Thank you for the
fantastic response to my ‘Planning Ahead’ post last Friday – in which we
discussed our personal goals for 2013. It seems to me, that while most of us
enjoy planning ahead and setting targets – we all worry about finding the time
in our busy lives to actually achieve those goals.
I’m
certainly guilty of letting time slip away from me by procrastinating and giving
priority to other things when I really should be sitting at my desk writing. So
I did a shout out on Facebook and
Twitter for all your ‘Time Saving Tips’ for today’s blog post – and I received
some incredibly valuable practical tips and workable strategies to help better
manage time. I’ve listed them below.
I also approached Grace Marshall – Head
coach, chief encourager, author and productivity ninja - who is passionate about helping
busy people make the most of their time and their talents. Grace says she's not
a naturally organized person. She doesn't believe there is such a thing as ‘perfect
work/life balance’ or in trying to ‘find more time.’ Instead, she's learned how
to get stuff done in a way that works with her personality, lifestyle, and
commitments.
I
asked Grace to help me with my procrastination and this is what she advised:
 |
| Grace Marshall - Productivity Ninja! |
1.
Decide when you’re going to start writing and commit to it.
Give
yourself 15 minutes before to get your space in order, and decide what
absolutely needs to be in place during that time, (e.g. pen, paper, laptop,
cup of tea) and what can wait until later (e.g. laundry, tax form,
phoning the bank). Use a timer if you need to.
2.
Keep a tangent log
Sometimes
our biggest distractions do not come from our external environment, but from
inside our heads, when our brains come alive with ideas, thoughts, and
reminders that have nothing to do with the task at hand.
Keep a separate notebook next to you for anything that comes to mind unrelated
to your writing. Every time you go off on a tangent write it down - every
thought, reminder and idea. This way, you don’t have to keep remembering and
you know you can come back to it later. Capture the thought, get it out of your
head and can keep it free to write.
This
is taken from my book, 21 Ways to Manage the Stuff That Sucks Up Your Time,
a little book that is packed with simple, practical tips and techniques you can
put to use straight away, to help you manage the stuff that sucks up your time,
and have more time for what really matters.
You can Follow Grace on Twitter @GraceMarshall
I did a shout
out on Facebook and Twitter for your ‘Top Time
Saving Tips’ and here are some great suggestions:
@helen_kara - Helen is an independent
business researcher who has also written a book on time saving tips. She
advocates: “Back up everything you
produce on a computer every day – is it worth saving one minute of your day
when you risk losing days or weeks or months of work?”
@Jean_bull – Jean says: “To save
time, my idea is to glance at emails on my iPhone, deal with the urgent ones
and then crack on with the writing.”
@fishsoupwriting - Michelle says: “I do all my novel and short story writing on a laptop with no internet
connection. I don't have FB or Twitter to distract me.”
@Harrietgrace65 - Harriet suggests: “Set dead-lines to achieve a certain amount of writing by a certain
date – seems to work for me!”
Sue Johnson at The Writer’s
Tool Kit – “I write a monthly 'wish list' of 20 things I want
to achieve with my writing in that time (it helps to maintain focus) carry a
notebook everywhere and have pen and paper in every room in the house. I always
plan my next writing session before I finish for the day.”
Kristal
Baird writes romance novels
for Xcite Romance and also has a full time day job: Kristal says: “Having a big
dog who can't see the point of anything less than a couple of hours romp over
the fields or in the woods - I came up with the solution of "writing"
into a digital recorder as I walk. Best done in a relatively quiet spot, unless
you really don't give a hoot. And you have to allow for the heavy breathing
(quite atmospheric really)!”
JB Johnson at Brook Cottage Book Blog says “Have folders for everything on your computer rather than having to spend
ages searching for stuff. And LISTS!!! I cannot survive without lists! I cross
of jobs so that I don't end up repeating the same jobs.”
KitDomino – Kit, writer and
editor says: “My tip: Strict discipline as to time spend on
Twitter and Facebook - both big time suckers.”
@WellsNicky – Nicky, rock star writer: says “Here's my three big ones. 1) lists and
priorities. 2) if you're meant to write, write. Don't go on social media. 3) 'the
one touch' rule: if you've opened an email/tweet/FB message and read it, ACT on
it. Don't leave it until later and duplicate your effort.”
My own tip – and this is
something that fits in nicely with Grace’s tip of using a timer. Apparently,
you can only work effectively and totally concentrate one task in blocks of 40 minutes.
This is why, at schools, the classes are based on periods of 40 minutes. I
downloaded Pomodairo a
desktop timer that can help with productivity. So I’ve set it to 40 mins (if interrupted,
I can pause the timer button) and an alarm will sound when my session is up.
The idea is to take a 15 minute break before beginning another session.
I’ll
let you know how I get on and would love you to do the same!
Do
leave a comment here on the blog or on my author Facebook page or tweet me at
@JaniceHorton. Good luck!
