Finding Time to Write

I have been in quite the pickle lately. I have been so incredibly busy that I haven't had time (or energy) to write. I have just finished a block of clinical placement for my medical imaging program at university, which is basically me working full-time without pay (in fact I pay for the privilege). Then I have my martial arts commitments which I try to attend twice a week. Along with assignments and study for uni exams which begin in a few weeks, completing my paid work, and trying to sleep, I find I have very little time to myself. In the little time I do have, I find myself too exhausted to even think half the time (the other half I nap, trying to catch some of my lost sleep). Hence, why my blog posts have lately been few and far between (sorry by the way). Therefore, I am writing this post now to attempt to nut out my life and find time to write!
Image courtesy of debspoons / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Unfortunately, university takes preference. Unlike many writers out there, writing is not going to be my full-time job, radiography will be. Therefore, my focus needs to be on completing university and then finding a job. Luckily, my placement has now ended and I can starting focusing a little more on other aspects of my life. But, next year will be filled with clinical placement… back to square one.

Secondly, I need money. Therefore, my paid job takes the next spot in the preference list. I currently freelance as a desktop publisher come marketer and what I earn is proportional to how much time I put in. It isn't the type of job I can rock up at and get paid for sitting at a desk (pretending to work). However, I don't have time for a job where my hours are locked in. Damn, so that's several hours of my week taken.

My next commitment is martial arts. I'm sad to say I was forced to leave taekwondo behind since I could no longer afford to do both that and my new love, ninjutsu. Martial arts takes a fair amount of work, and compulsory attendance, in order to see a good, steady improvement. Attending classes twice a week is really the minimum I should be doing. Other than that, I need to go to the gym more often. But that is another thing that is being left behind for the moment.

Then there is writing. Writing is my hobby and my release, however it does take a certain amount of mental dexterity. When your mind feels like it is filled with goo and your body is trying to shut down on you without permission, writing is practically impossible. Here is my issue. The time I do have to write, I am too exhausted to use and usually turns in to a nap or watching anime.

Now then, I think I found somewhat of an answer. Obviously, I won't be able to write as much as I would like, such as the 1000 words a day which I have previously written about. However, after mentally searching through my activities I found hidden pockets of time. For instance, my lunch breaks at clinical placement can be used for assignment writing or story writing. My weekends manage to appear busy but in reality, between the few hours used for work and assignments, there is quite a bit of time. Until now, I had mostly written at night, feeling more inclined to do so at this time. But now I realize that those 'me-time' pockets that are usually filled with reading or watching anime, can be split with writing. What I have also managed to forget is that these blog posts, my drawing, my random note taking, and my online marketing, are also part of what a writer does. I haven't been doing as little as I thought.

I think what I am going to have to do is formulate a timetable. There is so much happening at the moment that it is difficult to decide what I can or should do at any particular time. So, I am going to dedicate certain hours to university work, paid work, and writing around my other commitments. I probably won't stick to the plan too soundly but it will at least give me a good idea of what time I have.

If you have any time management tips I'd love you to leave a comment. Thanks for reading.

Scarlett Van Dijk