How to Use a Planner to Make Time for Writing
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Sometimes, amid the hectic day-to-day lifestyle that’s common for most of us, it can be difficult to find the time to write. Even if we write for a living, there are many other events, appointments, and tasks we need to do on an average day.
Writing tends to be pushed to the side to make room for everything else. A great way to help combat the issue of not having time to write is to use a planner.
3 Great Tools to Plan Your Writing
Google Calendar
Google calendar is one option to use as a planner. It’s a useful tool because it can link directly to your phone and email. If someone emails you a date you need to remember, you should automatically receive the option to add it to your Google Calendar (as long as you’re using Gmail). Once it’s added to the calendar, reminders show up on your phone when a scheduled event is happening.
In a world where we’re all on our phones so much of the time (too much sometimes), these reminders can help us put our phones down and get back to work!
In a world where we’re all on our phones so much of the time (too much sometimes), these reminders can help us put our phones down and get back to work! We can also use Google calendar to block time and set reminders when it’s time to write, read, edit, or whatever other writerly tasks we need to get done.
Dry Erase Calendar
A dry erase calendar can be something small that sits on our desk, or it can be larger and hang on the wall. They are handy because we can use them as many times as we want without having to replace them every year.
A bedroom or office wall is a great place to use a dry erase board because you can see it when you wake up or begin work in the morning and before you get done with work or go to sleep at night. You’ll be able to clearly see what you have going on each day.
The best thing about dry erase boards (or dry erase anything, really) is that if we need to change up our plans, we simply erase and move around anything that needs to be changed. It’s also fun to use different colored markers to keep things organized, or just for a bit of flair.
Paper Planner
A paper planner is very useful when it comes to staying on track with our writing. You can get them pretty much anywhere, but we love Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Whether or not you love a pretty cover, what’s inside the planner is what’s important. A day planner, rather than a monthly planner, will be the most helpful in terms of getting writing done every day. When you can see each day on a micro level, you can plan out when to do your tasks, including writing, and see that there’s enough room for it all. The Happy Planner (shown to the right) is an excellent paper planner!
The Happy Planner
Monthly planners can be helpful, too, especially for goal-setting. Many planners have both pieces, which means you can chart your goals and get there with small tasks in one handy place.
How to Use a Planner for Writing
Fill out your planner with non-writing events first. It’s important to start with this because sometimes there are events or appointments we have that are necessary, but non-writing related (like going to the dentist). If only we could spend every day writing, that would be the dream! Alas, we all have “real life” stuff to do, too, so we need to make sure that when we’re filling out our planner for the week/month, we start here.
When we start here, we won’t accidentally schedule writing or reading time for a day when we already have many back-to-back appointments or meetings. It’s better to set ourselves up for success and plan our writing times for when we know we will be able to dedicate our full attention to it, even if it’s only for half an hour.
Plan time to read. As writers, it’s critical that we read. It helps us to continually learn and grow as writers. Reading in the genre that we write is also a great way to learn about our own preferences and figure out which writing styles we want to use. It can be a great way to unwind and destress from a crazy day, too,
Personally, if I don’t put reading on my schedule, I hardly ever get to it, so I made it a goal to read at least three chapters a day. It’s the perfect amount for me, not too much, but not so little that it takes me months to read a single book. We each have to find whatever pace works best for our schedules and our goals.
Plan time to write. The main goal in using our planner for writing is to make sure we plan time to write! Once we’ve filled in all the major events, appointments, and meetings, then we can get to the good stuff - writing.
Some of us want to write every day, which can seem like a lofty goal. If we break it down, it doesn’t seem so out of reach. I try to allot one hour a day in my schedule for writing. This is another flexible idea that depends on each person. There are some days when we may have a couple hours to write, or maybe just a few minutes. Either way, I try to write at least a little bit every day.
Plan time to edit. Editing is an important piece to start scheduling once we have a complete draft to edit. Some writers may edit as they go, but others, like me, edit at the end of a project/book. To avoid the trap of over-editing (because our inner critic feeds on that), we find that it’s generally best to get through most of a draft before doing major editing.
When I schedule editing, I still like to work on writing too, since I have a few projects going at once. I’ll schedule times for writing, and separate times for editing.
Not everyone works this way! It’s absolutely fine if you remove writing from your planner to make room for editing a project. The reason it’s important to add editing to our planners is because it’s another thing that may fall quite far on our list of priorities if we’re not proactive.
If there’s time…In some planners, there are sections each week for extra tasks. In my planner it’s called “If there’s time…” which is a great addition when you can find a planner that has one.
This area is where we can put the tasks that aren’t as important, but we’d still like to if we have spare time. Like most people, I find that I often forget even the simple things if I don’t write them down, so it’s nice to have a space in my planner that helps me remember the tasks I wanted to do if I have time.
Use color coding. Color coding can help with organization, as well as add a bit of fun to planning. For example, we can choose a color to go with each type of task.
For me, anything I need to do with writing is written in pink, anything about reading is written in green, and any appointments are written in orange. But you can create whatever kind of color code you want!
Stickers and tabs are also helpful and fun because they can be a cute reminder or pick-me-up that also helps you separate out tasks that need to be done. We find that making our planners fun and colorful makes our to-do lists both more functional and less imposing (especially when it’s a long list!).
Give yourself small, bite-sized tasks. When we put too large of tasks on our lists and don’t finish them, it can put a damper on our spirits. Breaking larger tasks up into a couple of smaller ones makes finishing much easier. We get to check off multiple tasks on our list, and we feel accomplished because we at least started our project, or maybe even finished it.
For those of us who lack motivation or just need a little extra push, it’s also okay to include day-to-day tasks like brushing our teeth and eating breakfast in our planners. Even if it seems trivial, we need to make sure that we can get through our day as best we can - sometimes that means crossing things off of our list!
Give yourself small rewards for completing tasks. Small rewards are a great way to make completing our tasks more fun & exciting. Rewards can be anything from a ten minute break to a special snack to using a fun pen to check the task off the list.
Personally, I use a fancy gel pen to check off my completed tasks and it creates a feeling of satisfaction and I don’t need much else to keep me moving. If a task seems more daunting or cumbersome, Sometimes I need a bigger reward for completing it like buying a new pen or notebook. It all comes down to staying motivated. After all, you know yourself best - what will keep you going?
My challenge to you is to start using a planner - any kind of planner.
Do you already use a planner? What type of planner works for you? How do you stay motivated? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.
Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great writing.