If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time breaking away from the fun of travel to actually sit down and write. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a 3 day holiday or living a nomadic lifestyle like I currently am, there never seems to be enough time to get all the writing done.
If you’ve already developed strict writing habits then this advice might not pertain to you. If you write no matter what, no matter where you are, then you’re on another level and you probably already use the tips I’ve learned.
Personally, I’ve set up my lifestyle to where I need to work 2-4 hours/day (in addition to writing for my blog) while I’m on the road or at home (which is currently nowhere since I sold all my belongings and rented out my house). Approximately half of that work time is devoted to writing and editing.
If you’re not traveling, just having trouble finding the time to write, these tips will work for you too.
1) Schedule Writing Time Like You Schedule Other Activities
You schedule time to visit the sites in whatever city you’re visiting, right? There’s no reason why you shouldn’t do the same for your writing.
I’ve found it’s easier for me to schedule in 1-2 hour blocks. The best time for me has been after lunch and before bed.
Immediately after eating lunch I will head to a cafe, library, or park, and work for 1-2 hours on my laptop. If I haven’t scheduled anything for after that block of writing, I will take a short break, and then work some more.
If I have scheduled an activity after that 1-2 block of work time I will then schedule another 1-2 hour block of writing time before I go to bed. Sometimes that means less sleep, but the work gets done.
If you’re an early morning get-started-right-away type of worker, then scheduling your writing time immediately upon waking or after breakfast might work better for you.
2) Write During Dead Time
Even if you’re in the middle of a fantastic holiday you’ll find lots of dead time.
Examples of dead time:
– Waiting for a table at a restaurant.
– Waiting for your food at said restaurant.
– Taking a bus or train to your next stop.
– Waiting for said bus or train.
In an average day I probably have to wait 60 minutes for buses, trains, and food. During that time I pull out my small notepad or my netbook and write. If writing by hand I transfer it to my computer during my next scheduled writing session.
3) Schedule Full Work Days
This mostly pertains to you if you’re on a long, slow, trip. You don’t have to rush around seeing all the sites and packing it all in at once so you have some luxurious leeway. That’s my preferred way of living and traveling.
And because of that style of travel I schedule full days where my only goal is to work. I still enjoy the city I’m in because I schedule some of that work time in local parks, restaurants, or cafes, but I can relax and write without feeling rushed.
A friend I met in Sydney, Australia actually schedules full weekends in the Blue Mountains (~2 hours from Sydney) where he does nothing but write. He loves the mountains, and he loves to write, so it’s a double whammy.
I’m currently in Adelaide, South Australia for a few days longer than expected because I didn’t make a train. I’m using this “found time” to mostly work.
As a blogger I have myself on a set posting schedule. It’s one blog post per week, every Tuesday. I know that’s not as often as a lot of other bloggers, but it’s important that I meet that deadline. It allows me the time to craft well thought-out blog posts.
I don’t believe in “writing it in.” That is, I don’t believe in free-writing a blog post and then immediately posting it to the blog. That works for a lot of successful bloggers, but it doesn’t work for me.
I have to schedule a lot of time to write and edit my blog posts. I’m still learning and would love your tips for finding time to write when it might not be the most convenient. Leave them in the comments. With your help we can turn this simple blog post into WriteToDone’s Ultimate Writing While Traveling resource. 🙂