Even the best laid plans and schedules can fail. What do you do then?
- Attend to your energy levels. Sometimes writing schedules don’t work out because you don’t have the energy to maintain them, or you’ve been too ambitious. Reschedule, considering starting small.
- Start small. For significant life disruptions, particularly when there is considerable emotional challenge, getting back to your work all at once might be too big of a leap.
- Recognize that disruptions happen and that it’s ok. A big part of getting back to regularly scheduled writing was saying “this happened, and it is ok” rather than beating oneself up over guilt.
- Find a new pattern. When life circumstances change, sometimes our goals and time management plans must necessarily change as well.
- Find support and accountability. Take on a co-author on a project, form or join a writing center writing group, or find some external support to help you stay accountable.
Neurodiversity, Neurodivergence, and Writing Processes
- Scheduled writing time works well for most professional writers.
- Neurodivergent academic writers, or those with chronic illnesses, may find that regularly scheduled writing time is not always a reasonable approach.
- These writers may find more benefit in:
- creating an “energy schedule” and working according to what they can do at that time.
- creating time for writing, but being flexible.
- writing when one is able.
- understanding their needs as writers.
- setting themselves up for success based on their own unique processes.
- The key with all of this is to create time and space for writing.
Download ND Writers Weekly Schedule (pdf)