On Monday, I had a conversation with a former coaching client. She told me that one of the biggest wins for her from the 12 Week Year for Writers system was getting smarter about how she used her time. As she spoke, I thought back to my long time mastery journey…

When I was chasing tenure, my life was chaos.

I had three kids, two dogs, a wife, a house that always needed attention—and for reasons that still puzzle me, I thought it was a good idea to start a brewery with a friend.

To succeed as a professor, I had to publish a steady stream of research. To succeed as a husband and dad, I had to respect my other obligations. And to keep my sanity, I had to figure out how to master the use of time.

The strategies I learned then still guide me, and I still teach them today to writers who are juggling busy lives:

• Create your Model Week and Writing Schedule. Map out what an ideal week looks like, with time reserved for writing, family, work, and rest. If it doesn’t fit on paper, it won’t fit in real life. The more consistent your schedule, the more productive you will be.

• Use Time Blocking. Unless you put the writing session on your daily calendar, it won’t happen. The same goes for other things you need to get done - block them out so those things won’t steal time from your writing.

• Map Tactics to Writing Sessions. This is least well-known trick to mastering time. Instead of just scheduling writing sessions, make a list of specific things you will do at each session. “Write the introduction to my article,” “Finish Chapter 2,” etc. This helps you stay focused and get right into flow, making the most of your time.

• Defend Your Time. Life will always throw distractions at you—emails, texts, people dropping by. Productivity means learning to say no, or at least “not right now,” so you can keep your promises to yourself.

• Claw Back Time from the Beast. You don’t always need a long block to get things done. Sometimes just being able to steal 30 minutes when a meeting ends early or you’re waiting for you kid to finish soccer can help you make progress. Get good at working in the “interstitial times” can add up to hours each week.

Mastering time isn’t about working more hours—it’s about making sure the hours you do have matter. It’s also important for reducing stress. If you have a writing schedule you trust, you can write when the calendar says “write,” and happily do other things the rest of the time without worrying that you should be writing.

I’d love to hear about the strategies you’re using to master time.