Time

Once every month or two, my husband takes our daughters out for several hours while I stay home alone. Those hours are my favorite writing times but I’d be miserable if I only had six to twelve writing sessions per year. Between the cherished uninterrupted sessions, I get writing time where I can.

I stick to a cleaning routine to save time. I thoroughly clean one room every day. It takes an hour to an hour and a half. The rest of the time, I just do what I call round ups. I spend five minutes in each room of the house picking things up. Round ups are done daily, sometimes twice a day. I load the washing machine and set it up every night. In the morning, on my way to wake up the oldest of my three children, I pull the knob and start the day’s load of laundry. By the time my daughter leaves to catch the bus, the laundry is ready for the dryer or the clothesline. After lunch, I have mommy time. The two daughters still at home have unstructured play time or watch a mom-approved video while I work. Mommy time lasts until the oldest gets home from school. The rest of the evening passes in a flurry of homework, playtime, dinner, baths, a round up, and bedtime stories. Once a week, I spend the afternoon mommy time taking care of bills and other household paperwork. I always use dishwashing time to think about a WIP so I don’t spend much time staring at the screen trying to figure out what happens next. Every Sunday, I make a list of dinner choices for the week. It’s not a real menu but it keeps me from staring in the refrigerator and cupboards trying to figure out what to make each night. I work for a little while after my kids go to bed but I can count on multiple interruptions for potty trips, drinks of water or any number of things. Ideally, my day would include an interrupted writing session but that’s not realistic at this point.