When I was first starting out in publishing, I had a toddler at home and pre-schooler gone for only a few hours a week. A lot of well-intentioned people in my life kept advising me to wait until I had more time before I started writing seriously. I argued that conditions in life would never be perfect and I had to just do my best.

Oh, how true this has been for the past nine (!) years.

My kids are back at school this week. Winter weather, however, means the looming prospect of days off. If I waited for guaranteed time, I’d still be unpublished.

For all aspiring authors, I hope that is encouraging. Do your best with the time that you have. The moment will never be perfect. And that’s okay. Perfect sucks. Done is better.

Earlier this week, I began tracking my time again. I am always fighting work creep aka not respecting my office hours so I’m always sort of working and always sort of wasting time. My work day starts after my kids head to school, and I’ve walked the dog. She walks rain or shine. On this day, she cut it short because she was more interested in trying to chase a fox.

I’m on my third cup of coffee when I sit down at my desk. I devote my morning hours to writing. I’m typing on my alphasmart keyboard. I love using this device for drafting because it helps me focus on the scene at hand (and I’m looking to my notes to remember what has to happen), and I love watching the words appear on my laptop when I’ve finished.

I’ve started cutting my writing sprints into twenty minute sessions. I know what I want to write for the day. Sometimes, with the shorter sessions, I can push ahead in the story a little bit. Other days, I reach my goal, and I’m done. Neither is superior.

I take a break on my treadmill. On this day, I was walking and listening to an audiobook. When I’m writing, I like to read in a genre outside of contemporary romance. Fourth Wing hit the spot. In the spring, I’ll walk outside and dictate another scene. Other days, I’m jogging, and I watch TV. Regardless, I need movement mid morning.

After a shower and lunch, I return to my desk and work on social media. Spoiler alert: I like to plan and schedule in advance when I can. Creativity begets creativity. Once I start an idea for Tiktok videos or blog posts, I will usually have several and like to make a batch.

Then my alarm lets me know I have to get my kids.

If I’m writing a new project, this is the end of my work day. Afternoons and evenings are a rush of activities and cooking and catching up with my kids. When I’m editing, however, I can usually keep going in little spurts here and there (30 mins before dinner, 40 mins between dropping one kid off and picking the other up). I love edits and find that I can easily switch my brain on/off from editing the project to taking care of my family.

It doesn’t look like much. Consistency has been the key to my results. I used to work for intense spurts of time and then had months of little to no progress. I prefer this schedule and have avoided burn out for the past several years. How about you?