Home
>
Writing
>
Revving Up Your Writing Productivity

Revving Up Your Writing Productivity

Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and space. It starts with awareness of what works and what does not. It continues with examining what needs grease, or other needs. Search for the truth for what you need in order to rev up your writing.

1. Long to-do lists. Long to-do lists can be emotionally draining without even knowing it-- even overwhelming and paralyzing at times. We all know it's important to set our priorities. To reduce its negative efforts on our psychic it is important to limit your to-do list to only what you have time to accomplish for that day. It is also important to be specific about what part of a long-term project can you accomplish that day as well. If you write down, "work on my ebook for 12 hours this week" it holds a different energy than, "work on my ebook for 1 hour today."

Fieldwork: Break down the bigger projects into daily doable chunks so you get that "accomplishment high" of checking them off. This is also a quiet but effective motivator. Try it, you'll see.

Every morning review your to-do list. Get honest with your time. If you only have one hour and your list requires three, don't' set yourself up for feeling like a failure because you didn't things completed. Move and reschedule the other two items. By getting honest with your time, and commitments, you begin to see higher productivity as well. If you complete your list sooner, just pull from the next day, and you will feel like you are ahead of the game instead of behind the eight ball.

2. Plan. Before you begin to write, create a quick one page writing plan. The writing plan can be just for that day or just that particular writing time. It only takes five or ten minutes after you get use to creating one.

Fieldwork: Start with recording what your vision is for that writing time or project. See the end result, feel it, and it will become a reality. Is it an e-mail, printed and mailed, or uploaded to your web site? Or is it a simple warm up or exercise to increase your writing skills? See it completed with as much detail as possible.

Next, what is your writing mission in eight words or less? Continuing on...What is your writing objective or objectives, strategy and plan?

Like I said earlier, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. I've done many on napkins or several Post-It notes that were handy.

If defining a whole writing project, you might want to create something more permanent. What matters is clarity and the picture of the end result. As Dr. Stephen Covey says in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, "Begin with the end in mind." Meaning begin with a vision of what the result looks like and feels like.

3. Leverage your time. If you can pay someone else to do less money than what you charge, delegate it. If your brilliance is stronger in writing and not typing or editing, stick with the writing. Hire out the typing and editing. If you are thinking you can't afford it, then you haven't found a way to value your time and your plan is off. You may most likely not be working on your right priorities.

Fieldwork: Check and rework your plan so that you leverage your time. Be honest with your self and what is your brilliance. Only one item contains the highest energy, the others may come class, but one stands out. Focus on that one and watch the miracles occur. Who else can do the other items so you can stay focused on your brilliance?

4. Process -- a series of actions bringing about a result. Prolific writers use many processes that range from how they write -- ink, tape recorded, voice recognition software, stenographer, court reporter -- to everything else that requires to complete their goal.

Fieldwork: What are your processes? Draw a flow chart of your writing process, editing, sales or marketing, filing or any other processes that accompany your writing. In each area, ask yourself, "What can be completed easier and faster?" Can an interactive form on your web site save you time? Would an interactive appointment process save you time? Can a virtual assistant provide support? When asking questions, let cost aside, and allow all possibilities to enter.

5. Systems -- a group of interrelated elements. What is your backup plan for operating without electricity? What system backs you up when your bridge line collapses in the middle of a class? What system do you use if your hard drive fails or heaven's forbid there's a fire? What systems require backup plans, what can slide, and for how long? How do you communicate your backup plans to others?

Fieldwork: Make a list of your systems and then create some contingency plans.

6. Support. Do you have a support team? Who do you call to pass on a project that you prefer not to do or you are too busy to handle? What about when your editor or editors are on vacation or busy themselves with other projects? Do your editors understand your topics? Example: If you are a coach, does your editor understand coaching? If an engineer or accountant, do they understand the lingo? Do they need to? Do you have a hardware technician or two available? Software specialists? Can they come on short notice?

Fieldwork: Make a list of support personnel and add names to each of those areas.

7. What are your power writing hours? They change frequently. What works on Mondays may not on Thursday because you are sleep deprived by this time every week.

Fieldwork: Track your power hour patterns for a few weeks. Also record what affects any changes, like a TV-show you stayed up late to watch. Heavy meals late at night. Look for the patterns and then make new choices that create big changes in your writing production.

8. Do whatever it takes to stay unconfused. Too many thoughts flying around in the old noggin? Try this system that I adore when this occurs.

Fieldwork: Create a make-shift white board if you don't have one. Use the side of a bookcase, picture, or semi- glass wall. Using Post-It notes, write one idea per note, and paste them up. Stand back and take a large picture view. What is appearing? Move them around according to your needs. What do you see? Nothing, give it some space and return and take another look. Keep moving, adding or deleting until patterns and pictures appear.

9. Exit plan. What is your exit plan for the writing or project? Do you plan to get out if something occurs? What is your measurement when you no longer want to be a freelance writer, what to move on to something else, or even just use writing in a different manner? If you are writing an ebook, what happens if it isn't making any money? When do you say, that's enough effort on this, write it up to experience, learn from it, and begin spending your energy on something else.

Fieldwork: Never take any new project one, until you know what your exit plan is for it. Practice writing them even if they are a sentence or two. This shifts your thinking that stuff is forever because nothing is.

10. Environments do affect your writing. It might not matter if it's well-organized. Do you have different areas or places that provide different energy for different types of writing? Do you prefer to sit in a garden to write a garden article? Then again, you may prefer to sit in your car. Can you sit in a bookstore to write one way? In the library, another? The kids playing loudly for another? Totally quiet for yet another?

Fieldwork: Know what environment fuels what type of writing for you. Make a list, then plan your writing around those environments. Notice as your topics change so will the environments need to change.

Reviving up your writing productivity begins with you -- good communication internally and externally. My friends tell me that they can recognize the gleam in my eye when something is taking form so they allow me space without interruption to take record my thoughts. Is this what you need? If productivity needs revving. Think, what it is and ask for it.

Catherine Franz is a Marketing & Writing Coach, niches, product development, Internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. Additional Articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://www.abundancecenter.com

Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare

In The News:

Fueled by artificial intelligence, CyberDog the robotic dog is designed specifically locate fire ant nests, which are endangering ecosystems.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents

Internet browsers are useful, but they can be dangerous. Clicking on malicious links can direct you to dangerous websites that steal information or infect your device.

Apple's latest iOS update introduces advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, which may be capturing and analyzing sensitive information.

Breach site confirmed 56,904,909 Hot Topic users' data leaked online. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says the company's silence makes matters even worse.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how an innovative Easy-Way kit turns standard strollers electric, simplifying navigation for parents.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about T-Mobile being hacked in broad cyberattack on global phone and internet companies.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson shows you how to add, customize and manage widgets for quick access to apps and info from your iPhone home screen.

Wrong Google searches can not only compromise your device and personal data. They can also bring law enforcement to your doorstep. Hackers are targeting Google searches.

China's Shanghai Kepler Robotics has developed a new humanoid robot that can carry up to 35 pounds per hand for commercial applications across various industries

Checking your hearing has gotten easier with the new hearing test feature in AirPods Pro 2. You can take reliable hearing tests using your iPhone or iPad.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how a VPN — virtual private network — works and how running it can slow down the operation of your device.

The WalkON Suit F1, an exoskeleton developed to help people with disabilities, can actually walk over to a person in a wheelchair, solving a major problem.

ClickFix, a new scam targeting computer users, is on the rise in the U.S. The scam prompts its targets to click on a link to fix a problem.

Skydweller is the world's largest unmanned solar-powered aircraft that can stay airborne for weeks, and even months, without refueling.

The U.S. government said it is investigating after People's Republic of China hackers targeted commercial telecommunications service providers in the U.S.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated ways to lure unsuspecting victims, and some are impersonating an email help desk or support team.

You can unsend or edit your iMessages with the latest iOS updates. Kurt the CyberGuy explains how you can save yourself some potential embarrassment.

Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says there’s been a rise in cybercriminal services using hacked police and government emails to send subpoenas and data requests to U.S. companies.

Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how Axiom Space and luxury designer Prada are collaborating on NASA's Artemis III spacesuit design.

Voice assistants may cause confusion across devices. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers some solutions to fix it.

Shameless scammers trick veterans into giving personal info or cash. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson explores five common scams.