What if time management tips never seem to increase your writing time?
Here’s the time management advice I usually see:
Make a spreadsheet of your week divided into 15-minute blocks. Every block—from 5am to 10pm—should be planned and color-coded. Don’t deviate, or you will fall behind and your entire life will crumble to the ground.
Do you feel suffocated yet? I know I do.
I’m forever seeking time management hacks NOT because I want to fill my schedule to the max but so I can do my essential tasks before I run out of energy for the day. And schedules like this are not at all helpful.
Rigid schedules might seem efficient, but they’re not doable because they assume that every 15-minute increment is interchangeable. As if you can shift an activity from the early morning to right before bed, and it makes no difference.
But it makes a HUGE difference. You’re not a machine you can just flip on and off.
That’s why one of the most effective strategies I’ve found for making writing time isn’t time management at all.
It’s energy management.
Energy management is about scheduling your daily tasks around when your energy is most suited to those tasks.
Like if you focus best in the morning, that’s the best time to write. If you feel most physically strong in the afternoon, that’s the best time to exercise. Etcetera.
Of course this isn’t always possible. You might have other obligations at your ideal time of day. But energy management isn’t about designing a “perfect” day. It’s about not forcing yourself to do things at times that will be most difficult.
So if you’re low on energy, try this:
Don’t schedule writing time at your worst time of day, i.e., not when you’re tired and hungry and your children (um…or cats) are clamoring for attention. This will get you closer to writing when your brain is actually available for it.