How Do You Maintain a Work/Life/Writing Balance?

You’ve caught the writing bug and know you need to get the words down. But how do you find the time? Most of us have jobs. We have family obligations. Friends may be pulling you to go out on weekends during the prime time to get your writing done. How do you juggle the craft of writing when life tends to get in the way? It’s not easy, but it can be done.

Make Writing Your Side Hustle

Few of us are able to make writing our living. That means we need to find and secure a job. Whether you are employed or self-employed, you are likely working twenty to eighty hours per week. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for engaging in the writing process.

It should fill you with hope that a majority of what we now consider to be master writers had day jobs as they struggled to get their projects off the ground. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a surgeon. Kurt Vonnegut sold cars. John Grisham even wrote in the mornings and during lunch breaks while working – no surprise – as a lawyer.

If these experts can find time during their grueling job schedules, surely you can do the same.

The best way to write when your job or career dominates your time is to believe that writing is a side hustle worth pursuing. Even if your writing doesn’t make a dime (as of now), you must believe that the money will soon come. You have to start somewhere, and getting a little writing done each day can build your future as an author despite slaving away as a company cog.

Surround Yourself with Writers

One way to get your writing in each day is to make the act part of an obligation. Either join a writer group or start one yourself. When I first moved to the town where I now reside, I started a Meetup group focused on fiction writing. Each week we would meet and write stories based on prompts, objects in the room, or by keeping to a certain theme. We would then share those stories with the group. It was a lot of fun and the social comradery motivated everyone to produce.

Writing groups are excellent ways to force yourself to write and receive feedback. Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite writers who still attends a writing group in his local area.

Don’t Forget to Read

When you feel the need to write, you should also make time to read. Stephen King famously wrote that “The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.” He also wrote, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” Those two quotes have always stuck out to me. And for that reason, I always find time to read and write.

Reading is much easier than writing. I keep a Kindle app on my phone and always have a book loaded and ready to go. I read in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, in the sauna at the gym after working out, and right before bed. 

The more you read, the better you’ll be as a writer. 

How Much Writing Should You Do?

We’ve covered how to treat writing like a side hustle and that you must fit reading in as well. But how much should you read and write to make an impact? Here is where a little can go a long way.

Think of writing like building a house. Few houses are constructed in a day, week, or even a month. They take a while and the construction process happens piecemeal. You have the blueprints, the first two-by-four, the first nail, and the first brick. Start somewhere and keep at it.

I’m a firm believer in reading and writing in increments of five and ten. When editing a piece, I’ll pledge to edit five pages per day. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but those edited pages add up. 

When writing, I may pledge to write five or ten pages. Or I’ll set a timer and go for fifteen to thirty minutes, depending on how much time I have. Any amount spent writing is worth it, you just have to commit to doing it often so that the habit sticks. 

Those tiny dips into the world of fiction will quickly add up. Soon, you’ll have a completed short story or novel you can be proud of. 

To keep yourself accountable, set deadlines for yourself and keep to them. This is how to keep a work/life/writing balance, and I’m living proof.

For added accountability, I keep a habit tracking app on my phone and click the button each day my reading and writing get done. That way, I can look back and see how far I’ve come, which is excellent for the psyche and terrific for being productive as a fiction writer.

Like this advice? Leave me some feedback and check back often for more tips and advice on how to get your writing done when life gets in the way.