Productivity 101

If you've read this blog for long, you know that I am capable of getting a lot done in a very short amount of time. (You also know that I can waste time like nobody's business, but that's a topic for another day.) When I'm having a good day, people often ask how I do it.

There is only one trick I've discovered to staying on track. It's so simple that you might wonder if it actually works, but it does. I use a timer.

Let's say in a given morning, I want to spend some time catching up with social media and reading blogs, working on my novel, and reading. The problem is, once I start with Twitter I can easily spend two or three hours doing nothing else without even realizing it. So, I set a timer for 30 minutes and when it goes off, I move on to the next thing and set the timer again.

But what if I have a two hour block of time to devote to writing? How do I keep myself on track and remind myself to get up and stretch occasionally? I break the time up into half hour blocks. Setting the timer for 25 minutes, I write as much as I can, get up and move a little, and then start over at the half hour. The knowledge in the back of my brain that a clock is ticking keeps me from wandering to non-writing things like email (always so much more important when I'm trying to avoid work).

Timers are also useful for challenging other writers. Get a group of you together, either in person or virtually. Set a timer and see who can write the most words or edit the most pages in that time. Once again, the competition encourages you to stay on track.

So that's how I stay on target. Do you have any productivity tips you can offer?

Success by the Numbers

I told you last Thursday to come back today for an announcement on my revision progress, so here it is: I'm not done yet.

When I realized I wasn't going to make it, I had a mini-melt down. For one thing, I hate it when I don't achieve goals I set for myself, and for another, I needed a celebration and a break. The first revision pass is always a long haul, and I'm ready to be done.

I started beating myself up, wondering why I hadn't been able to do this. Then I looked at the last four weeks since I declared I would finish by June 15th. Here's what I came up with:


102 Number of days I have gone without taking more than one day off in a row
25   Number of hours, on average, I have written each week since May 19
10   Number of chapters that required a total rewrite, rather than simple revision
3     Number of surprising and exciting emails I've gotten this week
25   Number of chapters, approximately, I had left on May 19
8     Number of chapters, approximately, I have left today

I'm counting this as a win. Did I complete the draft? No. However, I did work as hard as I could to get as much as I could finished. The number of chapters that needed to be rewritten took me totally by surprise. Those require way more work--way more time. If I'd known that number, I never would have aimed for June 15.

I'm still very, very close. Tonight, I'm wrapping up the section where Darcy confronts Wickham in London. That brings me to the final quarter of the story, and back into territory that's fairly clearly outlined by Pride and Prejudice. I believe I will finish on Saturday; I'm going out to celebrate even if I don't.

A High-wire Balancing Act

Last Tuesday, I mapped out a plan to finish my novel by June 16th. After that, I'd take two weeks off from my story--no writing or editing of any kind. It was a great plan, but as with all great plans, it was massively flawed. (Think of the Death Star, if you don't believe me.)

So what was my flaw? Where was the tiny exhaust port that would allow a small, one-man fighter to penetrate my outer defenses?

My schedule allowed for no time off.

No days off, no afternoons off, no free hours.

I would work every day from dawn until dark. I'd rise early to write, go to my day job, and then come home and write until I dropped. Then I'd get up on my weekends and write all day long.

Let me tell you, friends, by the end of last week I was already exhausted. But did I abandon the plan? No! I blamed myself--if I had more discipline, I'd be able to keep this schedule. It's only until June after all, couldn't I punish myself for that long?

Yes, my logic was seriously flawed.

On Thursday, I read an older post on Nathan Bransford's blog about balance. I nodded the whole time, especially when I read this:

The thing about this is that I know full well these are the problems of someone who is very blessed and fortunate, and I'm not asking for, nor do I deserve, sympathy. I know I'm lucky! Oh - gee, my hobby that I love is too time-consuming. Woe is me. There are people out there who are working far harder and who are struggling and for whom the idea of finding "balance" in their life is an abstraction.

"Yes!!" I thought. "He gets it! I shouldn't complain about being worn out, because I'm so privileged to be writing!!"

The very next paragraph shot that idea down. In very concise terms, he pointed out that this is simply the way authors justify pushing themselves too hard, and talk themselves out of taking time off. Well, okay. I'm taking that time off in June, that counts--right?

On Friday, the weekly email from Holly Lisle arrived. "Everything takes longer" was the subject line. Gulp! Wasn't this what I'd been flailing myself over all week? Only three days in, and I'm already behind schedule! The opening paragraph nailed me.

You plan your writing time like you're setting up for D-Day, you
have materials laid out and organized, you have your story ready to
start...

And then you remember that thing you forgot.

For me, time off was that thing. I was behind because I'd come home every night, worn out from the getting up early, from the nine hour work day, from just thinking that I still had to write more. So I'd put it off in favor of other things, and then started the next day even farther behind.

Therefore, I announce to you my new schedule. I will write 3-4 hours a day Monday-Friday and five hours on Saturday. My goal each week will be to revise six chapters. If I reach that goal, I will give myself a treat on Sunday. Even if I do not, I will take Sundays off from my novel.

Want to know the crazy thing? I think I'll actually finish the novel earlier!