How I Found Four-and-a-Quarter More Hours to Write – Every Single Week
There are lots of posts about finding time to write. Unfortunately most of them don’t help me.
I’m already super-organised, having Trello-ed my life (and even the pantry). I successfully juggle four part-time jobs including school visits that are often hours away. Until recently I was always writing something, too.
Then suddenly, I found I wasn’t getting much writing done at all, and something was quickly shrinking awful close to nothing.
Every time a writing rhythm kicked in, my world short circuited and booted me off the grid.
The reason for that can’t be managed. I have a long-term unwell child and a flurry of appointments as we leave the pediatric health system behind left me with little time to write. Plus there are other complications – when he’s particularly unwell I don’t feel like writing and when he’s a little better I have two hours of distance education supervision to fit in to every day.
Got a year 10 Maths question, I can help with that!
But I’ve discovered something that saves me time twice over.
On-line grocery shopping. I’d always hesitated before, thinking I can’t justify the delivery fee when the supermarket is just down the road. Its not that I thought on-line shopping was being lazy. In my house, lots of dollars go to medical costs and the ones left have to be carefully counted.
A casual comment by the Love of My Life made me reconsider. I discovered Woolworths, where I shop anyway, had introduced an advance coupon deal that cut my delivery fee to $2. Cheaper than petrol.
So now I save an hour and half, once a week, by shopping on-line. That’s absolutely free, unallocated time. Time I can dedicate to writing.
But there’s a double whammy. I can specify when I want my shopping delivered, within a three hour window (and get a closer time estimate on the day). So I can organise my groceries to be delivered at 5am!
I have to get up and be ready (no delivery man wants to see me in my pyjamas first thing in the morning) – and what can I do when I’m up at that time of the morning, just waiting around? Write of course!
As I’d normally get out of bed at 8am, deducting the time spent packing away the groceries, that’s another two-and-three-quarter hours a week.
Plus cost savings. No impulse buying. A lot less chocolate. And when I order a piece of fruit or vegetable, it’s invariably a larger piece that’s supplied. If something goes wrong (yes, once the apples were battered and bruised), it’s a no questions asked refund and a credit voucher. Win-win all round.
Total extra weekly time to write thanks to on-line shopping:
four and a quarter hours – every single week!
Who would have thought Woolworths could provide that?
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Woolworths. I’m just super excited to have found all this extra time to write).
One response to “How I Found Four-and-a-Quarter More Hours to Write – Every Single Week”
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