Our lives change in different ways. It’s important to roll with the changes and adapt. I’ve felt for a long time that my writing has been struggling and the things I tried didn’t seem to last more than a month.

It is easy to fall into old patterns, assuming that if they worked before they will work again. This time, I made changes, small ones over a month at the start of the year to see if I could adapt.

Let’s Start With Routine

As much as I love writing in the morning when my mind is fresh and active, the truth is, if I did that, then all those things like chores, errands etc would not get done. Getting me to do boring things when I have low energy (late afternoon/evening) is nigh on impossible.

So, I have to just accept that cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping etc has to be done first or it won’t get done at all and I don’t want to live in a messy house! To help with this, I am getting up earlier than I used to. Just an extra 30-40 mins has made a big difference.

With the chores now out of the way, the next priority is orders. My business brings the money in so it has to take priority.

Once the orders are made and packed, I usually have time for a few blocks of “other” stuff. This is 10 mins replying/clearing through email, 10 mins to do my Lumosity challenges (good to keep the brain active), 10 mins to do some Duolingo* (I’m learning French) and 10 mins scrolling through Insta (I’m trying to time it so I don’t endlessly scroll).

This usually takes me up to lunchtime, where I eat and then head to my office for writing sessions.

*Edited in 2025 to remove Duolingo link. I no longer support Duolingo after they got rid of a lot of their human translators in order to use AI (which I do not support).

What is your routine like?

Let’s Talk Music

Years ago, like teenage-me-ago, I would listen to music while I wrote. Usually, the same two albums because they became connected to being in the right mindset. As I got older, music became a distraction as I’m pretty audibly sensitive.

And I’ve been writing without music for years, but as per usual, things have changed and with the noise of heavy tractors roaring down my road several times a day and the loud music coming from our neighbour’s house, I started to get antsy not having something in the background.

After lots of searching on Spotify, I found a soft instrumental playlist titled… wait for it… Soft Instrumental. Here it is if you’d like to listen.

Now, whenever I am about to start writing, I put this on first, keeping the volume low. It has become part of the ritual.

Whenever I hear this playlist, I get in the mood to write. Though on those days when for some reason that doesn’t work, I like to use my “A Soft Murmur playlists” that I created.

Do you have music that helps you get into the writing mood?

Time To Hydrate

I keep a (glass) bottle of water on my desk to sip throughout the writing session. This stops me from getting up in the middle of the session to go and top up my drink.

Mainly because the moment I leave my room, the cats will think it’s food time (even if I JUST fed them) or I’ll get distracted by something that delays me getting back to my room.

I am not one of these people who can drink a whole pint quickly. I literally keep the water close by so I see it and drink – honestly if I didn’t see it, it would just sit there, untouched!

And Speaking Of Time

Timers have become the most important part of my writing session. Apparently, I really do need that ticking clock to make me feel driven to work focused.

I use an online timer (it stops me from reaching for my phone to start and stop it… and then, since I have the phone, just check Instagram etc). The timer is always set for 1 hour and has a nice chime-y sound when it stops rather than some horrid buzz or clanging noise, yes it’s important.

When the timer stops, I can continue if I feel in the zone (which I have more and more) or I can take a break. If I continue, I don’t reset the timer, I just stop when I reach a natural stopping point.

If I want to take a break, I stretch, go downstairs for more water, most likely a cup of tea as well, maybe a snack, play with the cats while the kettle is boiling and then back upstairs for the next session.

Do you ever work with timers?

As For The Phone

I am finally starting to use Do Not Disturb. For years I have felt the need to be “available” all the time. Any time I ever tried to stop that or put up boundaries there would be some emergency and lots of comments about “not being able to get hold of me.”

But in truth, I now live in another country from my family and friends so there is very little I can ever do in an emergency. My partner’s family would call him first and mine could call him if they couldn’t get me.

The world doesn’t end when I put my phone on Do Not Disturb for a few hours. The weird guilt I get for not being instantly available is starting to chew me a bit less, it might never fully go away, but I still need to do this.

Do you always feel you have to be reachable?

The Result

I have worked to keep this system going through January (until I got sick) and almost all of February and March (until I got sick). April had me stumbling due to the giant Paper Purge Project but then once that was done it was as if a huge obstacle was lifted from my mind.

Throughout May, I tore through my writing, including plotting book 2 of The Blessed, partially plotting book 3 and writing thousands of words for book 1.

There’s been some tweaks and changes and the writing sessions haven’t been every day. After all, if I have a busy order day or am podcasting, I need to put my attention and time into those.

But I try and have a few writing sessions a week and it’s made a huge difference. I am making massive progress on my manuscript, I have been hitting 1,000+ words usually in the first hour.

It’s the first time in a long time that I feel like my writing passion is truly back, and that I am giving it all the time and attention it deserves.

~ ~ ~

Just taking the time to analyse what was working and what wasn’t, what is moveable and what isn’t, can help give you the best chance at pivoting when things stop working as well as they did.

Happy writing & stay safe

I write articles on writing, marketing, blogging, organising and more. Do you like what I do?  Want extra content? Want to know about my stories? Want exclusive access to even more free resources in my members-only vault The Library and be the first to know about giveaways and new releases? Then sign up for my monthly newsletter and get a FREE copy of my short story The Locksmith.

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