I was so engulfed in trying to be productive and finish my goal list for this week that I almost forgot to do this blog post which is also on my list of goals. So I thought I would share some time management tips that may help those writers out there are that are trying to figure out how to deal with their everyday busy lives and incorporate writing into that mix. Hope some of these tips are helpful to you.
- Publicize your writing goals- Tell your friends and family, even your kids, what your goals are that you need to accomplish for the week, or for the month. Put a list of those goals up on the bulletin board in front of your desk (because all writers should have one) or on a post it note and stick it on your computer. If you have a blog share some of those goals with your readers. This will help you to hold yourself accountable to the tasks you set out to achieve because if you don’t, now someone else will.
- Do the more time consuming tasks first- You may be tempted to check all the smaller things off your list first but none of those smaller things help you to accomplish the few bigger things on that list then you may still get to the end of the week with those things unfinished and it will feel less gratifying. If you knock the big things out of the way you will feel more accomplished by the end of the week.
- Be flexible- You will probably never complete an entire writing project without having something go wrong along the way, or not necessarily wrong, just not as you originally planned them to go. Make some back up plans for when things get thrown off track. This will help you to bounce back quicker than you would if you were just left without some sense of knowing what to do next.
- Track where your time goes- Often times we don’t even know where the time goes or what we have done with that time. If this is the case with you, it may be beneficial to chart out your day and make notes of what you do and when. See where you can cut some things out that may not be so necessary in order for you to implement for time for writing.
- Just Say No- Distractions are just a part of life and for a writer it is often that people will dismiss your need to actually sit down and write. They expect you to always be available to talk or go out and it’s hard to say no and justify why you’re not spending time with them so you can write. If you start telling them NO and letting them know that this is something serious for you and that it matters, they will eventually get the message and respect your craft. But you have to say No first.
I hope that some of these tips are helpful to you. I am still working on practicing some of them myself. Well I better get back to my craft now. Until next time…be blessed!
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
https://writetobe.wordpress.com/
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
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