What do you mean, it's Friday? by Jane Walters

In the middle of February, my son was due to start a new job on the Friday. He had his week all planned: buy new threads, get a hair-cut, grab a trip to a waterfall while he was still a free man. It was as he stood at the bus-stop that he took a call.

‘Hey! Er, thought you were starting work here today?’

‘Oh hi, no, we said Friday.’

‘It is Friday.’

‘Ah…’ *aborts trip to waterfall.

I had a similar experience a week or so ago, with the secretary of a church emailing me for the song choices and sermon PowerPoint ahead of a preaching engagement. ‘They’re a bit previous,’ I grumbled as I reached for my diary. No, it turns out they were very much on the boil. Somehow I’d missed an entire week.

Time can be so deceptive, can’t it? How come some hours can feel endless, while some whizz by in a moment? I guess it depends on how we are spending it. I’ve had a couple of conversations recently with starting-out-writers who are desperate to schedule writing time in an already packed timetable. (We can all sympathise! How many of us have prayed for extra hours in the day?) In each case, I was able to encourage them that we can make good use of even ten minutes, if that’s all we have. If you manage to write 100 words, then another 100 and another 100, it will soon add up. Far better that, than to wait for a full free day to arrive on the back of a unicorn and consequently achieve zero.

If you are interested in time-management, there are multitudes of titles to choose from, to say nothing about podcasts and other online content. I’ve read them myself, all those exhausting-sounding tips that have helped the author/presenter achieve the success they have. Perhaps some people need that kind of micro-managing of their days to get them into a more productive groove. Perhaps we can apply it in some way to our writing? But, for me, I always want to come back to the heart.

Yes, let’s try to carve out some time for writing; but let the reason be because writing gives us such joy.

Yes, let’s be disciplined and finish what we have started; but only because we can’t wait to share our ideas/creations with others.

In short, the time we spend writing should be life-giving! And who cares if we accidentally lose a week or two in the process? 

Jane Walters is Chair of ACW and leader of Green Pastures Christian Writers.

She writes devotionals for BRF and is currently working on a book of prayers.

www.janewyattwalters.com

Insta: @readywritersretreats