"Finding" Time to Write

Some people ask me..."How do you find the time to write?" The answer is...you DON'T FIND THE TIME...YOU MAKE TIME!!!

I love the presenter who had a visual example of how to prioritize your life. Make sure you get to the "important things". He made the list: 

1. Rocks 
2. Pebbles 
3. Sand 
4. Water

This is how we should structure our priorities every day. He took a large glass jar that represented the time of one full day. He went on to start filling the jar. He explained that the "rocks" were the most important things in our lives. We all NEED to identify what are the MOST important things in our lives. If we fill up the jar (our lives) for example, with "sand" there will be absolutely NO ROOM for the "rocks" The same for "pebbles" or "water". So, we all need to "PUT THE ROCKS IN YOUR JAR FIRST!!!" For, if we put the rocks in first there is still room to put in small pebbles...and after the pebbles are in the jar you still have room for some "sand" and lastly after all these are in the jar you still have room for some "water". BUT...if you don't put the "rocks" in first...you will lose out in doing the things that mean the most to you in your life!!!

So it is with each of us. What are the important things (the rocks) in your life? Family? Friends? Writing songs? We all should identify the "rocks" in our lives and make them a PRIORITY EVERY DAY!  Put your ROCKS in the jar first!!! :)

One thing I learned over the years about myself is: 

"IF I DON'T PUT IT ON THE CALENDAR IT WON'T GET DONE!!!

I can be one of the biggest procrastinators around.  My motto seemed to be: "Don't put off till tomorrow..what you can put off till the day after tomorrow!!!" :) But, if I put the important things in my jar first and schedule them, they tend to get done. One thing about songwriting is it easy to say "well I can't just sit down and "write on cue...I need to wait for inspiration to come". That is one way to think about it but for me that has been kind of way to "push" my songwriting down the road...turning the "rock" into a "pebble" on my priority list. I find that sitting down and putting myself in the "frame of mind to write" brings inspiration. My mind is ON SONGWRITING and that in and of itself leads to ideas and inspiration. 

So...IF songwriting is one of your priorities (a rock)...don't "FIND" the time to write..."MAKE" the time to write. Put that ROCK in your daily jar FIRST along with the other rocks in your life. Don't spend all day on "sand" and at the end of the day have no room for those rocks!!!. I love the line from "The Shawshank Redemption" where Andy Dufrane says to Red, "Get busy livin'...or get busy dyin'!!!" Are you making time for the most important things in your life, and really "livin" or just going through the motions spending all your time on activities that just get you to the next day and then complain that you have no time for the things that mean the most? 

Don't FIND time....MAKE time!!! :)

Your mileage may vary and remember: Write more...whine less!

Write on!!!

Brink