Hi all!
I'm so sorry for the delay in posting this next instalment of the three tips to time management for writers. I have had a lot of technical issues on my end. We have hit a really cold spell in Southwestern Ontario with overnight lows close to -40 Celsius. Because of this, we've had a lot of power outages as well as internet issues.
I hope this was the last of them. But its supposed to be really cold this weekend too. So, I will keep my fingers crossed.
Please find the second step of your Time Management Strategies to be most productive below.
I will also post the third step, on the weekend. You may want to print off all of these articles.
Take care and thank you for your patience.
Irene S. Roth
The first way to do this is to time your tasks. We can do this by thinking of our time as a flexible resource that expands, or contracts based on the limits we set. What if your first task eats up more of your time than you expected?
To prevent this from happening, you can plan a block of time for each task. Once we reach the end of that block of time, we can decide whether to continue by expanding the time limit or pushing off finishing it up for another day.
For instance, you may decide that the most important thing to do today is to finish a writing copy of your landing page on your website. So, you can set aside two hours to do that in the morning. Say at the end of that two hours, you’re not quite done. What if you’ve gotten stuck in the details or refining the wording, and its gong to take at least another hour?
You may want to look at the time and your list and decide to make finishing your copy as the first priority the tomorrow morning, when you mind can focus with renewed energy. Then, proceed with the next item on your list.
Second, you should try your natural rhythms. Each of us has times when we’re most productive. Once you determine what this time is, you should schedule your writing during these times.
Maybe your creative time is late morning and early afternoon. If so, schedule tasks like content creation for the hour or two before lunch and an hour or two in the afternoon. If you’re social in the afternoon, set time for writing important emails or holding meetings.
Third, plan for interruptions. No matter how well we plan, some things are likely to take longer than we thought. There may be interruptions or problems we hadn’t anticipated that we have to deal with right away. To allow for the unexpected, we must pad our to-do list schedule with extra time blocks.
Even if things don’t take longer than we expected, padding our schedule still has an advantage. We’ll be done with our work more quickly than we anticipated, which means that we can finish our day sooner or get started on tomorrow’s tasks.
To plan for interruptions, try the following:
For example, you might publish a weekly video or podcast. It takes time to set up equipment, record, edit, and produce the content each time. However, if you only have to set up everything once, you can save a lot of time. You can also reserve certain days for video production, such as Fridays and Saturdays.
Fifth use project management tools. Any system for managing the tasks you have to do is fine as long as it works for you. But consider using a project management system to make keeping track of everything easier.
Some management tools are interactive calendars, multiple projects, multiple projects, and other methods such as shareability.
There are also many free and premium programs such as Wrike, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, and SmartSheet.
Here are the links for each:
Wrike – www.wrike.com
Trello – Trello
Basecamp – Replace all over the place with ONE place.
Asana – www.asana.com/
SmartSheet – Work Collaboration Software & Solutions | Smartsheet
Sixth get ready for tomorrow before you leave your session for the day.
At the end of each day, look at your list and get ready for tomorrow. If there are tasks you didn’t get to today, put them on your list for tomorrow.
Ideally, you should plan out your entire week in advance to maximize your time. Then, at the end of each day, refine the next day’s schedule to take into account any changes needed or unexpected tasks that have come up.
About once a week, review long-term projects and check in to see how you’re doing. Look at the system you’ve implemented and see whether it’s working or not. These systems are highly personalized and made perfect through trial and error, and constant revision.
That’s it for this article. I hope you found it helpful and can implement some of these ways of planning for success.
All the best!
I will post the next, and last way of managing your time to be most successful tomorrow or Sunday.
Have a great day!
Irene S. Roth
I'm so sorry for the delay in posting this next instalment of the three tips to time management for writers. I have had a lot of technical issues on my end. We have hit a really cold spell in Southwestern Ontario with overnight lows close to -40 Celsius. Because of this, we've had a lot of power outages as well as internet issues.
I hope this was the last of them. But its supposed to be really cold this weekend too. So, I will keep my fingers crossed.
Please find the second step of your Time Management Strategies to be most productive below.
I will also post the third step, on the weekend. You may want to print off all of these articles.
Take care and thank you for your patience.
Irene S. Roth
The Second Time Management Strategies for Writers to be Most Successful
Planning
Irene S. Roth
Now that you have a prioritized to-do list, it’s time to plan out how you’ll complete it in the most efficient and effective way possible.Planning
Irene S. Roth
The first way to do this is to time your tasks. We can do this by thinking of our time as a flexible resource that expands, or contracts based on the limits we set. What if your first task eats up more of your time than you expected?
To prevent this from happening, you can plan a block of time for each task. Once we reach the end of that block of time, we can decide whether to continue by expanding the time limit or pushing off finishing it up for another day.
For instance, you may decide that the most important thing to do today is to finish a writing copy of your landing page on your website. So, you can set aside two hours to do that in the morning. Say at the end of that two hours, you’re not quite done. What if you’ve gotten stuck in the details or refining the wording, and its gong to take at least another hour?
You may want to look at the time and your list and decide to make finishing your copy as the first priority the tomorrow morning, when you mind can focus with renewed energy. Then, proceed with the next item on your list.
Second, you should try your natural rhythms. Each of us has times when we’re most productive. Once you determine what this time is, you should schedule your writing during these times.
Maybe your creative time is late morning and early afternoon. If so, schedule tasks like content creation for the hour or two before lunch and an hour or two in the afternoon. If you’re social in the afternoon, set time for writing important emails or holding meetings.
Third, plan for interruptions. No matter how well we plan, some things are likely to take longer than we thought. There may be interruptions or problems we hadn’t anticipated that we have to deal with right away. To allow for the unexpected, we must pad our to-do list schedule with extra time blocks.
Even if things don’t take longer than we expected, padding our schedule still has an advantage. We’ll be done with our work more quickly than we anticipated, which means that we can finish our day sooner or get started on tomorrow’s tasks.
To plan for interruptions, try the following:
- Overestimate. When setting time limits on the items on your to-do list, overestimate the time it will take to complete them. Don’t schedule a morning or afternoon too tightly or you’ll be under constant pressure and will inevitably start running behind. And if you’re always running behind, you’ll end up back on that treadmill of always trying to catch up.
- Buffer. Add a buffer of time in your schedule between blocks of work. For example, if you’re dividing up your time in 2-hour blocks, schedule in a 20-to-30-minute buffer with no specific task in between the 2-hour block.
- Plan for catch-up. Another idea is to schedule catch-up time, such as just before lunch or at the end of the day. And if you don’t need it, you can use this time to take a break. Remember also that you can always put off an item until the next day if it’s going unexpectedly longer and you need a fresh mind to tackle it.
For example, you might publish a weekly video or podcast. It takes time to set up equipment, record, edit, and produce the content each time. However, if you only have to set up everything once, you can save a lot of time. You can also reserve certain days for video production, such as Fridays and Saturdays.
Fifth use project management tools. Any system for managing the tasks you have to do is fine as long as it works for you. But consider using a project management system to make keeping track of everything easier.
Some management tools are interactive calendars, multiple projects, multiple projects, and other methods such as shareability.
There are also many free and premium programs such as Wrike, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, and SmartSheet.
Here are the links for each:
Wrike – www.wrike.com
Trello – Trello
Basecamp – Replace all over the place with ONE place.
Asana – www.asana.com/
SmartSheet – Work Collaboration Software & Solutions | Smartsheet
Sixth get ready for tomorrow before you leave your session for the day.
At the end of each day, look at your list and get ready for tomorrow. If there are tasks you didn’t get to today, put them on your list for tomorrow.
Ideally, you should plan out your entire week in advance to maximize your time. Then, at the end of each day, refine the next day’s schedule to take into account any changes needed or unexpected tasks that have come up.
About once a week, review long-term projects and check in to see how you’re doing. Look at the system you’ve implemented and see whether it’s working or not. These systems are highly personalized and made perfect through trial and error, and constant revision.
That’s it for this article. I hope you found it helpful and can implement some of these ways of planning for success.
All the best!
I will post the next, and last way of managing your time to be most successful tomorrow or Sunday.
Have a great day!
Irene S. Roth
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