The Secret to Finding Time to Write as a Freelance Nurse Writer

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See if this sounds familiar.... 

You launched your freelance writing business, and then, suddenly, life intervened. Weeks have gone by, and you haven't been able to work on your business at all. How frustrating! 

Many nurses ask me, “How can I find the time to write?”, so I know this is a common issue. 

First know this: If you want to make money as a freelance writer, you need to devote time to connecting with editors, sending letters of introduction, and writing assignments. That’s fun part, right? The “writing assignments” part. That's what we all want to do. We're becoming writers because we want to write. 

But where do you find the time to do that in your busy day, when your life consists of nursing shifts, and kids activities and caring for your aging parents and doing the laundry and making sure you get to date night with your sweetheart and walking the dog and... the list goes on, right? How on earth can you possibly carve out time in all of that to also work on your writing business? 

Well, today I’m giving you the secret to finding time to working on your business as a freelance nurse writer – so you can start making money at this, cut back on your patient care hours (if that's what you want; not everyone does, and whatever your motivation is, it’s erfectly fine), and start living the peaceful and fulfilling life you deserve. 

Here are some truths of life. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Everyone is short of time. And that especially includes nurses, we are so busy taking care of other people, getting called in, picking up extra shifts, etc., etc., that we're even busier than the average person. 

But the concept "busy-ness" applies to all aspects of life. Everyone is too busy to do everything, yet they somehow do. For example, let me ask you this: How do you find time to do the laundry? Or how do you find the time to attend the kids’ sports activities? How do you find the time to read a good book or watch TV all evening? 

Well, here's the thing: We spend time on the things we value and therefore prioritize. 

We do the laundry because we value having clean clothes. So, like it or not, we make sure the laundry gets done on a regular basis. We attend the kids’ sporting activities because we value the precious memories we're making with them and because we know they won't be kids forever. We read good books or watch TV all evening because we value the creative escape or the mental downtime or both. So we prioritize these activities – even if we don't think we are prioritizing them. Many people woud argue that they don’t “prioritize” watching TV all evening, but in fact they are prioritizing that because that is how they’re spending their time. Your actions are all that count, when it comes to priorities. 

So, here’s the secret to making time to work on your freelance business: You need to prioritize it. And the way to prioritize it is to attach value to the activity of working on your business. 

Ask yourself: Where does the value of freelance writing lie for me? Is it control over my schedule? Is it financial freedom? Does the value for you lie in not having to deal with the office politics? Only you can figure out your why for pursuing a freelance writing career because the why is different for everyone. Everyone does freelance writing for a different reason that confers value to them. 

And that's the magic of this. Once you figure out your why – that is, once you figure out the value of being a freelance writer for you – then you will prioritize your business and, suddenly, you will find the time to work on it. It may sound crazy but, I've seen it work a thousand times. 

If you’re interested in starting a freelance business – or if you already have, but your career feels stalled due to your own procrastination – take a moment to find your WHY again. You may be surprised at how quickly it propels you forward again.