I’m the first person to understand a busy schedule – and I can also admit that sometimes I have trouble fitting things into my own. 

As a freelancer, I’ve managed to develop a rhythm that helps. Hopefully, together with some advice that can be passed on to anyone who has trouble finding time in their current schedule for a bridge game.

Full schedule? The first thing I realized about these was that everyone has one. There’s not a single person in the world you could ask about their schedule for the day and hear, “Oh, zero.” in response. Buffett and Gates must be pretty busy, and yet…

This realization impacted my scheduling as a freelancer, too. I realized that time can always be made if you want to badly enough.

Here are practical tips for making time to play bridge.

#1: Find Your Idle Moments

Even during the busiest days, I’ve noticed that there are what I call “idle moments” where absolutely nothing happens for a few minutes. 

Usually, these moments are filled with standing in line, wondering or stressing about what’s happening next. (If you’re waiting in court, it’s mostly that, it turns out.) 

These idle moments are useful.

As a writer, I use them to come up with ideas. As a bridge player, it’s a great excuse to play a bridge game. 

If you’re worried about the game being interrupted, try playing bots.

#2: Combine Activities 

Combined activities are the saving grace of busy people. Call it multitasking or combined activity, but either way, it gets things done a little faster. 

It can involve some creativity to find activities that go well with online bridge, but maybe also not that much. Any activities where your hands are free for long enough can apply for “gaps” and combined activities where you can play bridge while doing something else.

Of course, this means while and not instead of. 

Eventually, you’ll manage to integrate bridge (or your chosen activity) into every day.

#3: Up Earlier (or Down Later)

Getting up earlier or settling down later can do wonders for your day.

Whenever you feel like there aren’t enough hours to get things done, shift things around; where this isn’t possible, sometimes the only solution to the problem is by adding a few more hours to your day.

This doesn’t mean that you have to approach it as a horrible chore. Choose to do things that take focus when you’re at your most awake during this period, and the more “mindless” things (like dishes) as your brain settles down.

Yes, it helps, and it can give you that “push” necessary to get to more things in the same day.

#4: Go Online

Online play cuts out a lot of preparatory work that you would have needed to do for a regular club game. Simply, online play is easier, and even a few very famous players have attributed their ability to play (or at least practice!) online to their success.

Even if you’re a traditionally in-person card player, embracing online bridge play is a great way to fit bridge into your daily life.