Welcome to 2026! It’s a brand new year and I imagine that you would have taken some time to review your 2025 to see how much of what you set to achieve at the beginning of the year, you indeed achieved.  Like so many of us, you probably didn’t do as much as you wanted, and I feel you. This new year however presents another opportunity, and I urge you to seize it with both hands.

Now, is there any chance that writing a book was one of those unfulfilled aspirations of last year? Did this happen because you are a busy professional who kept saying “I just don’t have enough time to write?” If you are, I promise that help has come for you. This newsletter is for you.

I agree that life and living could be a lot sometimes. Between demanding job schedules, family responsibilities and the mental fatigue that attends it all, writing often feels like a luxury that you get to when life slows down a bit. The truth however is that life never slows down. So, if you must get that writing done, you must build a routine that works with your busy life. It is the only way. And it is easy.

Fortunately, writing does require long, quiet weekends of several months off work. What you need is intention, structure and small, consistent and repeatable habits. Let me break this down into a few practical steps.

Reconsider the Idea of Writing Time

Most professionals who aspire to write don’t get to do it because they believe it can only happen in straight large blocks of two, three, four hours or a full morning or sleepless night. That is an absolute fallacy unless you have so much time on your hands to achieve it. That mindset by itself stifles consistency, a very critical habit to writing anything successfully. A writer who wants to be effective does not need to wait for an abundance of time; he must learn to create time with the scarcity that he lives in. So instead of brooding over how you will never have time, you should find how to fit writing into the time you already have. That shift in mind will change everything, I promise you.

Adopt Writing Sprint to Defeat Procrastination

Once you realise that you do not need anything like an extensive writing time, if you cannot afford it, grab short moments available every now and then to write. Your writing sprints can be anything between 10 to 30 minutes, so do what you can. You just need the output. You do not need to worry about perfection, just write! This helps by eliminating overthinking and creating momentum, it sets your writing in motion. If you do two sprints of 20 minutes in a day, you’ll find out that you become more productive than a three-hour distracted session. So, go ahead and try to set a timer for the short sprint, chose a clear task for that moment, (it could be working on one section of your book, or just putting down a story), write continuously until the timer stops and resist the temptation to continue after it ends. You need that discipline.

Block Writing Time: Treat it Like a Meeting

If you are serious about writing, it must have space on your diary. So, assign specific, non-negotiable time slots for writing just like you would a work meeting or call. It’s important that you are true to yourself, so do not block duration that you do not intend to keep. Block, 45, 30, 20, even 10 minutes that you can maximise and utilise effectively. Moments you can consider blocking for writing include early mornings before emails and calls begin, lunch breaks, once or twice a week, and late evenings if you’ll still have that energy. The point here is that what you schedule generally gets done!

Try Writing Daily: There’s Power in It

It is powerful for a busy professional to imbibe the habit of daily micro-writing. As short as 20-minutes writing daily will produce 100 minutes of writing in five working days and 400 minutes (six hours) in a month.  It doesn’t feel like much time, but it is enough time to draft chapters, a few articles, or some thought-leadership pieces. But far more than moving your writing forward, these steps build your identity as a writer. You are no longer someone who wants to write but someone who actually writes! That is a good thing!

Deal Ruthlessly with Distraction

Distractions are the biggest enemies of effective writing. To write successfully at all, you must avoid distractions. You must do everything to protect your focus in those micro-writing moments. Activate Do Not Disturb mode on your phone, use headphones to block out noise, create some routines that enhance your capacity to focus. Just do all your best to avoid disruptions!

Decide What You’re Writing Before Your Timer Bleeps

Many writers waste precious time on deciding what to write. I advise that you outline sections of your writing before you sit down to it, and as you end one session, be sure to note down what you’ll be writing next. This way, you can start writing as soon as your timer starts.

Don’t Push Yourself Too Hard

As I said repeatedly, you must do your best to avoid falling into the perfection trap. Your writing doesn’t have to be exceptional especially at this beginning, it only has to exist. First drafts are allowed to be messy, awkward and incomplete, you just need to ensure that you keep writing as your writing improves during revisions. The professionals who finish their books, newsletters, essays, blog posts are not the ones with the most luxury of time, they are those who show up consistently damning their imperfections.  

I’m sure that by now, you can see that you don’t need more time to write. What you need is a small, smart system which puts an end to your “I don’t have the time” and pushes you towards tangible progress. If writing matters to you, start today, start small and keep at it.

Also read Why Every Professional Should Write a Book

Ready to Stop Delaying Your Writing?

If you’re serious about finishing your book or thought leadership project, it’s time to stop trying to do it alone.

I work with busy professionals who want structure, accountability, and results; not excuses. Through my book coaching, I help you build a writing routine that fits your life and guides you from idea to finished manuscript.

If you’re ready to commit, let’s start.

Reply to this newsletter or book a coaching session today.

 You can buy my book, Every Journalist Should Write a Book,here

Niran Adedokun,

Writer | Communications Strategist | Book Strategist | Author of “Every Journalist Should Write a Book