In ‘Finding Time to Write’, I offer methods that aspiring writers can use to free up time for their writing, or at least make the most of the time they have. So far, I’ve discussed making active choices to follow your passions, becoming selectively ignorant, and learning to say ‘no’.
The final installment in this series is about mastering the art of somniscription.
What is somniscription, you ask? It’s a revolutionary technique that, depending on your habits and physiology, could free up anywhere from 6-8 hours, on average, of daily time for your writing. Consider that! 6 to 8 hours, every single day! That’s enough to double, triple, or even quadruple your productive efforts, and all done through the simple technique of learning to write in your sleep.
I am, of course, joking. Somniscription is a real albeit extremely rare disorder, but it’s not particularly useful. Somniscribes wake up in the morning having scrawled single, often illegible sentences in journals or on white boards, but no one, unfortunately, is able to write coherent fiction in their sleep.
(Note: This does not mean that sleep is wasted time, however, as the mind is often hard at work during sleep cycles. Solutions to problems, both real world and related to writing, can and often do come in your sleep, but writing while asleep is just not possible I’m afraid.)
Sadly, there are only so many ways to free up time for the things you love. While I’ve seen sites purport to offer 20, 30, or even 50 ways to free up time throughout your day, I think there are really only three core techniques, which I’ve discussed already. Succinctly, they are:
1) Commit to the activities you are passionate about.
2) Eliminate as many activities for which you are not passionate about as possible.
3) Ignore distractions that keep your from your passions.
That’s it. If you can do those three things, you will find that you will, in fact, have time to do the things that you love.
Good luck!