With the demands of family, jobs, relationships, and the unexpected curve balls life always seems to throw, even the most determined writer will have problems finding time to write. But when we don’t write, we get angry, or frustrated, or depressed because such an important part of ourselves is being neglected. There will probably be times when even the most organized and disciplined writers might have to let their writing practice go, but generally, everyone can find time to write regularly by following these five basic steps.

1. Set concrete goals. We all know this one. We’ve heard it a million times. Yet most people don’t achieve their goals because they are too ambitious, vague, or unrealistic. Goals should be concrete, manageable, and realistic. For example, I try to set a daily or weekly word count, which varies according to my schedule. In the summers, when I’m not teaching, I can set a much higher word count. During the semesters when I’m teaching, I have to reduce my word count goals to accommodate the other demands on my time. Many writing books recommend 1,000 words a day, and if you can make that your writing goal, that’s great. But it’s better to start with something much smaller, like two hundred words a day. Almost anyone can squeeze two hundred words in—over a lunch break, right before bed, or better yet, first thing in the morning. Try getting up thirty minutes earlier and writing your two hundred words as soon as you wake up. If you can write more, that’s great, but if you can’t, you’ll at least know you’ve done some writing for the day. After one week you’ll have 1,400 words—the equivalent of a short-short story. Even with that small amount, if you write every day, you’ll have more than 75,000 words in one year—that’s a draft of a short novel.

2. Make writing a habit. Don’t wait for inspiration to hit you. For some reason, a lot of people think they must be inspired in order to write, yet this way of thinking does not apply to almost any other profession or discipline. Musicians and athletes know that if they want to perform well, they must practice almost every day, whether they feel like it or not. The same is true with writing. Make sure you have some writing exercises handy (What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Pamela Painter and Ann Berneys is good book for this) for those days when you feel you have nothing to write about.

3. Think of writing as meditation. Meditation is a practice and a discipline. When a person starts a meditation practice, she starts meditating for a small period of time, like five or ten minutes. When her mind wanders, she gently brings her mind back to her meditation. As her discipline and concentration increase, so does her meditation time, so that eventually she can meditate for an hour with ease. Apply this technique to your writing. When you can write comfortably for ten or fifteen minutes, increase your time to twenty. Then thirty. Then an hour. When your mind wanders, return to the page. When you become distracted by other diversions, return to your practice, your art, your meditation: writing.

4. Simplify your life as much as possible. Even if you feel you have no time to write, keep track of your schedule for a week to find ways to squeeze in thirty minutes. If you have a lunch hour, bring your lunch from home and use that time to write. If you commute to work, work on your writing on the bus or subway. How much time do you spend on Facebook, reading blogs, or surfing the internet? How much TV do you watch? Recheck your priorities—if you are spending time on entertaining diversions while complaining you don’t have time to write, then you have not taken your own writing seriously. Yes you may “deserve” a break from your busy life with your favorite TV show, but don’t you deserve that time to work on your writing even more?

5. Turn off the internet while you write. If you use a computer when you write, unplug the internet connection or turn off your Wi Fi. You’ll be surprised at how much more work you’ll get done.

If you have any other tips or suggestions for organizing your writing time, I’d love to hear from you. Remember, take your writing seriously and you will find a way to make it a part of your life.

Author of The Life Plan, Sybil Baker spent twelve years teaching in South Korea prior to accepting a position as an assistant professor of English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her fiction and essays have appeared in numerous journals, including upstreet, The Bitter Oleander, Paper Street, and Alehouse. Her essay on American expatriate literature appeared in AWP’s The Writer’s Chronicle in September 2005.