The oldest is graduating from high school in a few weeks. Prom is even sooner. I need a list.

1. Send out announcements.
2. Pay for grad night.
3. Clean house before family comes in.
4. Pick up dress from the tailor.
5. Make hair and makeup appointments.
6. Flowers!
7. Work on WIP (Work in Progress).
8. Gym.

The younger one heads off to two weeks of camp just three days after the older graduates.

9. Pack for camp.
10. Get new hiking shoes.
11. Make a packing list.
12. WIP. Just outline the second act.
13. GET to GYM!

The teen has a play festival in L.A.

14. Get the car tuned up.
15. See about a hotel for the final two shows.
16. Gifts for director, cast, and ??
17. New dress for opening night.
18. Flowers!!

Then she’s off to another playwriting workshop and festival the next week in Denver. Her first flight alone. Great. Life experience before she has to fly home from college alone.

19. GYM now!!!
20. WIP!!!
21. Get Benadryl.
22. Does she have a small roller bag?
23. Flowers for the show!

Then college is right around the corner. It might just be a girl thing, but there’s a lot of planning and shopping and packing involved.

24. Make reservations for hotel/flight for orientation.
25. List for college.
26. Take old clothes to Goodwill.
27. Shop: what doesn’t she need??
28. Pay tuition.
29. Transfer food, laundry, entertainment and emergency money to her account.
30. WIP!!! Really!!! Few scenes! 
31. Gym!!!! Work out longer.

It doesn’t help that she’s going across the country and I can’t just drop something by if she forgot it. Then there’s life.

32. Get to gym. Stay at gym.
33. Drop off. Late start.
34. Character awards.
35. Golf team practice.
36. Flag football playoffs
37. Oranges for half time. Granola bars. Chocolate.

Then there’s laundry and everything else. And, oh yeah, the freelance projects are due in no time.

38. Finish project.
39. Send email with invoice.
40. WIP! One scene.
41. Gym.

Then I need to get a job again. A real job because college now costs the same as a house; only it’s a four-year payment instead of a 30-year one. And that’s a whole other list. Mother’s day. Argh, don’t forget Mother’s day.

42. Flowers!!!!

I’m busy. I really am. I bet you are too. Maybe not as crazy as me. Maybe more so. But I realized what gets crossed off the list when life is busy is writing. For many of us, we don’t have a book deal with hard deadlines. That’s bad. It’s bad not only because who doesn’t want a book deal, right? It’s also bad because we can put everything in front of writing. Sometimes, we have to. Sometimes, family, work and health take precedence. Before you know it, months can go by and you’ve written less than two scenes.

That’s fine. Sometimes. Then you have to stop. Look at your list and figure out why you aren’t writing and whether it’s a priority at this time in your life. If it is, then make time. I’ve found these things work:

1. Schedule it. Don’t just write it on a list. Set apart a specific period of time for writing – even if it means getting up an hour earlier.

2. Ask God to give you time and focus.

3. Eliminate wasted time. I realized I spent six hours one week watching the back episodes of a television show.

4. Leave your home to write if you will do laundry, scrub the floor or anything else instead of writing. I’m not suggesting you get a hotel and leave your family. Rather, go to the library (yes, they still exist), coffee shop or anywhere you won’t be distracted for an hour or two and write.

These may not all work for you. That’s okay. Try things and you’ll find what works for you. As for me, I’m off to get flowers. Then write.

~*~

Nick Kording writes contemporary and Biblical fiction with a touch of romance, as well as Christian living, Bible studies and devotionals. She writes for His glory because salvation is a matter of life and death.