Making Time to Write: The Egg Timer Method

I couldn’t even make time to draw a new comic for this post.

As a stay-at-home mom, one of the most difficult things in my life is time management. Then again, as a young woman with a job, one of the most difficult things in my life was time management. And as a college student. And in high school.

Time management is hard.

It’s especially hard when it concerns tasks that are completely self-driven. Writing, for example. Outside of school or a book deal, creative writing is rarely on a deadline. Even my agent doesn’t put much pressure on me the way I hoped she might; really, no one has much stake in my writing another word. So when I’m not super psyched about my work and itching to get to it (which is, unfortunately, somewhat rare these days), finding time to write is even harder. After all, if nobody cares about it, why bother?

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People, Places, and Other Things That Ruin My Writing

I’m at Starbucks, where I go to escape my caterwauling children and get some time to write. Every Saturday, every Sunday, the same seat in the corner near the electrical outlet unless I’ve had too rough a night with the baby and end up running late. Three Word documents open: the current draft, the previous draft, and something titled “What Happens Next” to keep me on track with the plot. Triple venti mocha today, nonfat with whipped cream. I always splurge when I have a star reward.

There’s a man next to me, one small table between us, typing and typing like he does every Sunday, the clicks coming quickly considering he’s missing several fingers on his left hand. He reminds me of someone from college and I probably look at him more than I should when the work pauses. He wears a blue windbreaker. A stack of books on his table, from a glance: a day planner, a notebook, a Bible.