I have a new theory, and it is this: I have time to write, but I don’t make time to write. Let me elaborate:

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about time management. I just finished planning my wedding while having a 40 hour a week job. So, I know that I had a lot of time to do stuff recently, so I must still have it somewhere. Saying I don’t have time to write must be a misrepresentation, it must be that I haven’t been making time to write (and instead, spending that time doing something else). This seems much closer to the truth – I have been spending a lot of time recently doing other things: reading, playing EVE, sitting around the house staring at my computer screen…

So, my thought is this – I’m going to try to do three things to try to make more time. First, I’m going to stop saying I haven’t had time to do something (whatever that may be). I’m going to start saying, I haven’t made time to do something. While this may not sound like much, I’m hoping the attitude change will make it easier to make time to do things. Realistically, it makes my not doing something my own problem, not some effect of the universe, and I like that. I’d suggest other people try this and see if it helps, but I’ll be trying it and you can see how it works out for me first.

Second, I’m going to make more time to write. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that my blog is going to explode with productive writing in the next week, so let me refine that a bit. I have (coding, writing, and research) projects that have been moving along quite slowly, because I haven’t made time for them (see how that worked?). So, I’m going to set aside some time for them. One hour a day, at least.

Lastly, I will start taking pledges for time. That’s right, you can donate your time to me. Here’s how it will work: I will work 7 hours a week on my projects. For those few readers of mine out there, you have the chance to donate an additional 13 hours a week (for a total of 20 – half of my normal time at work) to my projects. Each Sunday, I’ll have a short post collecting donations. You commit to working some number of hours on your non-work productive projects, and I’ll match it working on mine. Donations close on Monday after I get off work, and the clock starts. For me, working on my projects will be uninterrupted time – no TV in the background, no distractions, just getting something done.

I’ll see how this works out next week…