contrive

1. To plan with cleverness or ingenuity; devise: contrive ways to amuse the children.
2. To invent or fabricate, especially by improvisation: contrived a swing from hanging vines.
3. To plan with evil intent; scheme: contrived a plot to seize power.
4. To bring about, as by scheming; manage: somehow contrived to get past the guards unnoticed.
e.g.
My eight-year-old son could write a book titled 101 Ways I Have Contrived to Stay Up Past My Bedtime.
Jill has to contrive a way to get a day off from work for her firend's wedding. She's already used up her vacation time.