I had big plans for October. I had a weekly blog post idea for Preptober, daily word count goals for my WIP, and some journal entries from LAST year I was determined to finish writing about. To be honest, hardly any of that happened. This past week I found myself in tears of complete overwhelm. Overwhelmed by the chaos of the messy house, dishes piled high, blog posts unwritten and word count not climbing after several days, and overwhelmed the pure exhaustion from the months of my baby not sleeping through the night and now possibly dropping from two naps a day to one. This mama is very tired.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love being a mom. It is one of the biggest blessings God has ever given me, and my heart is often overflowing from the sheer joy of it. Though the mission of motherhood is beautiful, it is hard. How can a heart be so full of joy and so heavy at all once? I am living in the dream of motherhood that I have always prayed for, yet I still get overwhelmed when I can’t get things done and am struggling to find the time to write this novel that God has laid on my heart. Perhaps like me, You may discouraged and searching for answers, wondering how you can even finish a novel if you can’t even finish your lukewarm latte before little fingers are twirling in the forgotten foam. It may feel like an impossible dream to balance writing with work, family life, homemaking, and the million other things on your to-do list.
Writing in this season of life may feel a little messy at times, but take a deep breath, Mama—you’ve got this. By gently weaving these strategies into your Novel Writing Month or your weekly writing rhythm, your words will find their way to the page— one step at a time.
- Set clear, attainable goals.
- If your goal is to just “write more,” more than likely, everything else will take precedence if you don’t have a clear goal in mind. Write goals in your journal, vision board, or notes app and work backwards. If you know you have to write a certain number of hours, or reach a certain word count goal. Divide that number by the amount of days in the month you have available to write. Have your goal be attainable for the current season you’re in. Yes, push yourself and work hard, however, don’t make your goal so intense that you burn out way too soon. You’re more likely to succeed by starting small and remaining consistent, than if you were to start off with too large of a goal that you (and your family) are burnt out only a few days in.
- Communicate your goals with your family, and include them in your writing when possible.
- Not only is communicating your goals to your spouse and kids good accountability, it also helps everyone be on the same page with how you will be spending your time writing this month, and what everyone else’s schedules are and responsibilities are accordingly. Taking some extra time to explain why your writing is important to you and what your days will be looking like may help ease any tension with a new schedule and wondering why mom may be less “available.” Little kiddos may feel left out in this new process, so try making your project exciting to them by involving them in the creative planning process in age appropriate ways. For younger kids, this could look like asking them for character name suggestions, drawing a character for you, a reward chart with a special treat for when you reach a certain goal, etc. If your teen is wanting to be involved, you could ask for their help in your research process or read them sections of your writing from the day if that is of interest to them. For little littles, try entertaining them with a specific “new” activity, toy or show, reserved only for them to use when mama has some writing time. For babies, you can always baby wear while you write to keep them close and sleeping soundly next to mama. You could even strap on the baby carrier, and walk on your walking pad while you write to get some extra movement in during the day! Husbands don’t have to be excluded either! Sometimes, I include my husband by getting some male insight on a male character’s POV, or by reading him some of my favorite lines from a scene I’m in the middle of writing. Having him knowing my goals helps me to push through the overwhelm and not feel so alone as I pursue my writing dreams.
- Batch Cook Meals
- This may seem like an odd “writing productivity tip,” but meal prepping and batch cooking has saved me so much time and mental stress, and thus has kept my home and writing endeavors running more smoothly. By minimizing time in the kitchen and having more ready-made meals and snacks handy, you can spend more time and mental energy on writing.
- Time block writing into your day.
- If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get lost in your task and everything else falls by the wayside. If you time block/ schedule writing into your day at a specific time, it allows time to balance your household tasks and work without constantly making writing last on the priority list, and your home and/ or work responsibilities can continue to run smoothly. Treat your writing session like a calendar appointment! There will always be dishes, laundry, and tidying to do, so if you have a set time for those things, it will be easier to lay aside the endless to to’s and create more margin for your writing goals. If you don’t take time to write now, you never will! Your time blocks don’t have to be a full hour of complete silence with your hot cup of coffee, though that does sound like a dream. It doesn’t mean you have to get up at 5am before your kiddos either! (As a mom with a little still not sleeping through the night and waking up bright and early every morning, this just isn’t feasible for me as I need all the sleep I can get at this current season of life.) I’ve had to get more creative with finding blocks of time during the day and be okay with it not being a peaceful hour of listening to soundtracks while cranking out a couple thousand words in one writing session. Sometimes it’s sitting down for ten minutes while my baby is contained in her highchair as she nibbles on her lunch, or is occupied for several minutes emptying the tea cupboard for the fifth time that day. Find small snippets of time throughout your day that you could write for a few minutes instead of resorting to doom-scrolling. These small blocks of time of making progress will all add up, I promise.
- Be flexible and give yourself grace.
- Though we may have an ideal writing time set for the day, life doesn’t always go as planned. Maybe your one-year old is teething and in a sleep regression and misses her second nap of the day, or your pre-teen is feeling down and needing some undivided attention for a heart-to-heart over some hot coco. If your scheduled writing time is interrupted or not feasible for that day, take a deep breath and revise to your best ability. Your thirty minute writing session doesn’t have to be a complete bust– you may just have to break it up into small ten minute intervals throughout the day. Give yourself grace when you become your kids’ jungle gym during your writing session, the baby wakes up from a nap early or refuses to go down, or you’re too exhausted to write that in that morning after being up multiple times in the night with a teething baby or sick kiddos. Give yourself grace to choose to spend the quiet of the evening with your husband after the kiddos go to bed so you two can take an evening to connect during the crazy busy season you’re both in. Just as God has given you this mission to write your story, He has also given you this beautiful role as wife & mom– To encourage your husband, and nurture and care for your children. Your presence in their life is so important in helping shape their character and nurture their creativity. By remaining flexible and giving yourself grace when your plans are overthrown or needing to be revised, it will help keep you from burnout and discouragement.
- Draw strength from Your Creator
- Don’t wrap up your identity in your writing progress, but rather rest in your identity in Christ. If God has called you to write this story, He will enable you to do it! Keep surrendering your story in prayer, asking that God will help you be diligent with your time, give you wisdom with the storyline, and strengthen you for the journey ahead. You can do all things through Him who strengthens you! (Philippians 4:13).
Whether you are hoping to implement these tips into this Novel November or gently weave more writing rhythms into your day, I hope you finish reading the post feeling a little lighter, less weary, and more encouraged. We are in this together, my friend! Please comment what tip you found the most helpful, or please share any writing productivity tips you may have for busy moms. Let’s learn from and encourage one another in this beautiful season of motherhood while we pursue our writing dreams.