IS YOUR TIME WORTH IT?
- Jacquelyn Lee
- Mar 27
- 7 min read
Part Two: Time Management and Planning for Writers
◄ Just joining us? Start with Part One first: “Is Your Time Worth It? Part One: Q1 Goals
Check-In for Writers” posted on Friday, March 20, 2026 (work week ending) at
InspireBooks.com. Part Two builds directly on the goals and intentions you set there.
The Clock Is Always Running
I have spent over fifteen years in payroll. I know what it means to track time down to the
minute. I know what it costs when hours go unaccounted for, when time disappears
without a record, and when someone looks up one day and realizes they have been
working hard in the wrong direction.
And when I became an author, I made every single mistake I would have flagged in a
timesheet.
I spent too long brainstorming. I repeated the same ideas in different words, circling
around my message because I was afraid to just commit and write. I had no structured
plan, no timeline, and no real way to measure whether the hours I was putting in were
moving me forward.
On top of that, I was managing my health and holding down a full-time job while trying to
write a book for the first time. I had no system. I had no baseline. And I did not figure any of
that out until I had already spent over a year and a half learning the hard way.
Here is what I know now: your time is your most valuable resource as a writer. And if you
do not plan for how you spend it, you will spend it planning to plan.
Sound familiar? If you completed the Goals and Intentions Assessment in Part One, you
already have the map. Now let’s talk about how to use it.
Your time has a dollar value whether you track it or not.
The question is whether you are getting a return on it.
Why Writers Do Not Track Their Time
Most writers do not think of themselves as business owners. They think of themselves as
creative people who write when inspiration strikes, finish when it feels right, and publish
when everything is perfect.
But if you are a self-publishing author managing your own timeline and your own career,
you are running a business. And businesses that do not track their time do not last long.
The most common problem I see is not a lack of motivation. It is imbalance. Writers spend
enormous amounts of time in the early stages of a project, brainstorming, drafting, revising, and almost no time at all on the stages that matter just as much on the back end:
editing, formatting, marketing, and advertising.
I lived this. I overspent in the stages that felt comfortable and underspent in the ones that
felt unfamiliar. And because I had no record of where my hours were going, I did not realize
how off-balance my process was until I was already far behind where I wanted to be.
Tip: Before you begin your next project, write down a rough estimate of how many hours you think each stage will take. You do not have to be exact. Just the act of estimating will force you to think about the full scope of the work ahead, and that perspective alone will change how you approach it.
Where Your Time Actually Goes
Every writing project moves through stages. You brainstorm, research, plan, outline, write,
revise, edit, format, design, market, publish, advertise, and sell. Most writers know this on
some level. But knowing the stages exist is very different from intentionally budgeting time
across all of them.
Each stage deserves its own dedicated time. Each one has its own demands and its own
common pitfalls. If you treat them all the same, or just keep going until it feels done, you
will either rush through the stages that need the most care or get stuck in the ones that
feel the most comfortable.
Here is the thing about tracking your time by stage: it tells you the truth about yourself as a
writer. It shows you exactly where your comfort zone is, and where your avoidance lives.
For me, writing and brainstorming were the easy ones. I could spend hours there without
noticing. Editing, marketing, and advertising were where I would lose entire weeks, stalling
and second-guessing, because I had not yet built confidence in those areas. Seeing those
numbers on paper was uncomfortable. It was also exactly what I needed to finally start
moving forward.
Tip: Track by stage, not just by project. When you log your hours, note which part of the process you were working in. Over time, you will start to see patterns. That data will tell you more about your writing process than any productivity system ever could.
Resource Note: Joanna Penn’s work on the business of being an author treats time management as a foundational skill, not an optional one. Penn frames author income and time investment as inseparable, and her resources on building an intentional writing career are especially useful for self-publishing authors managing multiple projects at once.
Knowing What Your Time Is Worth
Here is the question I want you to sit with: if someone paid you by the hour to write your
book, what would a fair rate be?
This is not a trick question. It is a payroll question. And it is one that most writers have
never asked themselves.
When you know your hourly value, you start making different decisions. You stop spending
three hours redesigning a template you will use once. You stop rewriting the same chapter
seven times because you are avoiding the next stage. You start asking: is this the best use
of my writing time right now?
That is time management. That is the business of being an author.
I personally use HoursTracker on my phone to log time on the go, and HubStaff for a more
detailed view when I am at my computer. Both are tools I have tested myself. I am not
suggesting you need to use either one. I am suggesting you need something. Even a notes
app with a start and stop time is better than nothing.
I also built a free Project Time Tracker specifically for writers who want to manage multiple
projects and see exactly where their time is going. It lets you log hours by project and by
stage, track your word count progress, and see an estimated value for the time you invest.
It is not about turning writing into a transaction. It is about giving yourself the same
professional respect you would give any other serious work in your life.
Resource Note: The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides published earnings data for writers, authors, content creators, and related roles. Reviewing this data can help you establish a realistic baseline for what your time is worth. The free Project Time Tracker available with this post includes a built-in rate
Benchmark tab sourced from BLS data.
The free Project Time Tracker is available to download from my WordPress. Head there
now and grab your copy. It is built for exactly where you are right now.
Time management is not about squeezing more hours out of your day. It is about using the
hours you already have on the work that matters most.
If you have been spending too much time in one stage and not enough in another, that is
not a character flaw. That is just data. And data is something you can work with.
Start by tracking. Even a basic log of what you worked on and how long it took will show
you more about your writing process than any personality quiz or productivity system ever
will.
You set your goals and intentions in Part One. Now you have the tool to back them up.
You know your story. You know your message. Now it is time to know your time.
Found this helpful? Share it with a writer friend who needs a plan, and subscribe so you
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RESOURCES
The following resources were used in the research and development of this blog and the
supplemental Project Time Tracker.
Jacquelyn Lee, Inspire Books: Is Your Time Worth It? Part One: Q1 Goals Check-In
for Writers
The first post in this two-part series. Covers Q1 reflection, SMARTER goals reassessment, and includes the free Goals and Intentions Assessment template. Start there if you have not yet.
Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn: Business for Authors
Joanna Penn’s work on the business of writing treats time, income, and project tracking as
interconnected disciplines.
Chris Fox: 5,000 Words Per Hour
Chris Fox’s data-driven approach to writing productivity focuses on tracking word count per sessionand identifying bottlenecks in the writing process.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook — Writers and
Authors
Current national earnings data for writers, authors, and content creators. Referenced in the Project Time Tracker rate benchmarks tab.
HoursTracker (iOS/Android)
A simple time-tracking app for logging hours on the go. The app Jacquelyn uses personally for session tracking.
HubStaff
A more comprehensive time and productivity tracking tool. Useful for writers managing multipleprojects or freelance work.
Additional Reading for Writers on Time and Productivity:
Author/Resource | Why It's Worth Your Time |
Rachel Aaron - 2k to 10k | Aaron’s guide to doubling writing output is built on time tracking and self-analysis. Practical, readable, and free in many formats. |
Joanna Penn — The Creative Penn Podcast | Covers the full author business, including how to value your time and manage multiple projects. |
Nir Eyal — Indistractable | A framework for building distraction-free work habits, directly applicable to writers balancing creative work with a busy life. |
Cal Newport — Deep Work | Research on focused work and the cost of distraction. Foundational reading for any writer who wants to reclaim their time. |
Jacquelyn Lee | InspireBooks | 2026
#LifeCycleAuthor | @JacquelynLeeWrites
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