How to make time to write

People have always named ‘finding the time’ as the biggest barrier to creating content. There are always so many other things to do when you’re running a business. ‘Finding the time to write’ slips all too easily down the to-do-list.

Over the last few weeks, the busyness of work has ramped up for some people. Trying to work while wrestling with home school or endless Zoom meetings or just the strange exhaustion of this whole experience means that there is no time for anything other than the absolute basics.

For others though, there has been more time. Whether it’s the free hours you might have spent commuting, or gaps in your week representing paused projects, theoretically there now is the time to write. Yet it’s still not happening.

If you’d like to create content to help you market your business, and you’ve discovered that ‘lack of time’ isn’t actually the real reason you’re not writing, this might help.

It was never just about the time

A clear couple of hours in your diary doesn’t guarantee the ideas will come and the words will flow. The phone might not be ringing, but that doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly be able to write without interruption. It’s mental space, not diary space that creates the conditions for writing. Luckily, the act of writing itself can help clear the way for good ideas to start forming on the page.

"I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am." Jane Austen

Writing something, anything at all, can help you get into the zone. Notes, scribbled by hand, can start the flow. Most things I write start out this way.

This blog started like this

You might need to trick yourself to get into the writing zone. I’ll just try for 10 minutes and see what happens. Or be strict with yourself. I’m not leaving this seat until I’ve written at least one paragraph. You’ll know best what kind of approach you need. The key thing is that if you really do want to write, and you’ve made some space to do it, don’t let yourself off the hook when that time arrives.

Writing is hard

I’m saying ‘don’t let yourself off the hook’, because you will resist. Good writing is good thinking. And wrestling thoughts into some kind of order isn’t easy. (And harder than ever, right now, in the midst of a pandemic which has shattered our focus and zapped our ability to concentrate.) If you want to build your business with content marketing, you’ve got to put the words in. Experts write. There’s no shortcut.

So do whatever it takes to get into the zone.

Here are some of things that help me write when I’m resisting.

Step away from the screen

Go somewhere else to do it. Your favourite coffee shop might be out of bounds, but just switching rooms or even switching chairs can sometimes help. Writing outside is lovely, and can make starting even the most difficult pieces of writing feel like a little bit of a treat.

Try the Pomodoro technique

25 minutes of focus is usually enough to find a way into a piece of writing. No cheating, no checking email, switch all notifications off and just write until the timer pings.

Start anywhere

If the beginning feels impossible, start in the middle. Write whichever part is easiest to grasp and take it from there.

Write badly

Give yourself permission to write badly. Silence your inner critic when you’re working on a first draft. First drafts are allowed to be a mess, and no one else is going to see them. Once you’ve got a body of words to play with you can look at them critically, but until then, write in an uninhibited way.

Limit your focus

Big sprawling pieces of content are especially hard to manage. Write something that answers one question from one client in a lot of useful detail, rather than something with a wide span but a shallow depth aimed at a general readership.

Your writing is your marketing

Creating valuable content that helps your audience is the best kind of marketing. Sharing your knowledge builds your reputation and strengthens your niche. It gives you something to say, and a reason to get in touch with the people you’d like to engage.

Sharing the right content online helps people find you, get to know you and trust you; Google loves content that answers the questions people are asking.

Your knowledge, perspective and experiences are what make you unique. Writing is the way you can show what your business stands for. It can build a community around what you believe.

Reminding yourself of why you’re doing it, can sometimes help when the going gets tough.