Spending Writing Time
Time limits exist on each day. No matter how well you plan or prepare for each day there will still only be 24 hours in that day. Sometimes finding the time to juggle all of the different writing projects and jobs can be tough. Add in the day to day routine of the home and family and it can quickly go from tough to impossible.
Budgets are great tools for managing your finances, but you can also put a budget into play to manage your writing time. A time budget helps you determine how much time you have available each day and then set up a plan for using that limited resource. The other day I explained some of the best steps for creating a time budget. Here are a few more things you need to think about.
Time Budget Considerations
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1. What are the things that you have to do each day? There are certain items than can not be ignored – walking the dog, feeding the kids, sleep – and you will have to remove that time from your day before you even begin developing your budget.
2. What are the things that you want to do? This is the list of items that you would like to get done each day but the world would not end if you skipped. I include writing jobs that are not yet due and my own blog posts.
3. Is the cost worth the effort? Each item will take a certain amount of time from your budget. You have to decide if that time it takes is worth it in the long run. A job that takes hours and provides little income and no exposure might be better left to someone else.
4. Can you multi-task with the project? Many of the social networking sites are able to communicate these days so that you can post on one and it show up on several. I was introduced to sites like HootSuite and TweetDeck that let me monitor Twitter and Facebook at the same time. Even LinkedIn can now be connected. Being able to do all of my social network from one site can cut down on the time that effort eats from my budget.
A time budget will not dictate exactly how you spend your writing time, but it can help guide you in the endeavor. The more plans you have in place then the easier it will be for you to stay consistent in your writing and expand your writing to a full time career.
