Two things that help me write consistently when life gets busy
I’ve written consistently since October 2022.
It started with morning pages, then ideas and thoughts in my Notes app, then long Instagram posts, then emails for a small Mailchimp audience, then copy for Esther Perel (and other similar brands), then short stories like this one on Substack, then—most recently—essays about writing, big feelings, and small parts on my website and Substack.
Writing leads to more writing, but that’s not my point. My point is that I’ve written a lot over the last four years, and I’ve done it consistently.
I attribute this to two things.
The first is a commitment to writing. It looks like blocking out time in my schedule to write, putting up boundaries to protect that writing time, and giving myself writing goals (like a page a day or an essay a week). I also include sharing my writing as part of this commitment, because it’s by sharing my words with others and talking about my writing that I claim my identity as a writer, which helps me show up to write (after all, a writer writes).
But what happens when life gets busy, or I oversleep, or Fish needs an earlier walk than usual? I don’t write. When I have a goal in place but the words just won’t come? I don’t write. When someone asks what I do and I’m too scared to tell the truth? I beat myself up, then I don’t write.
This is where the second thing comes in: a commitment to flexibility. It counters the rigidity of the first commitment by lowering the bar and helping me write when I otherwise wouldn’t. Here’s what it looks like for me:
When I don’t have 30 minutes to write, flexibility says, “Just write for one minute. It doesn’t have to be much..”
When I feel uninspired, flexibility says, “Just start with where you are. It doesn’t have to be good.”
When I avoid telling someone I’m a writer, flexibility says, “Just try again next time, and in the meantime, write. That’s all it takes to call yourself a writer.”
When life is going perfectly, my commitment to writing is enough for me to write. But when life gets busy (as it does), it’s my commitment to flexibility that keeps me writing.
Together, both these commitments—to writing and to flexibility—help me continue to build the giant pile of work I mentioned at the start. Not all at once, not perfectly, but consistently, over time, with a few words here and a few pages there and yes, even a few days and weeks of no writing at all.
Now I’m curious: What keeps you writing when life gets busy?
Comment and let me know.
It sounds so stupidly simple, yet it's something we need to hear every now and then. Writing anything is better than writing nothing at all, and that's okay.
I've been trying to implement the same flexibility as yours, except I'm currently working to redefine which writings I consider 'worthwhile'. I used to think I could only consider it 'actual writing' when it was for a manuscript. Now, I look at all the plans and snippets and random ideas to connect in the shower or at night, and I see just how much I am occupying myself with writing after all. We say writing is a process, and yet it's easy to forget the process itself can count as writing too.
It's good to sit down behind the keyboard or that notebook and pen and assemble all your ideas into a piece of writing. But it's also good to recognise everything beforehand as just as valuable, and I've already been doing it every moment I open the notes app. That is what keeps me going on the busy or quiet days. The knowledge that the threshold to get started isn't as high as I thought it was.
Thanks, Dylan. I get so guilty when I fall off for even a day that I end up not even resting with the time ive specifically dedicated for resting and recuperating so I can write again. I need the flexibility you've managed to build. I hear an incredible amount of self trust here and that's a beautiful thing. Needed this today as I'm sick with a cold and didn't move my WIP forward!