I am a part time writer, full time mother, part time student, full time employee, part time marketer, part time housekeeper, cook, chauffeur and researcher. I struggle to find enough time to accomplish my goals when I’m pulled in so many directions, so I wanted to share my secrets of being more productive with you. I hope these tips can help you too. Please feel free to comment and add any tips you have found useful to manage your time.
1. I decide each morning how productive I plan to be that day, using a scale of 1-10. Yes, there are some days when I make a conscious decision to be at level 1. For my own sanity, I know that I need days to just relax, to read a book, to watch a movie, to go to the mall. I avoid feeling guilty because I plan to be unproductive and I succeed. There are fewer days when I make a decision to be level 10. Level 10 is reserved for those days when I feel unstoppable. I’ll wake up in the morning with so much energy, optimism and purpose, I just know I’ll whip through my To Do list in record time and have enough left over to tackle my “big” projects. Most days I aim for Level 6, 7 or 8. These are days when I feel energetic and focused. I have a plan of attack (what I want to accomplish) and no time sucking activities in my schedule. Today I plan for a level 8 and the fact that I’m writing these tips to share with you, tells me I right on track.
2. I focus on one thing at a time in 30 minute intervals. I have found that multitasking usually results in more time spent to accomplish tasks overall. Sure, I might cross off 5 items on my To Do list, but the overall time spent on each activity was greater than necessary. I know my capacity to concentrate on one subject, one hundred percent is limited to about 30 minutes. After that my mind wanders to the next project I should focus on. I’m not saying I complete everything I start in 30 minutes, but I allot that amount of time to get a terrific start. I may need to step away for an hour or a day before I continue. This lets the ideas fully “gel” in my mind. When I come back to an article, scene or project, I have even more insight then when I left. By the way, 30 minutes is just my optimal time. I find 30 minutes is good for writing, cooking dinner, exercising, doing a chore at home or calling a friend; so many activities seem to fit into that space of time. You may work better with shorter or longer chunks of time.
3. I don’t allow myself to be distracted while I’m working on a specific project. If an idea occurs to me and I have a sense of urgency about it, I’ll make a note. I keep 3X5 cards handy to jot down ideas as they occur to me. I’ve tried notebooks, but then I end up searching through several pages and wasting precious minutes. Index cards work for me because I title them according to the subject and I alphabetize them for easy retrieval when I’m ready to write about a certain topic. Because of the limited space, I have to limit my notes to succinct phrases that will refresh my memory. I apply this tool whenever I read an interesting article. I jot down a few notes, usually just bullet points to summarize the information and then I file it for later. This way I can discard emails, magazines or even books without worry. I read it once, take what I need from it, and move on. As a writer I may read an article about forensic investigations. I know that it contains valuable information that I may use in my next book I take notes about the key ideas and I file the card under “Forensics - Blood” or “Forensics - Bone”.
4. I do it once. I understand if you’re rolling your eyes right now. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to write your book once and move on? We write and rewrite and rewrite. Let me clarify what I mean. I write my first draft - once. I don’t edit myself while I’m putting words to the page. I read my first draft - once. I read the entire manuscript before I make a single change to a scene or a character. I will correct the most glaring grammatical or spelling errors, but my first read through is meant to see the story as a whole. I edit my first draft - once. Now I have a second draft and I repeat the process. I read my mail once and then I act on it and discard it. This is true whether it’s snail mail or email. Knowing this before I go in, I set aside (you guessed it) 30 minutes to read my email in the morning and the evening.
5. I don’t spread myself too thin. There are only so many minutes in the day, so when I decide my level of productivity will be a 5, I don’t put 50 things on my to do list. If I am operating at half my capacity for whatever reason, I’m not going to schedule 8 hours of work. I will plan on 4 or 5 hours of solid, focused effort which equates to writing 2 chapters in my novel, or writing 4 articles or 8 posts to blogs. I know up front I can’t do it all, so I will be selective and focus my attention where I feel inspired on that day. Tomorrow I may be at a level 10 and I’ll be able to focus on more areas.
6. My final tip is the hardest one for me to adhere to: Give up Perfection. My work is a representation of me, so it’s only natural that I want it to be great. Not just good, but great. I want to help people by giving great advice. I want to entertain people by writing great novels. I want to market myself by writing great articles. But the truth is, sometimes good is good enough. I’m not suggesting you settle for poor quality. You never want your efforts to be a detriment to your ultimate goals. However, consider if the standard of excellence you set for yourself is reasonable and appropriate for what you are trying to accomplish. For this article, my purpose is to share what works for me personally. I am not trying to land a book contract, run for public office or save the world. If my sentences run on or my tone is conversational, that’s ok in this context. Next time I might need to reign in my enthusiasm and refine my work a bit more.
I hope that I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. Provide you with a few tips to be more productive so you can find time to write. Because right now, my time is up….
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