Lately I’ve been running from work to appointments, to errands, to classes. Where has my writing time gone? When I sit at my computer a thousand tasks confront me. Seems like the workload has increased while my time decreased.

The only way to find time to write is to do it. Rather than sitting here today, stressing about how little time I have for sharing my thoughts, I’ve taken decisive action. I wrote the first sentence. And sometimes that’s the hardest part of writing. Once the first sentence is in print, it leads naturally to the next.

Writing flows from thought to thought, from action to reaction. And there is always time for writing, hidden between the many demands of stressful modern living. A few paragraphs here, half a chapter there - and it adds up.

There’s nothing so stressful as not writing. Stop and think about it. If you don’t write, then you’re stressed about wanting to do it and not getting it done. But if you do write, you feel great. You don’t need to pat yourself on the back because the written words did it for you. You want to shout, call out, and tell people, “I wrote something today! I succeeded!”

One of my best tools for finding time to write when it seems like there’s no time at all, is my notebook. I always have some kind of journal notebook going. I can carry the notebook with me anywhere - to the doctor’s office, to the laundromat, or to a picnic table near the river. For years I’ve been writing in them, recording the details of my daily life. And when I have article ideas, I often write them in the notebook first, in longhand. Sometimes it helps to get away from the computer and think about what I really want to say. Then by the time I’m ready to type the article into the computer, I know my angle and can present it with clarity and brevity.

If you’re a busy person, like I am, write when you can. Don’t think about doing it…. just DO it. Write that first sentence. Let words flow out of you. Keep your inspirations flowing. It doesn’t matter if you have five minutes to write, or fifty. When you use your time to write, every minute is a victory.