“I’d love to write, but I just can’t find the time!” How often have I heard those words — or said them myself? Writing does take time as well as effort, but with a little creativity, you can find a way to get those words down.

First, you should always have some way to write, no matter where you might be. Either carry a small notebook and pen or pencil, or use the notebook feature on your cellphone or tablet. If you’ve got it, you’re more likely to use it.

Once you have that habit well established, the rest is just a matter of using your head. You realize this, of course: it’s not as if there’s actually time missing, that you can somehow find some extra minutes to the day if you just look hard enough. No, it’s a matter of making time: you must figure out where you’re wasting time and utilize it instead.

Here are some good ideas to get you started:

• Write whenever you have to wait for anything: at the doctor’s office or pharmacy, before the meal arrives in a restaurant, in line at the coffee shop. If you’re going to be there more than a couple of minutes, put a few words onto paper.
• Write instead of channel-surfing: while the meal is cooking, while the clothes are washing and/or drying, while the kids are getting ready for bed. Instead of flipping on the TV, flip open the notebook.
• Write before you start loafing. Instead of starting your day surfing the internet, set a writing goal and meet it. Even if it’s a couple of hundred words, that’s 200 words you wouldn’t have otherwise — and often, once you get started, you’re going to want to keep going.
• Write before bed. Instead of starting a book or magazine, get some writing finished.
• Write during your lunch break. Take a couple of minutes and jot something down.
• Make time. Actually put a date down on your calendar, and then use that time as you intended.

What’s your best tip for finding the time to write?