What Teacher Writers Can Teach You About Time Management

I’m honored to be at Seekerville today offering tips on time management. At the end of May, I completed my twentieth year as a middle school ELA teacher. One thing I’ve learned is that better time management is something most of us can improve upon. 

At the start of each school year, I spend the first week doing several activities with my students that are designed to help them learn time management skills to keep them from being overwhelmed. Seventh grade tends to be one of the most difficult years for students as they are learning to balance social activities (school dances, ballgames, and hanging out with friends), extra-curricular activities (basketball, football, band, clubs, etc.), and a more strenuous course load. 

Today, I’ve called on a few multi-published, award-winning authors to provide tips to help relate the lessons to a writer’s life. 

Lesson 1: Examine How You’re Spending the Majority of Your Time

Before you can manage your time, you must first know where you’re wasting time. This activity is simple. Keep a log (for one week) to show how you spend your time. This does not have to be detailed. Keep it simple. 

The goal is to see how much time you’re spending being nonproductive. I’m not saying you can’t ever watch T.V. or play games, but three or four hours a day is excessive if you’re sincere about making your writing dreams a reality. 


Lesson 2: Prioritize What’s Important in Your Life

Set time aside for writing, instead of only writing during the remnants of your day when you’re drained from everything else life has thrown at you. 

 “When I was teaching, I had to carve out time in my day to write. I tried to write every day even if it was only a few hundred words. That way, I kept myself immersed in my story without having to do a lot of catch-up reading. Also, I set weekly goals for writing, not daily. Sometimes life happens and if I can't write one day, I can make up the word count over another day or several. A weekly goal takes the pressure off of a daily goal.” – Margaret Daley

“Figure out what you’re willing to sacrifice. T.V.? Sleep? What? Never family time. To keep your kids from resenting the time you spend writing, make sure you’ve allotted a set amount of time for them each day.” – Lynette Eason


Lesson 3: Squeeze Extra Time Into Your Day

You might wonder how it’s possible to “squeeze” more writing time into your day. After all, each day only has twenty-four hours and a certain number of those are non-negotiable, right? I mean some people (Ruthy and Tina come to mind) may be able to function on less than six hours of sleep per night, but personally, I have to have a minimum of seven hours of sleep to be able to function and stay healthy. 


Linda Goodnight offers the following advice on multi-tasking and shortcuts for time management: Excellent time management is important for all of us, but for teachers with families who work long after the bell rings, it’s crucial for our mental health! So how did I build a writing career, win teacher of the year twice, and raise three teenagers all at the same time? Here are some things that worked for me:

1. Multi-task. Save time by doing double duty everywhere you can. 
-Help with homework while cooking or folding laundry. 
-Plan lessons, grade papers, edit books in the car on the way to a game or other event. (Only if someone else is driving! Lol) 
-Use time in doctor’s offices or other appointments the same way. Always have your work with you.

2. Crockpot meals – Our family believes strongly in the family dinner table so I cook every single night. Having a stack of go-to Crockpot recipes helps tremendously.

3. Grocery shop only once a week or less. Keep a running list on the fridge and try to shop during the store’s slow times. It’s amazing how much time we spend in check-out lines!

To continue with Linda’s tip on Crockpot meals, I’d like to invite you to check out my Freezer Meals board on Pinterest. My younger sister, who’s also a teacher, introduced me to freezer meal planning. At the end of each summer, she spends one Saturday afternoon and in a matter of a few hours, she’s made enough frozen crockpot meals and breakfast burritos to get her family of five through the first full month of the school year. 

Lesson 4: Protect Your Writing Time

Most likely, this will be the hardest lesson of all. If you’re like me, you probably have a difficult time telling other people “no” and that can really cut into your writing time. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t volunteer at your child’s school. However, whenever possible, schedule activities around your writing time and not vice versa. If your best writing time is in the evening, then don’t volunteer to chaperone the school dance. Instead, maybe, you could volunteer work for an hour or two at the Saturday morning bake sale.  

Author and homeschool teacher/mom Lynn Huggins Blackburn offers the following advice:

1. Make the effort to determine how/when you write best and then work WITH that knowledge, not against it. For example, when I’m starting a project or have been away from one for a while, I know I need a chunk of time to get the ball rolling again. It’s worth it to me to do whatever I have to do to get several uninterrupted hours to focus on the story or tackle a big revision. 

2. Once I begin a project, I try to work on it at least five days a week. Even ten minutes of effort a day will keep the story moving forward and will keep me from needing a huge chunk of time to get things moving again.

3. Work in batches. If at all possible, I take a couple of days a month to write blog posts, create memes, and save images for social media and then the rest of my writing time is focused on fiction. It’s far more efficient to knock all of it out at once than it is to try to do a bit of everything each day. 

Lesson 5: Use a Planner

Even though I have a smartphone and I log every appointment in my digital calendar, I love, love, love planners and bullet journals. I keep my planner in my bag and take it with me everywhere. At a glance, I’m able to keep track of deadlines and goals, as well as appointments and other obligations. 


“Before I had children of my own, I taught first grade. After our girls were in middle and high school, I substitute taught. Those years in the classroom were a tutorial in time management. With a limited amount of time each day to cover a curriculum that prepared students for success, I learned to plan the work, set priorities and stay on task. Admittedly, the profession is unusual in that teachers are confined a good part of the day, generally with few opportunities to email, roam the Internet or make phone calls. Even restroom breaks can be hard to come by. Still, teachers must handle behavior issues and fit lessons in between recess, lunch and special classes, always keeping an eye on the clock. Writers don’t have a ringing bell to announce the start of their day. Household chores and interruptions vie for their attention. But when writers follow the example of teachers, we’ll reach our goals, meet our deadlines and grab our dreams.” – Janet Dean



I’ve brought an endless pot of coffee and an assortment of cheesecake. Pick a flavor…I’m sure it’s here. Then pull up a chair and visit for a spell. 

I’d love to know, what time management techniques do you use to keep life on track? 

One commenter today will win The Happy Planner by Create 365 along with motivational stickers and tiny binder clips. All you have to do to be entered is mention in the comments that you’d like your name put into the drawing. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

Rhonda Herren Starnes lives in North Alabama with her husband, who she lovingly refers to as Mountain Man. They have been married for thirty-two years and have two grown children and three grandchildren. Grandbaby number four is due in November.

 Rhonda is an ELA teacher with twenty years of experience. Other than the obvious task of teaching her students how to read, write, and communicate effectively, she sees her number one goal as an educator to be that of a motivator. She wants her students to learn, by her example, to go after their dreams. 

Although Rhonda has dreamed of being published ever since she was in seventh grade and read her first romance novel (many moons ago), it wasn’t until four years ago that she actually sat down and attempted to write. Now she weaves stories of romantic suspense with rugged heroes and feisty heroines. 

Awards/Accomplishments: 
• 2014 Love Inspired Suspense Killer Voices, finalist. 
• 2015 Love Inspired Suspense Blurb to Book, finalist. 
• 2016 Wisconsin Fab Five Silver Quill Award,  Inspirational Category Winner. 
• 2016 ACFW Genesis, semi-finalist.

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