5 Ways to Make More Time to Write as a Christian Songwriter

We’re all busy. There’s hardly time to do all that must be done for work, school, and family, much less cram in songwriting, no matter how called you feel as a Christian songwriter.

But, if God has called you to use your talents for His glory, can’t He help make the way to get it done?

Try these 5 ways to make more time for your songwriting every day of the week.

#1 Take an easy inventory of how you invest your time each day. Think of it this way. You have a certain amount of time to invest each day. 86,400 seconds, to be exact. You invest in driving the kids to school or laying on the couch bingeing Netflix. Each second brings an equal or greater amount of return. Eating Twinkies brings a return of fat on your hips. Studying hit songs brings the return of becoming a better, maybe even a hit Christian songwriter. If you shift your mindset from spending to investing each second of the day, you’ll find greater value in each moment God’s given you. Taking an easy inventory of how you’re investing your time each day will help you find valuable seconds you may be wasting that can be redirected, invested, in your Christian songwriting skills.

#2 Write in micro-bursts instead of waiting for longer periods to write. If we wait until we have a two – three hour block of time to set aside to write, we’ll rarely find it. Life is too full for that fantasy to become reality. As you begin to take that easy inventory you’ll likely find 15 minutes here or there when you can pull out your phone to hum in a few melody lines or jot down some lyric and title ideas. If your current song idea is always top-of-mind, writing in several micro-bursts throughout the day can add up to a huge payoff. Ditch the dream of open-ended time and use the micro moments you have each day to become a powerful Christian songwriter.

Ditch the dream of open-ended time and use the micro moments you have each day to become a powerful Christian songwriter.

#3 Use transitional moments to think about your messaging. You have to chauffeur kids and shop for groceries. Why not use that transitional time in the car or walking around the store to consider how listeners may react to your song’s messaging? Who will be blessed by your words? What audience would respond to your style and production? These are valuable moments throughout each day that are brainlessly slipping away. Why not use them to meditate on your song even when you’re not sitting at your keyboard or computer to officially write? Becoming a great Christian songwriter means you’re always thinking about your listeners first.

#4 Use casual listening time to shape your composition. Odds are you’ll not invent an entirely new genre of music. So why not invest your casual listening time into helping identify your perfect song market as a Christian songwriter? Instead of just sitting there tapping your foot and letting the music pass by, what if you studied it and considered where your song might fit on the radio? Turn casual listening into intentional listening for greater songwriting results.

Not having enough time is the #1 complaint of most Christian songwriters. But someone’s finding the time to write the popular radio hits and great songs you sing in church each Sunday.

#5 Set aside one hour each week to bring it all together. If you’ve been paying attention to the song growing in your heart and filling up your cell phone throughout the week, it’s time to pull it all together with a powerful one-hour session on Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday. Collect all the random lyrics and melody snippets in one place and begin to piece them together like a puzzle. Look for the edges first, the big chunks like verses and choruses that define the overall song. Then fill in the middle pieces like the pre-choruses and bridges. It might amaze you to realize that this song has been coming together quietly in your head while you were doing all those other things.

Not having enough time is the #1 complaint of most Christian songwriters. But someone’s finding the time to write the popular radio hits and great songs you sing in church each Sunday. They don’t have more time than you. They just invest it wisely.

You have a certain amount of time to invest each day. 86,400 seconds, to be exact.

Download this free infographic here as a reminder of these 5 ways you can use the time God’s given you for His glory as a Christian songwriter.

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This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Anne Leslie Tijerina

    Great John ! I needed that !!

    1. Ben Davis

      Thanks! I’ve been working on better managing my time by eliminating the things that aren’t important, giving me more time to use the gifts God has given me.

  2. Tom

    Yes! One great word, line or phrase in 5-10min 10 times a week is 10 great tid-bits in a week. That is SO MUCH MORE than nothing! Better to write a little when you can than none while you just wait for that block of uninterrupted time to magically arrive- because it probably won’t! Great words, John!

  3. Busayomi Abolarin

    Thanks for opening my eyes to how I can better manage my time

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