On Comparison and Time
Any time I set out to do something, I review the literature first. I seek out advice from people who have had some success or who are respected for doing it well. I take the advice that is helpful to me, and I leave behind the advice that’s not.
Or sometimes I argue with it.
In reorganizing my time to make more room for my writing and related projects, I keep running across the statement, “You have the same 24 hours in every day that ____ has.” They put the name of a super successful person in the blank or invite you to insert the name of whoever your hero happens to be.
I get the main gist of this sentiment, and I’m sure someone, somewhere has been inspired by it, or surely people would quit using it so much. Everyone who enjoys a measure of success gets there by doing the work. There are no shortcuts. Excuses don’t put words on the paper (or in the Google doc). These things are technically true…asterisk.
The problem is that this advice is only practical if the amount of time humanly available is the sole factor in how productive you can be. But time does not exist in a vacuum. Most (and by most, I do mean all) people have other things to consider.
For example, I live my best life on about 7-7.5 hours of sleep a night. Someone who needs 8-10 hours to be able to function, however, inevitably has 1-3 fewer waking hours every single day than I do. Do you know how much writing I can get done in 1-3 hours? That’s a huge difference. To tell them that they have the same number of hours I do is to ask them to choose between responsibly getting the sleep they need and prioritizing their craft.
Another example - some people have children whereas I do not. Children take an immense amount of time to feed, clothe, bathe, read to, teach, and love. To tell them they have the same number of hours I do is to imply that they, too, can spend the same amount of time on creative pursuits, if only they would ignore or neglect their offspring. Not actually advisable.
On the flip side, I do not have a partner (or a personal assistant/cook/housekeeper/etc.) that others - many of whom I look to for inspiration - have. They probably have more hours available to write than I do simply because they have one, two, or a whole swarm of people splitting other tasks with them or completely taking care of many of the things that I must carve out time to handle for myself. Yes, there was likely a time when they were where I am now, and they worked hard to achieve the success they have today. Bet they didn’t spend as many hours writing then as they do now, though.
The point is that, while I am an avid proponent of the maxim that if something (i.e., writing) is important to you, you will find time to do it, I am not at all a fan of false comparisons with other people’s lives. I don’t find that helpful or inspiring. In fact, it’s the opposite for me, especially if I’m looking at someone who wrote the bulk of their last book during a 6-week writing retreat all alone in a cabin (because really - who couldn’t write a book under those unique and very privileged circumstances?).
So my unsolicited advice today is to take a good look at your own schedule (and no one else’s, unless, of course, they depend on you for a ride to soccer practice) and be realistic about the amount of time you can put aside for your art. That’s a number you can actually work with.