Time Management for the Christian Author

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

I’ve had the opportunity to teach a “time management for busy writers” class a few times over the past six weeks. 

Now, if you happen to know me personally, you might find the idea of me teaching this class to be laughable. My sister asked me to let her know anytime I would be presenting this material so she could stay far, far away…in order to avoid lightning strikes! 

And it’s true that if you’ve spent time around me while I’m on a deadline, you could conclude that time management isn’t my strongest characteristic. In fact, you might even say that I need to take a class on this subject rather than teaching it. 

Of course, I argue that I’m the perfect person to teach it BECAUSE I haven’t mastered time management, and I don’t think I ever will. 

Stay with me. 

I work hard, spend hours in front of my computer, lose sleep, and say no to things I want to do. I cry, pray, whine, eat a lot of chocolate, remove social media apps from my phone, use pomodoros, and participate in writing sprints. 

I take my own advice! I really do!

But it’s still a mystery to me. And if you were to take my time and my responsibilities and put them into a spreadsheet or a time journal, you’d come to the same conclusion I have.

There is no human explanation for the fact that in the past ten years, I’ve written ten books and four novellas. 

So…how have I done it? 

Well, again, I do work very hard. And I do utilize time management approaches that help. But as a Christian author, I believe there is more going on than my ability to manage my life in such a way that I’m able to do all God has called me to. 

Which is why, no matter how many times I review my notes or teach this class, my favorite part is near the end when we talk about the poor widow from the Gospel of Mark. 

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44, ESV) 

I remember the first time I heard these verses and thought about them from the perspective of a busy writer. As someone for whom time is not an abundant resource, the time I give to my writing is, truly, a sacrifice. It’s a gift. It’s an act of obedience and worship. 

And then I remembered the widow of Zarephath from I Kings 17 who only had enough oil and flour for one cake. Just one. But she gave it to the prophet Elijah, and miraculously, during a famine, she never ran out of oil or flour. 

There was always enough. Not enough to waste. Not enough to feel comfortable. But enough. 

And that’s what I want to encourage you with today. Your time may be in limited supply. But when you give it all to God, it will be enough. 

Don’t expect God to give you more time.

Instead, be amazed by what He can do with the little time you have. 

Grace and peace,

Lynn

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Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she's sitting at home in her pajamas! She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.lynnhblackburn.com.