helping writers write more
30
Sep
A Guest Blog by Kimberly Napoli
One of the big keys to managing our time effectively is to be able to estimate how long tasks take to accomplish. The real trick is anticipating the Hidden Time Costs (HTC), the time spent on unanticipated tasks related to an activity. It’s tricky because sometimes you don’t see them [...]
29
Sep
Ok. I’m taking back what I said last week!
Well, not exactly. I stand behind the core message of what I said, that when you (or at least I) have a scheduled time to write, you can spot time wasters a little more easily. Sometimes, though, what looks like a time waster isn’t one. Sometimes, as [...]
26
Sep
1. The common cold. Fall is here and so is cold and flu season. I’ve lost five days to my current cold and today will be spent playing catch up. My sweet daughter was first to get sick and was so happy to learn I was sick too (someone to watch cartoons with, I guess). [...]
24
Sep
I might be one of the only writers I know who does not waste time playing computer games like solitaire. However, I have a boatload of other time wasters! Here are some of them:
Shopping in the morning to avoid the crowds and traffic
Checking email during my writing time
Working on writing that isn’t part of my [...]
21
Sep
This week we are discussing time wasters. Unfortunately, I know a lot about those. A time waster for me is anything I do when I’m supposed to be doing something else, like writing. Trouble is sometimes I don’t recognize something as a time waster until it’s too late. Like after I’ve spent an hour [...]
19
Sep
My routine gets upset at least twice a year: the start of school and the end of school. It seems I just get the routine down of balancing all my mothering, teaching, soccer-momming, and writing, then school is over and we’ve got extra time. A few weeks of getting the kids to stop saying, “Mom [...]
17
Sep
Every September loads of people try to get their head out of their vacations, to stop thinking about the beach or the woods or the water, and get back into their “usual” routines. For many people, this includes school for someone in the family, and the strange dread/excitement of having to get back into your [...]
15
Sep
Some of the hardest times for a writer to hang onto writing routines are what I call transition times, those times when something in the normal schedule changes. It can be as simple as adding an evening activity, as big as a cross-country move or as life-changing as having a new baby. It can [...]
12
Sep
On this blog we are going to target a number of areas in the writer’s life that need routines. My overall philosophy about creating routines is to make them as automatic as possible. If left to my own devices, I’d never get anything done. Well, at least nothing productive, save rearranging the furniture. Again.
This also [...]
10
Sep
If there is one consistent through-line in my writing routines, it is that they change to fit my life at the moment. I used to look at this as a weakness, as proof that I couldn’t keep to a schedule. Now I see that allowing myself to be flexible to life’s needs helps me to [...]