Time management tips for writers Tip 5: Take "you time" and refill the well

Writing is a creative craft.

This means that you need time for yourself, to refill the well, as Julia Cameron puts it. If you don't take time for yourself, and SCHEDULE that time, you'll burn out.

Writing takes concentration for extended periods. There's a limit to how long you can concentrate. I've noticed that if I push myself to write and work intensively for several days, I need several days to recover. So I pace myself.

Take "you time" every day.

The time you take for yourself should be spent on doing something solely for yourself. You can listen to music, read for entertainment, play a sport, go for a walk, or lie down and take a nap.

This is your time to indulge yourself. Many women interpret the instruction to take time for themselves as a hint that they should spend that time exercising at the gym, or doing something else “worthwhile”. (Men don't generally have this particular issue. :-))

Nonsense. Spend your you-time watching TV and eating chocolate if you want. Please don't feel guilty: your you-time is necessary to your well-being as a writer, and it's a part of managing your time productively. When you take time out to recharge, you'll find that you can write more.

Earlier tips in this series

Time management tips for writers Tip 1: see yourself as a competent writer

Time management tips for writers Tip 2: list everything

Time management tips for writers Tip 3: carry index cards

Time management tips for writers Tip 4: plan, draft and then do research