My mom had a few little sayings that she grew fond of dishing out whenever the opportunity presented itself. For instance, she used to say, “You don’t have to tell everything you know,” whenever one of us was close to crossing the boundary of sharing too much information. Another one she liked was “A little work never killed anybody.”
And for an entire year after watching The Emperor’s New Groove, she took up the habit of randomly seasoning her conversations with the phrase “Boom baby!” That was a Dark Time for the Berg household.
But the one I think has stuck with me most of all was this: “You can do a lot of dishes in five minutes.” It was her way of saying, “Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of time, just get done what you can. You might surprise yourself.”
I think this is great advice for writers too. Often times, I set myself some big writing goal, and then things happen in my day that make it impossible to fulfill that goal. And how do I react? I don’t write at all.
But mom was right. And just like you can get a lot of dishes done in five minutes, you can also get a respectable amount of writing done in fifteen. I know it can be discouraging when you can’t quite find the time in your day to do all the writing you’d really like to. Believe me I face it all the time. I have a full time job, and responsibilities at home, and God only knows how much more I’ll have to deal with once I have kids. But writing doesn’t have to be a monumental endevour every time you do it. Sure it’s nice to be able to carve out an hour to focus on nothing but writing, but life doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes its enough to give yourself just a few minutes to pound out a few hundred words. Its always better than thinking, “Well, I don’t have that much time so I guess, I’ll just blow off my writing for today.”
We’ve all got little bits of time in our lives that go to waste simply because we think they don’t matter. But maybe we need to reconsider. Maybe those little bits of time could be the most valuable parts of our day. It may not seem like much, but never underestimate the power of those in-between moments. If we use them, we might get more accomplished than we could have dreamed, not all at once, but little by little. Because writing is a journey we take one step at a time.
The Unsanity Files 
Great post, Albert. I’ve been guilty of blowing off that fifteen minutes, too, especially if I’m stuck in my writing. I often find, though, that if I set a timer for the fifteen minutes I do have and tell myself I’m just going to focus for that long, at the end of that time, I’m eager for the next opportunity. I suppose a commitment to fifteen minutes of writer’s block isn’t as intimidating as carving out a whole morning for it. All the best.
It’s a good idea just to sit and think a while too. Sometimes you’re just not ready to write. Quiet contemplation can be much more productive than we think
As writers we do have to be creative after all! Carving out much needed time is a good way to start.
Great post! Your mom is a smart woman.
Indeed she is. I’m very thankful for her and the rest of my family.
Hahaha, I like your mom. Thank you once again for picking my pajama wearing, kleenex blowing, crumpled writer form off the floor. Now I don’t feel a total putz for not writing as much while I’m sick.
Glad I could help. And you shouldn’t feel guilty about not writing when you’re sick. I can’t get a word out when I’m under the weather.
Amazing advice! I’m forever putting off writing because I don’t have ‘enough’ time, or I’m getting distracted.
Your mom is a smart lady.
It’s way too easy to procrastinate (said the guy who waited a whole day to respond to his commenters.) On the one hand, sometimes you need a kick in the pants to get you going, but on the other sometimes your words need time to germinate in your mind before getting them out on paper. The trick is knowing which time is which.
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