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Topic : Re: How can you write during a full work day? As provided in this excellent answer by @what, there is a certain 'creative time,' for writing, when you can write the best. I've been aware of this - selfpublishingguru.com

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Some suggestions:

You say you have an hour or two at the end of the day, but lack the creative energy to write after a long day at work. Try going to bed an hour earlier, getting up an hour earlier, and writing before work. (Personally I think I'd struggle to write at that time, but I do frequently exercise before work. Turning up to the office at 9am knowing I've already done something useful and productive that morning is a great feeling!).
On a similar theme, could you write in your lunch break at work?
You mention weekends as a possibility, but note that you need that time to relax. Maybe relax Saturday, and make Sunday your writing day? If you take 5 hours every Sunday to write 5000 words, that's 260000 words in a year - two or three novels' worth!
You say you can't switch jobs. Might they be open to reducing your hours? It may be worth asking, you never know! I've recently changed to work only three days a week; it's too early to say what effect that will have on my writing career, but in all other respects it's the best thing I've ever done! Granted, this one will need a sympathetic boss, and will mean a pay cut.
Another job-related suggestion: do you have much of a commute? If so, then asking if you can work from home (even if only one or two days a week) might free up a lot of time for writing. Depending what you do this may not be an option, but a lot of jobs these days can be done over the internet for at least some of the work week.
My final piece of advice is to re-frame how you think of these things. I've heard anecdotes of people who've changed their lives with this approach. "I don't have time for writing" (or, "I don't have creative energy at the only time I have for writing") may be accurate, but saying it in those terms has particular implications. None of us have time to do everything we want to do; so we really ought to be using our time to do the things that matter to us most, shouldn't we? Try instead saying "I value [other activity X] more than I value writing, so that's what I'm going to do". If that seems true when you say it, fair enough. But if you realize you value writing more than [other activity X] - drop [other activity X] and write instead!

Whichever you choose, it seems likely that discipline will be important. If you decide to make Sunday your writing day, then don't spend every Sunday writing, it won't work. But perhaps one of these suggestions may prove valuable.


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