Dealing with writing and a full-time job isn’t easy at all. Most of us write with passion and we hope that one day we can turn this into a full-time job and finally quit our day jobs. Until then, we need to keep our jobs and pay the bills while trying to evolve our writing into a level where we can start earning; that‘s the most challenging part.
Then, what can I do?
Instead of constantly whining about not being able to quit my day job, I decided to take things more seriously and to finally finish my second novel and level up my writing.
To do that, I need to be consistent.
Writing is a long run job. You cannot finish a single thing in a day even if you‘re writing short forms like short stories or poems; they require days, weeks sometimes even years. There are some people who can write quickly and give formidable results but not as many.
Logically, if you want to finish something long, like an average 80,000 words novel, you need months sometimes years and that requires deliberate daily writing.
Having a day job and a family means that you won‘t have much time for writing and you need to block certain parts of days just for writing, reading, and editing.
For me, the easiest way to find time for writing was to start getting in and out of bed very early and for the past 10 months I have been getting to bed at 9 pm and getting out of it at 4:30 am, whether it‘s New Year‘s Eve, Christmas, my birthday.
It’s not as easy as it might sound but it’s worth it
The first couple of days I felt like a brainless zombie wandering around the office and classroom and I couldn’t write a single word. Eventually, things got better and now I have a really strict routine that is working for me.
– get up at 4:30
– breakfast and meditate until 6
– write until 7:30
Don’t waste your time
These are the only 90 minutes during the day at which I am sure that nobody will interrupt me (except cats which sometimes run across my keyboard in the middle of my writing). During that time, I am sure that my mind is clear and fresh and at the end of the day I am happy with the fact that I had some time to dedicate to writing.
If there is a chance, I try to devote some time to writing during the rest of the day as well. Recently, I started to take my lunch breaks (11:30 – 1:15) for blog writing.
I read in between classes and I listen to audiobooks on my way to work, while doing dishes and taking a shower.
As you can see, it‘s not easy, but if you are well organized, it is manageable to do the things you care about.
What are your tactics for dealing with writing and your daily job? Please, share with us in the comment‘s section below.