#201. The Time Myth: Why ‘Finding Time to Write’ Actually Makes It Harder

Feel stuck "finding time" to write your novel? You might be solving the wrong problem. Here's what's really going on—and what to do instead.

Why does finding time to write feel impossible sometimes? We blame our busy schedules (and yes, that's definitely part of it). But there's something else lurking beneath the surface that stops your writing progress dead in its tracks. And it has a way of making you feel like you're failing at this whole writing thing. Which is so not true.

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on why "finding time" is actually making it HARDER to write your novel. Plus, I'm sharing 3 powerful mindset shifts and practical strategies to finally break free from this trap so you can finish your novel with the life you're actually living.

You'll hear me talk about things like:

[02:45] Why the writers who complain most about "no time" often spend hours on writing-related activities (just not actual writing)

[03:15] The hidden truth about "not enough time" that's actually keeping you stuck (hint: it's not what you think)

[05:15] How decision paralysis can waste your precious writing time—and the simple fix that takes 2 minutes

[06:10] Why some writers accomplish more in 20 minutes than others do in 2 hours

[07:25] The mindset shift that transforms time from your enemy into your creative ally (and 3 practical strategies to implement these shifts starting today)

Your story deserves to be told. Not someday when you have "more time." Not eventually when life calms down. But now, with the life you're actually living. The time is already there—you just need to see it differently.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Grab the free Time Management Guide here!
• Join the Notes to Novel waitlist

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FREE GUIDE: 5 Writing Roadblocks Keeping You Stuck (& How To Break Through)

Chapters

• 0:00 The Myth of Finding Time
• 3:18 Writer's Block vs. Decision Paralysis
• 6:34 Reframing Your Relationship with Time
• 10:31 Three Practical Time Management Strategies
• 14:02 The Uncomfortable Truth About Writing
• 15:20 Resources and Course Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:32

If you're waiting around to find the time to write your novel, you are going to be waiting forever, okay, and it's not because you're lazy, it's not because you're not meant to be a writer or anything like that. It's because finding time is a myth that keeps you safe from the vulnerable act of actually writing and the writers who go on to finish their novels. They don't have more time than you. They don't have fewer responsibilities, easier lives or any kind of magical productivity powers. They've just stopped looking for time and they've started making choices about the limited time they do have. Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming, so each week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, we're talking about why finding time to write actually makes it harder to finish your novel and what to do instead. Now I want you to picture this scene with me.

Speaker 1: 1:43

It's Sunday night, you've got your planner open and you're feeling that surge of determination. This is going to be the week you finally make real progress on your novel. So you start blocking out your schedule. You've got two hours every morning, from 5 to 7, an hour during lunch and another two hours after the kids go to bed. You do the math and that's five hours a day, which is 35 hours this week alone that you're going to dedicate to your writing. By Friday, you estimate that you'll have written thousands of words.

Speaker 1: 2:10

Then fast forward to Monday morning. Your alarm wakes you up at 4.45 and you hit snooze. Tuesday, you actually manage to drag yourself to your desk, but you spend the entire two hours staring at a blank page, completely frozen by the pressure of your quote-unquote precious writing time. By Wednesday you're just too tired to write. And then Thursday becomes a catch-up day for all the life stuff you've been neglecting all week. Friday arrives and you've written exactly zero words.

Speaker 1: 2:37

Sound familiar? Well, here's the thing, and this might sting a little. But you're not struggling to write because you don't have enough time to write. You're struggling to write because you're trying to find time instead of making intentional choices about the time you already have. And if you're feeling called out already and you want to jump straight into the solutions, I created a free time management guide with five specific strategies to help you work with your actual life and time instead of against it. Just head to the show notes or savannagilbocom forward. Slash time to grab it, but stick around, because we're going to talk about why your brain actually prefers this excuse of not having enough time to write.

Speaker 1: 3:15

So let me share something I've noticed after working with hundreds of aspiring writers the ones who complain the most about having no time to write they're often the same ones who spend hours researching the perfect writing software. They spend hours reading endless blog posts and listening to endless podcast episodes about writing and yes, I see the irony there. They create these elaborate character questionnaires. They never actually finish. They outline and re-outline without ever writing actual scenes, and they scroll through Instagram or Pinterest for quote-unquote inspiration. And here's what's really happening. They're not struggling with time, they're struggling with fear disguised as a time management problem.

Speaker 1: 3:56

Think about it like this when you say I need to find time to write, what you're really saying is that writing isn't currently a priority, and if that's true, that's okay. But let's at least call it what it is right. And the reason I say this is because when you say you need to find time to write, finding time implies that time is out there, hiding somewhere like it's lost keys under your couch cushions. If you just search hard enough, reorganize your schedule one more time or discover that one magical productivity hack, then suddenly these blocks of writing time will just magically appear. But time doesn't work that way. Right Time isn't just found. Now.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Your brain is incredibly clever. It knows that saying I don't have time is a socially acceptable excuse that not many people are going to challenge. I mean, after all, we are all busy people, right, we have responsibilities, obligations, packed calendars, you name it. But when writers say I don't have time, it's often code for a deeper truth. So something like I'm afraid to start writing because I might fail if I do. Or I'm overwhelmed and I don't know where to begin. I don't know what to do first, second and third, or I'm scared my writing won't be good enough. What if I finish? And it's just terrible? Or maybe I don't trust myself to follow through on something if I start it, or maybe I'm worried about what others will think, like what happens if I actually finish it and then I have to share it with other people? And it's really bad, right? There's so many types of fear that come up when we're trying to do something like write a novel, and so when you believe you need to find these huge blocks of time before you can write, you're basically giving your fear the perfect hiding place, because, let's be honest, it's so much easier to say, oh yeah, I'll write when I have more time, than it is to admit that you're terrified of putting words on the page because they might actually suck right.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Well, here's where it gets interesting, and this is something I've noticed a lot. Sometimes, when writers say I don't have time, what they really mean is I don't know what to do with the time I have. So picture this You've managed to carve out that precious hour to write. You sit at your desk, you've got, let's say, 76,000 words left to complete your novel, but instead of writing, you completely freeze up and then questions start swirling around in your head Should I work on that problematic chapter three? Should I skip ahead to the scene I'm really excited about? Oh wait, do I need to figure out my magic system. Before I start writing, maybe I should reread what I wrote last week. That's probably a better place to start. Actually, maybe I should outline the next few chapters first, and so on and so on, and then, before you know it, half of your writing time is gone because it's been completely consumed by decision paralysis.

Speaker 1: 6:27

So, yes, you've been at your desk and you've been quote-unquote writing for 30 minutes, but you have zero words. You have nothing to show for it, right? So without a clear plan, even abundant time or even having pockets of time, can become useless time If you think about it. This is exactly why some writers can produce more in 20 focused minutes than others can do in two scattered hours. It's not about having more time. It's about knowing exactly what to do with the time you choose to use.

Speaker 1: 6:56

So when aspiring writers tell me that they have no time, typically what I ask them to do is to track what they do every day for a week, and I'm not doing this to judge them or shame them. I just want to see where their time goes, and I want them to see where their time is going as well. And what we usually discover is that it's not that they don't have time, it's that they've created these impossible standards for what that writing time should look like. So maybe they believe they need uninterrupted two to three hour blocks of time, or maybe they believe they need the perfect, quiet environment or the most clean, aesthetically pleasing desk, or maybe they feel like they need the mental clarity and creative inspiration that only the muse can provide, whatever it is. So then, when real life offers them, let's say, 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there they dismiss these pockets of time because they think what's the point? I can't write a whole chapter in 20 minutes. I need a two to three hour block of time. I need X, y, z. 20 to 30 minutes will just never cut it.

Speaker 1: 7:53

But all this is is really just that, all or nothing, black and white, thinking right, and this can be a huge time thief. So what if, instead of trying to find time to write, you asked yourself how can I honor my writing with the time I do have? And this little reframe can really start changing everything. Because, first, it acknowledges your current reality instead of waiting for some mythical, perfect future that most likely is never going to exist, right? Second, it treats your writing as something worthy of a spot of honor, not something that's just squeezed in around the edges. And then, third, it focuses on you taking action over the perfect circumstances or the perfect block of time. And the writers who make this kind of mindset shift and put these thoughts into practice, they stop seeing time as the enemy and they start seeing it as just another creative constraint that will actually help them write. So let me paint you a picture of two different writers.

Speaker 1: 8:48

Writer number one believes she needs to find time to write her novel. She waits for her schedule to clear, she waits for inspiration to strike and she waits to have the perfect two-hour window. When she does get the time, she spends it trying to decide what to work on. Then months pass and her novel remains unwritten. Now writer number two has made the mindset shifts that we just talked about. She knows that she has 15 minutes while her coffee brews. She also knows exactly what scene she's working on, because she spent two minutes yesterday leaving herself a note. She opens her document and she writes 200 words. They're not perfect words, but they are real words that are on the page. After a week, those 15-minute sessions add up to about 1,400, 1,500 words, and then in a year she's written enough to have a full novel Right? So can you see the difference? The difference isn't necessarily time. It's about choice how you'll use that time and it's about preparation how you'll get yourself ready to use that time as wisely as possible. All right now.

Speaker 1: 9:46

I know we just talked a lot about mindset stuff and about time management and shifting our mindset around time, but I want to also provide you with some strategies so you can actually implement this new way of thinking, and I have three strategies I'm going to share with you. So number one is tracking your time for, let's say, one week. For one week, I want you to notice every time you think to yourself I don't have time to write, or I wish I had more time to write. And then I want you to think about what you've been doing that day or that hour, whatever it is, and ask yourself what did I choose to do with my time instead and the goal is not to judge yourself or feel bad or anything, the goal is really just about awareness. So I want you to see what you're spending your time doing, and you might discover that you had more time than you thought. You just spent it differently than you would have liked to. All right, so that's strategy number one.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Strategy number two is to think about your minimum viable writing session. So I want you to decide on the smallest amount of writing time that quote-unquote counts. Maybe for you it's 10 minutes, maybe it's five. The goal is to make it a small amount of time so that you can't use the I don't have time excuse. I think most of us can find five to ten minutes, and so the question becomes are you going to choose to use those five to ten minutes or not? All right, so decide on a minimum viable writing session. I recommend five to 10 minutes, and just see what you do with those five to 10 minutes that you set aside. And that's strategy number two.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Strategy number three is to leave yourself a note at the end of each writing session. So, no matter how long or short your writing sessions are, I want you to leave yourself a note at the end of it about what you want to do next or about what comes next. So something like tomorrow I'm going to write the scene where Sarah discovers the letter from her mother, or tomorrow I'm going to write chapter seven, whatever it is. This will really help cut down and hopefully eliminate that sense of decision fatigue and help you dive straight into writing when you sit down next time. All right, so strategy number three leave yourself a note for your next session, and you definitely don't have to do all three of these things. You certainly can if you want to, but I recommend just picking one, seeing how that works out for you. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, that's okay too. Just try another one next week.

Speaker 1: 11:56

All right, now to recap everything we talked about, I want to leave you with a little bit of an uncomfortable truth, and that uncomfortable truth is that if you're waiting around to find the time to write your novel, you are going to be waiting forever. Okay, and it's not because you're lazy, it's not because you're not meant to be a writer or anything like that. It's because finding time is a myth that keeps you safe from the vulnerable act of actually writing and the writers who go on to finish their novels. They don't have more time than you. They don't have fewer responsibilities, easier lives or any kind of magical productivity powers. They've just stopped looking for time and they've started making choices about the limited time they do have. So they've stopped saying I'll write when my desk is clean, or I'll write when I have two hours, or I'll write once I figure out that plot hole, whatever it is. And they've started saying I'm writing now even though X, y, z, so, even though I haven't figured out that plot hole, even though my desk is messy, whatever it is and here's the crucial part Most of them know what they're going to do before they sit down to write.

Speaker 1: 12:57

All right, so you have two options from here. Option one is you keep searching for those elusive blocks of perfect writing time, staying safely in the planning and dreaming phase where your novel can't disappoint you. Or you can go with option two and you can accept that your time isn't out there hiding from you. You don't need to find it and start honoring your writing with the time that you do have. If you're ready for option two, then go download my free time management guide. That includes five specific strategies to help you work with your actual life and time instead of against it. And these strategies are not about finding more time. They're about making the most of the time that you choose to give your writing.

Speaker 1: 13:36

So head over to the show notes or go to savannagilbocom. Forward slash time to download the free guide and you'll learn how to use small pockets of time effectively and, yes, even 15 minutes matters. You'll learn how to work with your natural energy rhythms instead of against them. You'll learn how to create sustainable writing habits that fit your real life, how to stop the perfectionism that's stealing your writing time and how to build momentum even with the busiest schedule. All right, so one more time. That's savannahgilbocom forward slash time. And, last but not least, if you're ready to go beyond time management and if you want a complete roadmap for actually finishing your novel, make sure your name is on the waitlist for my Notes to Novel course, because doors are opening again very soon and in that course, I teach you exactly how to brainstorm, outline and write your story, even if you only have 30 minutes a day, all right. So I'll put the link to that in the show notes as well. You can also go to savannahgilbocom forward slash waitlist to get your name on the waitlist for my Notes to Novel course, which will be opening again very soon.

Speaker 1: 14:38

All right, so that's it for this episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. Head over to savannagilbocom forward slash podcast for the complete show notes, including the resources I mentioned today, as well as bonus materials to help you implement what you've learned, and if you're ready to get more personalized guidance for your specific writing stage. Whether you're just starting out, stuck somewhere in the middle of a draft, drowning in revisions, or getting ready to publish, take my free 30-second quiz at savannahgilbocom forward slash quiz. You'll get a customized podcast playlist that'll meet you right where you're at and help you get to your next big milestone. Last but not least, make sure to follow this podcast in your podcast player of choice, because I'll be back next week with another episode full of actionable tips, tools and strategies to help you become a better writer. Until then, happy writing.