Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.
~Victor Kiam
How serious are you about your art and exactly how much are you willing to sacrifice to invest something in it?
More and more everyday I am reminded of just how short life really is and as a writer I get to thinking about how much time I waste on a daily basis doing things that are not going to help me get to where I need to be in life. With the hours that I have spent watching television that was not necessary to watch I could’ve literally written quite a few novels by now. The same goes for the hours that I have spent on the telephone with non-productive idle chit chat.
It seems as though I am always busy yet somehow I still feel like I don’t get anything done, or at least not as much as I should. While I am productive to an extent I certainly have begun to realize that my output could be so much more then what it is. But I have come to a reality that just because someone is busy being busy doesn’t mean that they are being productive.
One of the two key elements in trying to remain productive is time management and using the time that you have available in the most efficient way is a crucial component and affects just how productive you are or can be. It’s really easy to let life’s little distractions turn into excuses as to why you’re not actually working towards what you want but those excuses don’t get you any closer to what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You have to know your limits and be more realistic about your time. While you do need to establish a routine to effectively balance the workload that you have you can not create a schedule that works if you don’t manage your time well thus knowing how much time to designate to any given task.
You also have to know your distractions and how to avoid them. For example my distraction is television. I have come to understand that for me to produce the amount of work I feel I should be putting out I need to go somewhere where there is not a television so I have adjusted to going to the library or a coffee shop in order to get my writing done. Everyone’s distractions are different but you need to recognize them and adjust them according to the time that you have available. Productivity begins with you having an awareness of what works and what doesn’t.
Another key element in productivity is prioritizing. You have to know what you want most in order to know what to do first. You also have to know your goals before you can productively meet them. If it takes you making a list so that you can better visualize what it is that you need to do in order to meet those goals then it’s time to pick up your pen and get writing. Most of us don’t have a problem coming up with things that we want to get done but when we try to keep everything in our head that’s when it can get overwhelming. A little organization and prioritizing of your time can go a long way. Once you have that list written out you can become more organized about how to achieve those goals and assessing their levels of priority which will make your output that much greater.
Time is very precious and valuable and if you don’t use it well and do what needs to be done in the amount of time that you have then you are wasting time that you will not get back again. Saying you are too busy is not going to get things accomplished because the truth of the matter is that if you were busy doing what needed to be done then you wouldn’t be scrounging around for the time to do it.
Look at what it is that you are so busy doing and evaluate it. What is it in your “busy” day that can be cut out? How much of what you do can be eliminated from your schedule to allow for the necessary things. Learn how to manage your time because if you don’t you’re just going to wake up one day wondering to yourself where did all the time go and how come I’m still not where I wanted to be. It’s because you can’t be productive if you’re not prioritizing your time. Time can not be re-created so I suggest that we procrastinators stop being busy just to be busy, and get busy producing greatness.
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
https://writetobe.wordpress.com/
http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://freemynd.wordpress.com/
Write 2 Be 