7 Super Easy Ways to Find Time to Write Your Book

In my short Jumpstart My Book! survey, I ask the question, “What’s the biggest fear or frustration you have about getting your book into your prospects’ hands?” Hands down the biggest frustration people answer with is lack of time. One recently said, “Just getting it written… the ‘I have no time’ excuse.” And that’s what it is—an excuse. If I can run a 90–120-hr-per-week business and still find time to write and publish three books in the past year, I know you can, too! Here’s how:

1. Turn off internet. Seriously, today I woke up and there was an internet outage in my area. In fact, it’s still not up, so I started writing articles for my blog. This is my fourth article, and each has had over 550 words. That’s well over 2,000 words in less than an hour, all because my internet wasn’t working. I encourage you to unplug and see what happens!
2. Put your ideas in one place. One of the reasons I’m so productive without internet is my Idea Bin. I write all the ideas I have for one particular book or each article idea onto slips of scrap paper and file them away in a box—my Idea Bin. When I have unexpected time (like now with this internet outage) I go through my bin and take action on the notes inside. You can do the same with your book. Keep all your ideas for your book in one place, and when you have some unexpected time use that time to take action on your ideas. Sit down and write!
3. Execute the 15 minute habit. Get in the habit of getting up 15 minutes early in the morning, or staying up 15 minutes later at night. Use that time to work on your book and get in the habit of writing a little every day. Before you know it, you’ll have plenty of material for your book.
4. Take a “working” vacation. Go away for the weekend and only bring materials related to your book with you. Work with no internet (see #1 above) and write for two to three days. You’ll get a ton of information down in that short time.
5. Reward yourself. Sometimes we as humans have to resort to bribery. For instance, I’m bribing myself that if I get this article written, I’ll go find a coffee shop with internet and feed my craving for connection on Facebook for a while. Think of something you enjoy doing and give yourself a goal. Once you finish that goal, reward yourself with your special treat.
6. Start drinking green smoothies for breakfast every day. Now if you’ve been following my back to health journey, you know I’m not kidding! After the first four days drinking green smoothies, I started to get higher quality sleep in less hours, more energy and focus through the day to get normal work done, and by keeping a smoothie at my desk, I’ve curbed distracting hunger pangs and cravings so I can focus. One day I got caught up on seven days’ worth of work. Change some eating habits and you’ll magically find you have more hours in the day!
7. Make your book your project. I choose one big project at a time and work on it until it’s done. If you’re a creative entrepreneur, you probably have tons of projects all partially finished. Choose one, even if it’s not your book, and focus on just that one until it’s completely done. Once it’s done, move on to the next project on your list and rinse and repeat. Insert your book as a “project” on your list of projects, and you will soon find it’s the next one to get completed. You’ll find you have more energy to do future projects as you finish past ones, and the satisfaction you get from finishing what you start will be passed on to the next project on your list. When it comes time to write your book project, you’ll already be in the habit of finishing what you start, so that project will come naturally to you and actually get completed!

These are all ways I manage to pump out books so quickly, in addition to handling my normal work load and marketing my business. I know they will work for you, so choose one today and apply it.

Post your results and other ideas in the comments below!

Photo courtesy Shutterstock, GaudiLab