About ten years ago, a friend introduced me to FlyLady at www.flylady.net, whose practices helped me learn how to manage and organize my household. With time, practice and patience, I managed to juggle my family, my business and other responsibilities without stressing out.
When we are trying to balance family, work, life and writing, it can be a juggling act. Many times, we see others handle their responsibilities with grace and feel we’re all alone. But you’re not alone.
The key to my household and business management was getting organized. The same goes with my writing. Now I’m keeping track of two demanding careers, managing my family, maintaining church responsibilities and finding time to take care of myself.
I needed to designate an office space in my house. For years, this office was a desk and bookcase in my bedroom. Then my hubby and son moved my desk to the open closet in the playroom. Now my office is an alcove off our bedroom, and it works well for me.
Take a look at the layout of your home. Maybe you’re fortunate to have a spare room you can turn into an office. If not, see if you can find a space in the living room, family room or even your bedroom for a desk and a bookcase or a cozy chair and a bookcase. You need some place to store your reference books and when you go to your office space, you can prepare yourself mentally for designated writing time.
Once you have designed space, review your monthly calendar. Mark doctor/dentist/vision appointments, school functions, work meetings, church activities and block off family time and date nights. Then, over the next few days, keep a time journal—write down everything you do from the moment your feet hit the floor to when you crash into bed for the night.
The purpose of this is to see where you can find pockets of time to write. Then pencil in your writing times. Consider getting up an hour early, writing during your lunch break or children’s nap times or while waiting in the carpool lanes. Delegate household responsibilities to family members to free up more writing time. Finding the time to write may be a challenge at first, but once you express your desires and get your family onboard, you may be able to claim more time than you expected. Then you need to discipline yourself to use the allotted time to work on your current WIP.
When you’re working, caring for your family and managing your other responsibilities, finding time to write can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible. After all, your dream is worth the effort.
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Married over twenty years to her real-life hero, Lisa Jordan knows a thing or two about romance. She and her husband have two college-aged sons. By day, Lisa is an early childhood educator, operating her in-home childcare business. By night, she writes contemporary Christian novels for Love Inspired. Her debut novel, Lakeside Reunion, won the 2012 Carol Award for short contemporary romance. She is represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such. Visit Lisa at www.lisajordanbooks.com.