This blog post was suggested to us by Karen via our online community. We’d love to have you join us!
Time is the one resource we can never get back. That’s why we must protect our writing time any way we can, no matter who is trying to derail your plans—even if it’s ourselves!
How to Protect Your Writing Time from Others
This is usually the first problem we encounter as writers: how do we keep the world out?
Announce your intentions to your housemates.
If you’re lucky enough to live with supportive people, or to regularly keep in contact with them, tell them that you’re working on a special project. They will almost certainly want details, but you can be exactly as vague or as detailed as you want to be—you don’t owe anyone an explanation. I’ve found that sometimes giving an explanation can kill my motivation to write because I’ve already told the story. Instead of a synopsis, I now give every project a code name. Using a code name also gives you the flexibility to radically change or even abandon your project without people feeling disappointed or asking you questions you don’t want to answer. Just call the new project by the same code name!
Change when you write.
You may have set up your writing routine based on when you write best, or when you have the biggest block of time available to you. But rather than writing when it was most convenient for you, what if you wrote when others were at their most busy?
For example, you may have designated Saturdays as your writing day because you have it off. But if everyone else you live with is also off on Saturdays, you’re not likely to experience that quiet day in your home office you’re picturing.
This isn’t a technique that will work for everyone, but on those days when you need a big word count day, it helps when everyone else is too distracted to come distract you.
Create a distraction barrier.
Be it physical or digital, placing boundaries can really send a message to others that you’re working on something that’s important to you.
Physical barriers are tricky because you don’t want to box yourself in too much, lest you need to leave for a bio break. Consider closing the door and taping up a “do not disturb” sign. (If you don’t have an office or your own bedroom, try a closet or a bathroom. The oddness makes it fun, I swear.) You might also try setting a large timer on a device you can have on a table or chair beside you while you handwrite or type on a laptop. Even if someone calls out for you, you can just answer back with the time remaining before you’re available.
Thankfully, the digital barriers are much easier to put in place. Set up an “out of the office” email and/or text shortcut on your phone to automate your polite refusal to interrupt your writing time. There are also plenty of apps that block your phone from usage, so you’re not tempted to break your own rules!
Place bets with those who would otherwise distract you.
I did this with my partner recently, and it worked well! All it takes is a little creativity. I usually bet a household chore that I hit a certain number of words in two uninterrupted hours. The key is to highlight that it’s only fair if they don’t distract you during the set time, otherwise it isn’t fair, is it?
This technique is especially great if you both need to work on something. You can make it a race, and you’ll both be laser-focused!
How to Protect Your Writing Time from Yourself
This, I think, is the leveled-up version of the same problem. Once you’ve gotten your world to agree that you’re a writer and deserve your writing time, how do you keep yourself on track and honor your commitments to yourself and your craft? And how do you do that without putting an uncomfortable, unfun amount of pressure on yourself?
Make use of finite resources.
(Yes, this is an excuse to use the prettiest things you own. You’re welcome.)
Many writers—many humans—find themselves with a stash of some kind. Personally, I have collections of candles, pens, notebooks, stickers, and washi tape. One way to get myself to treat my writing time seriously is to use them in my day to day writing. I’ll burn a candle and place a fun strip of washi tape in my bullet journal not only to make sure I don’t “waste” the finite resource by not writing as intended, but also to remind me that life is short!
If you have a pretty pen or gorgeous notebook you’re waiting to use for the right project, guess what! The right project is the one you’re inspired to write right now.
Pay (or penalize) yourself.
I am going to say upfront that this is not going to be a good idea or even feasible for everyone. But maybe you can adapt this to your circumstances.
Whether it’s a dollar moved from one account to another (or tracked in some way for later movement), or a sticker on a chart, give yourself some small reward for completing your words or achieving a goal. These small rewards are supposed to help motivate you while you wait for the big reward of finishing the beast. Keep the reward something fun, and avoid selecting something that’s essential. A nap, for example, would not make for a great reward—your body needs sleep! But a dollar put towards your Starbucks account so you can get the more expensive drink would absolutely count.
Because humans are more motivated to avoid pain than seek pleasure, you might also consider penalizing yourself in a gentle way if you don’t meet a goal. This gets tricky because we can fall short of hitting a milestone for many reasons, and many, many of them are not our fault. I would only consider doing this if you’re not in a headspace where the ability to write is not out of your control for any reason. Otherwise, stick with the rewards!
My Favorite Tip for Protecting Your Writing Time
I’ve done this several times, but it only hit me while I was making this list that this has not only been incredibly helpful, but it’s something anyone can do.
My favorite tip is to write in public.
Are you an introvert who just had a full-body cringe? That’s okay. I would have, too, if I hadn’t tried it first. But don’t worry. I’m not suggesting that you rent out a theater and sell tickets to watch you type, or share your work before you’re ready. I’m instead suggesting you share that you are writing at a set time. You can still utilize all of the ways I suggested above in the first tip if you don’t want to reveal what your story is about.
There are many, many ways to do this, but these are a few that I’ve tried over the past few years that don’t require you to announce what you’re writing, in case you’d like to keep that a secret.
- Post your to do list or writing goals as an Instagram Story, and check in with another Story relaying your progress before you go to bed.
- Get a magnetic whiteboard and scribble your writing schedule on your fridge for all in your home to see.
- Join (or start!) a writing stream. You can do this by going live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, or whatever your favorite platform is. I also occasionally host writing streams inside our online community, which is free to join!
- Write with your friends.
- Blog or micro-blog (via Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) about your writing progress. Even if it’s only sharing your word count. You can also now do this on NaNoWriMo’s site year-round!
- Join The Write Gym and check in!
