Does life feel too full for writing right now?

I’m going to keep this short, because I have a feeling you’re already taxed.

You haven’t had a moment to yourself in weeks, and you don’t feel quite right. You’ve even turned off social media, because it was eating your personality.

You’re not even reading most of your emails anymore. No time.

The next eight weekends are booked up. You have houseguests, or your kids are home, or your dog had puppies, or your dad has to go to the hospital for tests every week, or there’s a family of mice you have to get out of your walls.

Maybe you’ve got some combination of all of the above going on at once.

Of course you don’t feel like yourself. Something feels off, because you aren’t writing.

I know there’s no time.

When you’re a writer and you aren’t writing, you’re going to feel not right.

Here’s what you can do if you feel busy, stressed, or out of alignment. There is something that will soothe that inflammation.

It sounds counterintuitive, but if you can still yourself to write, you will create more time in your day.

You create time in and through your own writing.

When you make time for writing — even just to get down details about the things that are making your life feel overwhelming right now — you make time.

Try it:

Five red tomatoes rest in a basket on the counter.

Breathe, and still yourself for long enough to notice one small, true detail about something.

In the kitchen, the cat crunches her kibble.

Notice it, and write it down.

A car drives past the house and sounds like a wave crashing.

You’ll feel the difference in your nervous system almost right away.

The front door slams.

This has a ripple effect, and will affect everything and everyone around you.

The leaves are turning yellow.

(Note: this sense of calm I describe will be almost impossible to imagine if you’re overwhelmed and distracted right now.)

If you’re already depleted and you haven’t written in a long time, there’s something important that your body and mind is missing.

You + your notebook + a writing assignment = peace.

Don’t put it off for one more day. Make some time for your writing.

Love