Here comes a massive article. Just a preemptive reminder to take advice, from me or anyone, always with a grain or packet of salt. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s everything you need to know about starting and maintaining a new writing routine!
Factors to consider:
When your attention is the most needed by work, family, etc.
When you’ll have the energy to write
When you can carve out and protect time consistently
If you do better with long or short periods of focused time
Ideal Time for your Routine:
A few hours when you could ignore some calls, sit down with some coffee, and just write, free of distraction and always at the same time.
How Often and How Long:
If you’re able to sit down for three hours straight, carve those three hours out together! If not, aim to get an hour or two throughout the day that you can protect for your writing.
When:
Everyone’s schedules are different, so the timing that works best for you will be dependent on that. But, here are my general pros and cons for different parts of the day for you to consider when building your routine. Also, if you can only manage weekend routines, 3 days a week, or 4, do that! Most importantly, when setting a routine that you want to keep, make sure it’s one that you can reasonably stick to. You can always up it!
Mornings🌄
Morning writers tend to get up at the crack of dawn because no one else will be up. The people, the jobs, the side gigs that may need their attention won’t need them right away. Does it suck to get up every day at 4, 5, and 6am? Yes. It does at first. But once you work into it, it kind of feels great. One box checked off. You start the day off productively, and then you feel like the days are longer in a good way. All in all, it’s a good benefit!
Afternoon☀️
For those with late night and early morning shifts at work, afternoon writing is ideal. Afternoon writing is great to sneak in an hour or two on a break or on weekends. I don’t often personally write in the afternoons because I usually have work, class, or practicing to attend to. But if it works for you, go for it! It can be nice for people who like to write at peak energy levels in the day!
Evening🌇
After work/class writers, where you at? Here! Writing in the evenings, probably. Evening writing is nice for people who like to settle in with their work. If you’re thinking about your WIP all day long, by evening, you’ll be more than ready to write!! So for those who like to write based purely on inspiration, this may be the ideal writing space for you.
Night🌙
People who write late at night tend to do it for the very same reasons as the early morning people, only they’d prefer to be up until 3am rather than up AT 3am. (For the record, I do not recommend either. Also sleep!!)
So, you have all the benefits of times in mind, you’ve considered your work/life schedule and your work/focus style to determine what hours when you can chunk. Time to get started and keep it up!
My tips for keeping up your new routine:
1-Commit
Tell the people in your life about the times they are not to disrupt you. If other people know about it, it’ll put a little pressure on you to keep it up, and a little pressure is good for something like this! Especially for people who want to make writing into a career, you’ll need to treat it with the same level of respect, dedication, and discipline as you would your job!
2-Work Your Way In
Nothing good will come if you forcing yourself to wake up at the crack of dawn out of nowhere and try writing for 3 hours. You’ll drop it faster than you decided to do it! Especially if you’re aiming for something you’re not used to, work your way in. You wanna get up at 5am? Start with 7 or 6:30. You want to write for 3 hours straight? Start with 1, then 2. Easing into it will help you get used to it and keep it in the long run!
3-Wait to Make Changes
If your routine doesn’t work for you the way you’ve set it up, absolutely go in and make some changes. When it’s early on, though, it can be really easy to make those changes too early, to give up on something too soon. So, sign a contract with yourself. (Not literally, unless you wanna be extra official about it.) Commit to one week, one month, or something in between where you REALLY give it your all. Then, if it doesn’t work, change it.
4-Be Clear (and Patient) about your Goals
Initially, when making your new routine, don’t worry about how much you get done. Your first priority should be Consistency. Once you get into your routine, the words will come. So be patient with yourself! It will pay off.
5-Focus and Distraction
Using apps like Study Bunny(https://apps.apple.com/us/app/study-bunny-focus-timer/id1478345385 ) and Flora(https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flora-green-focus/id1225155794 ) can help make your phone an asset instead of a distraction. Putting your phone on Do Not Disturb can help too, so long as your able. If you struggle with focus for long periods of time, try the Pomodoro Method! 25min focus, 5min break x2, then 10min break. You can find free timers in online browsers for that (https://pomofocus.io) there’s one right there, or you can use apps for it (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/focus-keeper-time-management/id867374917). Sorry Samsung folks, I’m an Apple user. But if you search Pomodoro Timer, you’re sure to find something!
That’s It!
Hopefully this has equipped you with all the information, advice, and tools you’ll need to start a writing routine of your own or to make a new one! In the comments, drop your plan for your new routine! And as always, if you have questions, feel free to DM my Instagram @author_s.Alexis!