Making Time to Write
Posted by Ryan D. Jacobs on September 21, 2010
In April, I blogged about my belief that focus is the key ingredient in success. In June, I wrote about the importance of setting priorities and recognizing that every choice is a tradeoff.
Since January, when I embarked on my educational adventures — working toward obtaining my CMA accounting designation — I have had to put these lessons into practice every single day. It has taken every ounce of focus I am able to muster to complete five university courses over two terms.
I also wrote about the value of blogging right smack in the middle of my musings on focus. Alas, with such a full schedule, I have had to make difficult choices about how I spend my time. Not surprisingly, blogging keeps finding its way to the cutting room floor.
I certainly don’t regret my decision to make some things priorities, while relegating others to the backburner. But at times, I have found it surprisingly difficult to accept this reality. I was just getting into the groove, and have missed writing immensely!
I am now trying to figure out how (if?) I can squeeze a small amount of time out of my overflowing schedule to put at least some of my swirling thoughts into coherent words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Maybe it’s about finding a convenient way to record my ideas when I have a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Or maybe I need to do certain things more efficiently, to free up a few precious moments (e.g., reading other people’s blogs, which often provide much-needed non-accounting intellectual stimulation).
I’m sure I’m not alone. If you blog, I would love to know where writing falls on your priority list:
- Is it something you carve time out of your schedule for, no matter what?
- Is it a luxury you indulge in only when the stars are perfectly aligned?
- Or do you struggle, like me, to find time — constantly wishing you could write more, but rarely being able to eke out the time and the necessary mental space to get your thoughts down on “paper”?
MikeP said
Luxury, definitely. I used to think I struggled to find the time, until I realized that if I was serious about it, I would *make* the time, the same way I do for other priorities in my life. I stopped stressing once I started treating blogging as a thing I could do when I wanted to get something off my chest in public. Lately, mine’s turned into a place to store little tidbits of documentation for myself. Someday maybe it will turn back into an actual blawg, but if it doesn’t I don’t hold it against myself.
I keep going back to if it’s important, it will be important. For you, maybe it’s important but it’s #4 or so on your priority list, and 1-3 are consuming most of your time. No biggie.
I’d recommend, if you want to get to writing more, setting some time aside. You mentioned you read others’ blogs; maybe spend some of that time writing instead. I think it’s important to stay plugged into the community a bit, but maybe instead of leaving comments on others’ blogs (like I am, now
) you could write your own response. I tend to do that if it’s going to be more than a few paragraphs, myself. It checks you out of the conversational flow a bit, but I do find it more rewarding.