Building a Writing Routine: 3 Tips for Busy Young-Adults
Don’t fret! Finding the time to write is easy as chewing on a pencil!
Want to know my writing routine? Join me LIVE on Twitch from Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM EST! 📚✍️ I’ll be working on my second book, and together we’ll tackle tasks using the Pomodoro Method for focused work sessions. Bring your to-do list, and let’s boost our productivity side-by-side! 🚀
Finding time to write can feel impossible with school, your part-time (or full-time) job and social commitments pulling you in every direction. But with some little work, discipline and determination, you can make big progress into implementing a steady writing routine. Let’s dive in and explore how you can develop a sustainable writing habit, one small session at a time!
In this post, I go over three practical tips to help you fit writing into your busy lifestyle:
Work in small sessions and set Goals!
Use your downtime wisely!
Reward yourself!
1. Focus sessions and Goal setting
I mentioned in previous blog posts how the Pomodoro Technique helped me structure my focus and writing routine in a productivity powerhouse. The Pomodoro Technique was created by Francesco Cirillo, who was an Italian university student struggling to focus and study. Using a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato (‘Pomodoro’ mean tomato in Italian), he managed his studying by breaking them into timed “sessions”, typically 25-minutes followed by short breaks to improve concentration.
I’ve been using the Pomodoro method for more than two years now and I love it to death. I normally run a 45-minute session with a 15-minute break, and I normally do six (6) of these “pomos” as they are normally called today.
The “Tomato” Method
Remember, it’s important to take the breaks—stretch, hydrate and come back focused!
With this in mind, I suggest for a busy young-adult to try a small session of 25-minutes with a 10-minute break and see how it goes. I recommend doing two (2) pomos to get the mind going and focused. From there, experiment with how long you can concentrate on your writing and increase the length of the session accordingly.
The aim of this method is to focus on your writing without distractions. Strive to write as much as you can during the time.
The second part to this is setting a goal. This may require you to do some shifting in your schedule, depending on how busy you are. This could also mean some sacrifice on your end. For instance, do you watch Netflix or scroll YouTube after classes? You might want to give those up.
Download my FREE GOAL SHEET!
Writing down your goals is key to accomplishing them! Go ahead and grab the editable PDF! Click the image.
Using the Pomodoro technique, my goal is to do three (3) pomos daily to writing. I commit to that goal no matter what. Therefore, set a goal of how many sessions you’ll do. Starting off small like one pomo per day is great. This helps build momentum and consistency.
Speaking of which, small, consitent progress ads up over time, and shorter writing sessions maybe easier to fit into your busy schedule.
2. Use your downtime!
It’s easily to pull out your phone and check your socials, your emails or hop on YouTube/TikTok to pass the time. It’s a better use your downtime between classes, commutes to work/school or anytime between commitments to write down your ideas or brainstorm prompts and one-liners for your story.
Use tools like phone notes or writing apps to keep ideas organized and easily accessible. Good ol’ Post-It notes and a notebook are always good options too.
Downtime is fun time!
Try these ways to make the most out of your breaks!
It’ll be difficult at first to break the habit of reaching for your phone. But like with all habits, it takes practice and repetition. A habit of being productive and efficient. It also breaks the cycle of falling back on being lazy and ‘doom scrolling’ on socials all day long. Speaking of habits, this is a good segue for the next point.
3. Create a Habit with Rewards
When building your writing routine, reward yourself for each successful session! Use snacks, longer breaks or some social time to make the process enjoyable and sustainable.
This keeps your writing routine fresh and keeps you motivated to keep doing it. Do note, rewards don’t have to physical. For example, you can feel pride in your work or have the satisfaction of a job well done. But if you want to, you could go get yourself something tangible. That works too.
Tips for a successful habit!
As stated before, it’ll take practice and repetition to create a stable habit but don’t forget these helpful tips!
I like to tie my writing routine to another habit, like journaling before bed or writing first thing in the morning. This way, the routine merges with the pre-existing, making it easier to be consistent and disciplined.
And that’s it! I hope you got some value out of this blog post! Stay tuned for more insightful blogs every Monday!
Watch this helpful video on creating a Consistent Writing Routine!
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