along the way and meet me out on the reading rug. I’ll be there in a sec. I am gonna make myself a smoothie. I’m thinking peanut butter and banana with almond milk. Yummers! See you in a few. Chat amongst yourselves.
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This is a huge, HUGE, thing. Quit thinking your dream is a ‘waste of time.’ It’s not. Decide you want this, and you will find a way. Chasing your dreams fulfills your desires. This in turn will make you happy. It doesn’t have to be something you will earn money from. It could simply be something that makes your heart smile. Hey, your desire might be playing polka music with an accordion. If this brings you joy, then chase it. You be you.
A Sneaky Way to Find Some Time
Make it portable: Your car. Look, as far as I’m concerned, we drive way too much. No, really. How long are you in the car just traveling to and from work? At one point the Hubs was in his truck nearly 3 hours a day driving to and from his job. Holy waste of time. How about you? How long are you in your car?
Well, here’s an idea for you. My youngest lives two hours away and it is a mind-numbing drive. Like, there is nothing and, I mean nothing, to look at. So, my mind wanders. This is where I help you use this time for your writing. Talk to yourself. Okay, not just to yourself cuz they say that’s wrong…? Get a voice recorder or use your cell and tell it your story. Tell your recorder your character’s history, what they look like, where the story takes place, and all the details in between. Bam! Wasted time salvaged. This is the recorder I use.
Can your hobby be combined with something else? What I mean here is using the last idea, recording your story, and cooking, or painting, or jazzercise! We already looked at driving, but maybe you ride a train/subway to work. You can write there. Maybe, don’t record your story here. People may not react well to you verbalizing a murder or intimate scene in your story. Ya know, it can be kinda weird. Think it through.
Flaming Feet
There are so many people out there going through the same thing we are. What I did to help me keep working was to find partners to answer to. Find someone who can and will keep your feet to the fire. This must be someone who is a serious about chasing their dream as you are. The reason I say that is if you have a partner who waivers on their work you will begin to waiver as well. Why be accountable to someone who doesn’t feel it necessary to be accountable to you? Once you find the right one it is time to decide how often you will talk. It can be face to face, virtual, or even by phone. I don’t recommend it be daily or even weekly. I would go about every two weeks.
You can use this as a critique format. In between visits, send a predetermined number of pages to one another to review. During your chat you can discuss issues you each found with the other’s work. Remember to only critique the work not the writer. When you have someone to answer to you want to do the work and you will find the time to do just that.
Start Small
Desmond Tutu once wisely said that “there is only one way to eat an elephant:
a bite at a time.”
Start small. You don’t have to write ten pages every day. All you have to do is…something. Write a paragraph, research a concept, create a character sketch, or make a bullet list of details. You don’t have to write a chapter a day you just have to write. Anything is something.
21 Days to Build a Habit
Dr. Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon in the 1950s and he wrote about habit forming experiences and said, “These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”
Build a routine. First, get organized. Find your workplace and get it ready. Get all the supplies you will need and have them near your new workstation. But not everyone has a home office, or a corner to spare in their home for such a place. No problem! I have an idea for just that. A rolling suitcase. Yup- I’m not kidding. This can house your laptop and the supplies you need to work. It is easily packed and unpacked, rolls everywhere, and is small enough to store anywhere. I use one when I am selling my books at market. It contains everything I need for my space but has writing materials in case inspiration strikes. It was found at Goodwill, so it didn’t cost an arm and a leg either.
Any-who, now that we have a workplace, you need to start building your dream into your day. It really does take some time to get use to it. Much like going to the gym or riding your bike. Habits take time to build until they become a part of your daily routine. Stick to it until it sticks.
This is fun! I have more ideas I will share in my next post. Stay tuned!
Until then…
Polish your sparkle and just keep twirling.
Find joy. Be joy. Enjoy.
I’m always looking for new friends! 😊
New Ink. Used Ideas. 