Hi Dotsie,

The 24 hour time budget is a great exercise that I created to figure out where you can squeeze writing into your day, even if it's just 15 minutes (and a lot of bestselling authors got their start that way, by writing in 10, 15, 20 minute increments.)

Here's what you do: keep a time journal of how you spend every minute of your day for 7 days-- just a typical week and weekend. At the end of the 7 days, look at how you spent your time and scrutinize it for any place you can compress, eliminate, or delegate an activity in order to write instead. For example, if you're spending 2 hours in the morning getting ready for work, can you compress that into an 1.5 hours and write for the other 30 minutes. Can your kids set the dinner table at night so you can write while the casserole is cooking? Can your spouse take over the laundry on Saturday afternoons so you can write instead?

Or, are there things you can get rid of totally? I read a statistic recently that said that between TV, reading newspapers/magazines, and surfing the Internet, most adults spend an average of 4 hours per day immersed in media.

Can you give up your weekly pedicure and write during that time, or write while you're getting your pedicure.

This is the purpose of the 24 hour time budget. It's similar to writing down every penny you spend so you can see where your money really goes. It's a useful exercise for people who feel super busy, and it's how I nailed the hours of 4-6 AM as my own writing time.

On the poll above, I see where email is the biggest distraction so far. Not surprising. Email is a huge time zapper for me too. What are some ways people manage this distraction?

Best wishes,
Kelly