How to find more time?
What is up with that obsession with optimising every minute?
Today, we're exploring ‘How to find more time?"‘ – a reflection sparked by 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam, Do Less by Kate Northrup, Rest by Alex Pang and Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, that reveals a bigger question: What is up with that obsession with optimising every minute?
It's a hangover from your corporate life. It's the same mindset that has you checking your emails at 10 PM (many of my co-workers still do this!!) and eating lunch at your desk. Do you really want to bring that baggage to your new writing career?
Let's say you do manage to create the perfect time-blocked schedule:
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM: Morning pages
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Draft new Substack post
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Engage with readers on Notes
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Deep work on your upcoming e-book
Looks great on paper, right? But we both know that writing doesn't work like that. Some days, the words flow. Other days, you're lucky to string two coherent sentences together.
Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think can be an eye-opener here. Vanderkam points out that while we all have the same 168 hours each week, it’s not about squeezing more in but aligning your time with your values. Your writing schedule doesn’t need to be perfect—it needs to reflect what’s meaningful to you.
The illusion of control (and why it's holding you back)
But here's the truth: great writing comes from living, from experiencing, from letting your mind wander. It doesn't come from squeezing an extra 15 minutes out of your day to "maximize content output."
Kate Northrup’s Do Less echoes this idea, emphasizing that our most inspired work comes from slowing down, trusting our natural rhythms, and giving ourselves the space to be creative. That "wasted" time staring out the window? It’s not wasted at all. In fact, as Alex Pang argues in Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, rest is essential to unlocking deeper creativity and productivity.
Instead of trying to control every minute, consider this alternative:
Here's your alternative to the time audit obsession:
Embrace the mess: Your days won't be perfectly organized. That's okay. The chaos of life is where your best ideas will come from. As Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, creativity thrives when we make space for curiosity and embrace imperfection.
Schedule less, not more: Laura Vanderkam’s Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done suggests that creating a sense of time abundance comes from savouring meaningful moments. You don’t need to fill every hour; you need to leave room for life to happen.
Define success on your terms: Don’t let the hustle culture of the corporate world define what productivity looks like for you as a writer. Maybe success is writing one deeply meaningful post a month. As Oliver Burkeman writes in Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, life is too short to obsess over perfect efficiency—we should focus on what truly matters.
The best thing you can do for your writing career isn't to audit your time—it's to live a life worth writing about. Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art reminds us that great creative work comes from the courage to face life as it is and channel it into art. This means being present for the ups and downs, not just ticking off tasks on a to-do list.
Trust your rhythms: Learn when you're most creative and protect that time fiercely. But also accept that creativity isn't a switch you can turn on and off. Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep highlights how vital it is to rest and recharge, not just for our health but for fueling our creativity.
Close that time audit spreadsheet. Step away from the productivity apps. Instead, ask yourself: "What do I really want to say to the world?" Then sit down and start writing.
Because, as all these books remind us, it’s not about managing your time better—it’s about living a life worth writing about.