I talk to lots of writers who tell me that they just don’t have enough time to write. But here’s the thing: we all have only 24 hours in the day.  And the really cool thing is you can break down your writing into small chunks of time.

You can get some writing done in as little as 10 minutes.

Don’t assume you need hours and hours of free time to write. You might not have the flexibility — or the mental energy — to write for hours. Try using the following times to get some writing done.

• Before you get out of bed in the morning. When you wake up, roll over, turn on your light, grab your notebook and write for a few minutes. You could even try doing “Morning Pages.“ More on this here.

• While you’re waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Don’t just stand there watching the coffee drip into the pot, put some words on the page!
• While you’re in the car. I’m not saying you should write while you’re driving, but you can record your voice using your phone’s voice recorder app.
• While you’re waiting for an appointment to start. It can be doctor’s appointment, a teeth cleaning or even a meeting. There probably is going to be some downtime before you are needed. Write then!
• Write in the bathroom. I know it sounds funny, but you can make use of that time too! What if you spent your time writing then versus browsing on your phone?
• While eating breakfast. There are times when you can jot down some ideas and stories while eating your eggs. Just try it out.
• On your lunch break. Use that lunch hour as a time to be creative. The really cool thing is you may even get more than 10 minutes of writing time at lunch. If you wrote before work and during your lunch hour, you have some great momentum going for writing after work too.
• While you’re cooking. Unless you’re making a new dish, you’ve probably mastered the art of making dinner. So jot down a few words instead of just watching that food simmer on the stove.
• Before you go to sleep. When you climb into bed, write for 10 minutes. Your subconscious will keep going and even fill in some of the blanks while you’re busy dreaming.
• Instead of watching TV at night. I don’t know about you, but I spend more time than I’d like to admit watching TV at night. Just mix in some writing and you’ll start to see some tremendous progress.

These smaller writing sessions stack up. And your brain is going to keep working on your stories via your subconscious while you’re not writing, so you’re actually getting more done than you realize. These are just a few ideas you can put to use.

Want even more help? My 5-Day Writing Challenge will help you build up your writing habit.