Donna Talarico, editor and founder of Hippocampus Magazine, recently posted that despite her wishes to the contrary, her busyness didn’t ever seem to stop. I gave the post a laughing crying emoji. She’d been reading my mind. This busyness will be over soon and I’ll be able to get back to writing. But the fact is, as my colleague Barry Lee Thompson says, ‘We’re all always busy all of the time.’ Elwood Writer Helen McDonald will almost certainly agree.
Lately I’ve read newsletters suggesting that writers take just fifteen minutes to look at their manuscript, or start the piece that’s been bubbling away in their heads. Bah! I thought. That’s not enough time to do anything. That won’t work.
Then two weeks ago, as Christmas threatened to go into overdrive, something prodded me. You’re going to sit down, I said to myself, and look at the work you’ve been neglecting (avoiding) for so long. Give it just fifteen minutes max.
And Bada Boom! I had a freshly edited paragraph, with nicely killed off ‘darlings’ and more precise sentence structures. It wasn’t perfect, but I felt myself to be the happy narcissist at the centre of a virtuous circle.
There are many ‘tricks’ writers can use to get back to work. But at this crazy time of year – scribbling cards and catching up with people – this one felt quite doable. Barry agrees. He works for a bit, leaves the laptop open, ticks off items on the ‘to do’ list’, and then gets back to the work.
The final quote for time management goes to Leonard Bernstein, who once said, ‘To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.’
This seasonal post comes with special thanks to Donna Talarico and the maestro of music himself, Leonard B.
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 
A plan and not quite enough time. I love it! We have both those essentials in stock. Which means there are no longer any excuses. Thanks for the seasonal musings, Margaret. Have a peaceful Christmas. And happy writing, as always.
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No excuses, Barry. Thanks for stopping by in your busy schedule.
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Leonard Bernstein’s quote reminds me of a truism a colleague once told me: “If you want to get a project done, give it to your busiest employee.” More and more frequently, I’m writing in smaller clips of time over several days. I really miss the days where I would sit down and pound out and finish an essay in three or four consecutive hours. But I also recognize the importance of giving myself some space to reconsider the decisions I’ve made. Regardless, nothing is going to change until that pipedream of retirement finally makes its way to me. My life no longer has four-hour chunks available.
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It’s amazing how even in retirement the writing can be elusive. However, I wish you every joy when it does arrive
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I certainly agree Margaret – right now I feel busy all of the time, and that’s in retirement! Or so called. I love the idea of 15 minute chunks. That is the perfect amount of time for me to read over newly scribbled poems and immediately see where more imaginative words are needed, or think ‘no, that isn’t conveying what I really want to say’. I’ve begun to realise that the perfect day when I’m not doing anything is quite possibly an illusion. The trick is to keep jotting, keep writing, keep thinking about writing – even if it’s just for 15 minutes.
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Thanks for replying, Helen. It’s my new ‘go to’ answer when the occasional person asks how my writing is going. They generally nod and seem satisfied with the ’15 minutes’ answer. Maybe it’s a general rule for people in this time of our busy lives.
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thanks for visiting my site. I would be thrilled if you’d write a guest blog post for my site. If you think it might be fun or helpful to have my followers (who total about 10k across my various social media) meet you, here’s the link for general guidelines:
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