As a stay-at-home mom, life demands a lot of flexibility—especially with my son’s schedule constantly shifting between the relaxed pace of summer and the routine of the school year. This year, I wanted to bring more consistency into my own life, to build habits that would stick even as schedules changed. That’s when I remembered Atomic Habits by James Clear sitting on my bookshelf. I hadn’t cracked it open yet, but when I finally did, it was exactly what I needed to start making real, lasting changes in my writing life.
Clear’s core message is simple but powerful: small steps can lead to big changes. This approach felt perfect for my current phase, where grand plans can get derailed by everyday demands. Instead of setting lofty goals like “write every day for hours” or “finish a novel in a month,” I decided to focus on Clear’s 1% improvements, looking for tiny but impactful actions that felt doable.
The Power of a Flexible Writing Routine
Clear emphasizes that building habits is about finding routines that work for your life. For me, that meant adapting my writing habits around my son’s school schedule. After dropping him off each morning, I realized after I walked the dog. I could jump straight into writing mode, making the most of that fresh morning energy.
This approach kept me from feeling like I had to force writing into random pockets of time. Instead of trying to accomplish everything before the day got busy, I made writing part of the natural flow of my day, aligning my creative time with my family’s schedule.
Rekindling My Passion for Writing with Tiny Steps
One of the best concepts from Atomic Habits is Clear’s “habit loop,” which includes cue, craving, response, and reward. By working within this structure, I found it easier to create routines that fit into my day naturally. For instance, each morning after returning from walking the dog, I’d make a cup of tea and head to my dedicated writing room aka the home office or what I like to call the study. This simple setup became my cue, signaling that it was time to write.
Then came the craving: the satisfaction of working on projects I’m passionate about, like my middle-grade kids spy novel The Case Of The Missing Mascot, Or my Fantasy novel Riders of the Storm, or my latest fiction story, High in the Hills.
By committing to short, focused writing bursts, my reward was being able to see my work slowly come to life on the page. These small cues and rewards turned my writing time into something I genuinely looked forward to.
Habit Stacking: Turning Small Moments into Creative Time
One of Clear’s most effective strategies is “habit stacking,” which involves linking a new habit to something you already do regularly. Habit stacking made it easy to add writing into my routine in a way that didn’t feel forced. For example, right after lunch, I’d spend a few minutes writing or brainstorming ideas for my blog, focusing on my passion for storytelling.
Adding these writing sessions throughout my day transformed my schedule into something that felt cohesive and manageable. Whether I was working on a short story for publication, Writing and editing any of my novel ideas or drafting a new blog post, each session felt like a natural extension of my day.
The Transformation: Rebuilding My Writing Life One Step at a Time
Now, after just a month of focusing on small improvements, I feel like I’m finally rebuilding my writing life. Clear’s 1% improvement philosophy allowed me to make consistent progress without feeling overwhelmed. Writing has become a part of my daily routine, something I look forward to and can rely on, even when the day doesn’t go exactly as planned.
What I love most is that these writing habits don’t feel like obligations but like rewarding rituals. Each day starts with a sense of purpose, and I’m finally seeing the progress I’ve longed for on projects that matter to me. From any of my three novel’s to my short stories and blog, I’m able to juggle my different writing passions in a way that feels sustainable and fulfilling.
Why Atomic Habits is Essential for Moms (or Anyone) Looking to Reignite Their Creativity
If you’re a stay-at-home parent or anyone with a shifting schedule, Atomic Habits is a must-read. Clear’s advice is practical and encouraging, showing that consistency doesn’t mean perfection. His methods helped me adapt my writing goals to fit my family’s needs, allowing me to focus on small, meaningful actions that add up over time.
So, if you’re ready to build habits that work with your life, give Atomic Habits a try. You might just find, as I did, that the smallest changes can lead to big transformations—one story at a time.
Happy Reading Friends.
Love,
Emma
EmmaCohan.com 