How to Find Time to Work on Creative Projects
In 2017, I made a living, talking and pissing on productivity, when my editor asked me if I wanted to write a book, which – for example, “five dysfunctions of teams” and “The One Minute Manager” – teaches business lessons through stories. There was only one problem. When will I find time between work and caring for my four young children?
But I wrote Juliet’s School of Opportunity , a story about an ambitious young consultant whose life is crumbling until a mentor teaches her how to have a good time. I’ve relied on these seven strategies that I think can help anyone fit an unexpected opportunity into an already fulfilling life.
Try “challenge”
I suspect the Whole30 is a popular diet because it seems like you can do anything for 30 days. Likewise, if you want to take on a large side project, consider a time frame. I intended to write the manuscript for Juliet’s School of Opportunity during November. Why November? This is National Novel Writing Month , when thousands of people try to write a draft of a novel in 30 days. While you could write your magnum opus in 15 minutes, it would be more gratifying to promise your spouse an equivalent amount of free time if he or she takes the kids with you for four days, and then you get lost for a long weekend and start getting turned on. something. You can always fix this later. (I wrote the book in November 2017 and edited it the next year.)
Use your morning
Most people have more discipline and focus in the morning. Most people have little energy at night. You can use these truths and the need of young children for longer sleep to your advantage. If your kids are asleep between 8:30 pm and 6:30 am, you could theoretically go to bed at 9:30 pm, wake up at 4:30 am, and have two high-performance hours before anxiety begins in the family. My kids sleep unpredictably enough that it didn’t work for me, but I used a productive morning time by nudging as many calls as possible until 10am or later, leaving 8:30 to 10:00 pleasantly open.
Break away quickly
If you only have four hours a week to paint your masterpiece, you shouldn’t spend 3.5 of it standing in front of your easel wondering what to do. Working artists develop cues that allow you to tune in productively: a cup of coffee, some background music. You can also come up with a trick for coming up with ideas. I pondered the most important plot points of my book as I ran around the neighborhood. Fresh air and physical activity are so good for me that every time I get stuck, I run. I always come back with something.
Change your landscape
I wrote most of my novel in my home office, but I find that going to a location other than your workplace or home can be beneficial for increasing productivity (and eliminating laundry distractions). My local library has great jobs. Coffee houses can work. You can borrow a friend’s house; you probably won’t erase it .
Pay a little more for babysitting than you need to
While you and your spouse certainly support each other’s long-term creative goals, the extra space can minimize friction. Instead of arguing over whose turn to cover, you simply pay your nanny after school to stay until 8:00 pm one night a week. You go to work on your project and your spouse goes to the gym. Everyone is happy.
Create accountability
The problem with passionate projects is that no one cares if you do them. So find someone who cares. When I was finishing my manuscript, I hired a few people through my blog as “beta readers” – people who would give critical reviews. The knowledge that these people expected to receive their reading material within a reasonable timeframe ignited a fire in me to edit the manuscript into something that I would not be humiliated to share.
Treat it like a flooded basement
In Juliet ‘s School of Opportunity , Juliet recounts how, in one desperately busy moment as she was running a hotel and caring for two young children, she was desperate to find time to work in the business she wanted to start. But the hotel’s housekeeper noted that in this frenzy, she took the time to cope with the flood that ruined the carpets in the basement. Where does this time come from? She didn’t have more time. And yet, if the basement hadn’t been flooded, she would have said she was busy this week. Time would be filled with something else. When something urgent happened, she threw it away “something else” – but she could throw it out without flooding the basement. In her words: “You can understand what is important to you and treat it like a flooded basement.”
I wrote these lines; I also know that it is difficult. I remember one morning when I was working on Juliet . I have seen the stack grow rapidly in my inbox, including some messages of no small importance. But I realized that I can choose how I spend my time. So I closed my mailbox. I didn’t reply to anything until 4:00 pm. The earth never stopped turning. My manuscript is ready.