17 Ways to Reclaim Time for Writing When Everything Conspires Against You
Even just 15 minutes a day can finally turn you into a writer.
If you want to be a writer, there’s no escape. You have to wrestle time to write from a thousand greedy commitments eating up your time.
Maybe you work full time, and can’t squeeze out enough minutes to write an article a week. Maybe you don’t work, but you have to take care of the house and the kids. Half an hour all to yourself happens only in your dreams.
Or maybe you’re already an entrepreneur, like me, and you have more control over your time. But you want to say a billion things and you’re rebuilding your brand from scratch on a new platform. You need more time to produce tons of articles.
I started my first blog in 2010. Since then, I never stopped researching and testing ways to find more time to write. Here are 17 ideas that can help even with the most crammed life.
Remove obsolete habits
Our days are full of routines. Some of them were useful in the past but now are unnecessary.
We do them out of habit. (Pun intended!) Or because they give us a sense of normalcy. Remove them to make room for the new habit of writing.
I religiously devoted about 30 minutes to reading first thing in the morning. It inspired me and eased me into writing mode. But my son now eats up at least an hour every morning. After I drop him at kindergarten, it’s late and I’m alert enough to write. Reading was reducing my productivity. So I stopped.
Put some commitments on hold
I am a good cook, love photography, sing and play guitar. It’s nice to pursue a lot of hobbies. But we can’t do everything. So I chose: music and content creation.
Think of something you can at least suspend, if not eliminate. A book club, tango lessons, or photography outings. That couple of additional hours every week might be enough to write an entire article and kickstart your new career.
I started taking photos late in life. But it soon resonated with me. A photography blog was my first successful online business. I considered turning photography into a business. But I realized teaching through content was a stronger passion, and I craved more time away from screens. So digital photography is now on hold.
Wake up early
I couldn’t leave this one out, even if it sounds cliche. The early morning hours are magical for everyone, even for night owls.
If you start writing before messages, social updates, and news occupy your mental space, you can be more creative and probably faster, too.
Before having my son, I always woke up before my wife. I had about an hour all to myself. I stretched, made coffee, and started writing. It was the perfect flow experience. I felt accomplished, even when my words were rubbish. That sense of accomplishment fueled the entire day.
Delegate
Delegation isn’t just for CEOs. Everyone can delegate daily tasks.
They could be cleaning, house maintenance, or grocery delivery. Outsourcing has a price. But isn’t this a worthy investment? Can’t you cut some minor expenses to free up time for a passion that could transform your personal and professional life?
By the way, if you don’t try it with dedication, you’ll never know.
My mother never found the courage to pay for a cleaner. She can’t tolerate the idea of a stranger touching all her things. And she has elitist cleaning standards.
I absorbed her opinion. But I had to break free of her conditioning and hire a cleaning lady. She saves me a couple hours each week that I can dedicate to more writing, resting, spending time with my family.
Automate
In the last four years, I’ve saved multiple hours per week, thanks to €500 invested in a robot vacuum cleaner.
I don’t have to block half an hour on Saturday to vacuum the house, spending the rest of the week cursing the relentless comeback of dust and crumbs. I just make sure there’s nothing valuable on the floor that the vacuum cleaner can swallow, then press a button.
This is a common example from real life. But automation is even easier when you consider things you can do on your computer. Recurring purchases, bookkeeping, communications, reminders of all kinds can be easily automated.
When I notice I’m doing something over and over, I always ask myself “can this be automated?” A Google search, or a prompt to ChatGPT, quickly shows me if it’s possible, and how.
Ask for help
Since we’ve had a child, me and my wife started taking turns all day long. Of course, this means we have less time together. But it’s the only way to maintain some mental sanity and take care of ourselves.
I go grocery shopping with Leonardo, so my wife has an hour and a half to do what she wants. She visits her family, and I can catch up with writing. And so on.
Writing is important. It’s not a vice, a whim, a waste of time. Tell this to the people close to you, your parents, your closest friends, and ask for a hand.
They’ll take care of some tasks while you take care of your destiny.
Compress meals
I live in Italy, eating here is a ritual. Meals often tend to last too long. And indeed, eating quickly is harmful.
But many jobs allow plenty of time at lunch break to eat and rest. Use the resting time to write.
Author Steaphanie Cowell, for example, wrote 5 historical novels during downtimes and lunch breaks at her job.
The writer’s diet
Speaking of food, eating the right things can give you more energy. But most importantly, avoiding the wrong foods can save you time.
In my endless experiments with nutrition, I have collected (far too) many mistakes. Sometimes I felt so bloated and drowsy after lunch that I couldn’t do anything.
Excessive simple carbohydrates, like pasta and bread, are the most frequent offenders. But too much fiber also made digestion difficult.
Eating too little also hurts my productivity. Hunger makes me weaker and slower. I also waste time to stop and refuel with a snack.
Lots of proteins, instead, keep me full for longer, but didn’t affect digestion.
Don’t type, dictate
I have been experimenting with dictation for years, you can find many details in this article. But artificial intelligence made it unequivocally more productive.
AI speech-to-text apps not only transcribe words. They also clean up your sentences, removing mistakes and adding punctuation. With the old tools, I had to dictate every new line, comma and full stop.
This allows me to “write” just by speaking freely. I can do it while I’m walking, or laying down and relaxing my back, instead of sitting stiff at a desk. As a result, I write more, but I also stay healthier.
If you’re curious, the tool I’m currently using is audiopen.ai.
Have less fun
This sounds intentionally terrible.
Job dissatisfaction is endemic. Numbers vary, but just around 50% of workers globally say they are satisfied with their job. Maybe you too would like to write to escape a stifling career.
This unbearable reality has convinced you that your free time is for “unwinding” or “decompressing” or “chilling out”. So, life is split in two:
you spend the most productive hours in your day doing something you hate
then, you spend the rest doing… nothing.
Where can you end up this way?
It’s hard to believe, but you probably need much less leisure. Instead, try working on something that resonates with your talent in your free time, something that makes you feel alive.
Reduce social media, video games, or television. Dedicate half an hour to writing. Over time, you’ll notice you’ll feel better, maybe tired, but also more satisfied. It will be a different kind of fun, but it will still make you feel good.
Plan your fun
The urgency to rest and relax can generate black holes of fun. We sit on the couch, turn on YouTube, and get up only at dinnertime or bedtime.
We don’t need that much rest.
Try scheduling your moments of fun, but only after you’ve dedicated time to writing. Or allow yourself to waste time, but only for a limited time, then write.
For example, I allow myself some time to read after lunch. I read for 10–30 minutes while sipping coffee. But then I never let it inflate beyond that.
Less consumption
Sure, even Stephen King says that to be a good writer you have to read avidly. But that shouldn’t become an excuse for not writing.
You’ve probably spent a lifetime reading articles, watching tutorials, and taking courses. To make progress, now’s the time to create.
I recently made this mistake, too. Starting from scratch on Medium, I thought the right courses could accelerate my growth. I spent dozens of hours studying while I just needed to dive headfirst into publishing articles.
So, reclaim time for creation from consumption, at least for a while. Go back to learning when you feel you get stuck, or you realize you miss some crucial knowledge.
Work remotely
Managers can’t seem to let go of their need for control. After a remote work explosion due to COVID, corporations are asking workers to go back to the office.
But remote work remains much more accepted and practiced now than a few years ago. As Forbes reports, 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time.
So, if you’re not already doing it, ask your employer to work remotely and reinvest the time you save into writing. Even only one day a week means at least an extra hour of writing instead of commuting.
Write while commuting
If you’re forced to commute to work, you can write while you travel. No matter what mode of transportation you use.
If you’re on a train, you can pull out your tablet or laptop. But even when you can’t type, remember that you can dictate. I’ve even dictated articles while driving. (Safety first, though!)
Write while you wait
Always-connected devices have made waiting much more bearable. Even going to the post office almost became attractive when I started reading newsletters while waiting in line. But you’re not forced to kill time by scrolling through endless feeds or pointlessly trying to reach inbox zero.
You can still use these moments to write, even briefly. Maybe to just jot down ideas and outlines. By the way, our thumbs are all as fast as lightning now.
Limit social activities
Another terrible recommendation, right?
If there’s one thing that gives meaning to our lives, it’s the time spent with other people. I’m not recommending you become a hermit like me — I have other issues…
If you dedicate hours of your free time to friends, you can skip a few meetings here and there and likely recover enough time to write an article every week. If they are true friends, they will understand.
Record conversations
As I mentioned earlier, artificial intelligence today works wonders in transcribing and cleaning up spoken language, making it very close to a written article.
Many writers, like David Perell, develop their articles in conversations. So, record important conversations. Then use AI to transcribe it and clean it up. You can use Audiopen.ai or Otter.ai.
If recording seems awkward, make sure to note down the crucial insights as soon as te conversation ends. Don’t trust your memory, it’s fickle.
Start writing more now
You don’t have to try all these tips. Find one that looks doable to you and try implementing it for a few days.
The wonderful thing is that writing is addictive. Once you start doing it regularly, you can’t stop. You keep thinking about how to find more time for it.
So, use one of my tips to free up even just 15 minutes each day. The ball will start rolling and you’ll become unstoppable.
Once you have more time to write, a system will make you use your time more effectively. I wrote a guide to help you design and create the best system for you.
Here it is:
My (controversial) method: make money > take a break from work > write.