Three productivity articles that might be of interest:
Declutter Your Brain by Decluttering Your Calendar by John Hall
Calendars (and by association, our time) can become cluttered just the way physical spaces can, so we need to prioritize how we spend our hours. (The article suggests focusing on the three most important things each day.) When possible, get rid of activities that don’t spark joy, the same way Marie Kondo recommends to get rid of non-joy-sparking objects.
How to Stop Busywork from Stealing Your Productive Writing Time by Writing and Wellness
“The problem is that organized people, in particular, tend to be drawn to busywork. It makes you happy.” These busywork tasks can make us feel good in the short term as we accomplish them, especially if we value organization. But we can’t sacrifice the harder, focused work of writing for the fun of say, organized files. “You may love to have a perfectly organized desk and filing system, but be more passionate about finishing your novel.” Writing can be the more challenging choice of how to spend time, but leads to more meaningful long term accomplishments.
What often works for me: I save some of the busywork tasks for in between projects as a reward. If I’ve finished a round of revisions, for example, I then tackle some organizational projects. I set a specific time for the "busywork," then get back to the writing.
The First Step Isn’t the Problem, the 356,751st One Is by Laura Vanderkam
Choose your long-term project with care, since you’ll be dedicated to it for quite some time. Figure out how long the goalwill take to complete, and if that can be broken down into short segments that easily fit into your routine. (She uses reading one chapter a day of War and Peace as an example.) Then just keep going: “Time keeps passing, so if you have a map, and a pace, and you stick with the pace, you will in fact finish.”
Declutter Your Brain by Decluttering Your Calendar by John Hall
Calendars (and by association, our time) can become cluttered just the way physical spaces can, so we need to prioritize how we spend our hours. (The article suggests focusing on the three most important things each day.) When possible, get rid of activities that don’t spark joy, the same way Marie Kondo recommends to get rid of non-joy-sparking objects.
How to Stop Busywork from Stealing Your Productive Writing Time by Writing and Wellness
“The problem is that organized people, in particular, tend to be drawn to busywork. It makes you happy.” These busywork tasks can make us feel good in the short term as we accomplish them, especially if we value organization. But we can’t sacrifice the harder, focused work of writing for the fun of say, organized files. “You may love to have a perfectly organized desk and filing system, but be more passionate about finishing your novel.” Writing can be the more challenging choice of how to spend time, but leads to more meaningful long term accomplishments.
What often works for me: I save some of the busywork tasks for in between projects as a reward. If I’ve finished a round of revisions, for example, I then tackle some organizational projects. I set a specific time for the "busywork," then get back to the writing.
The First Step Isn’t the Problem, the 356,751st One Is by Laura Vanderkam
Choose your long-term project with care, since you’ll be dedicated to it for quite some time. Figure out how long the goalwill take to complete, and if that can be broken down into short segments that easily fit into your routine. (She uses reading one chapter a day of War and Peace as an example.) Then just keep going: “Time keeps passing, so if you have a map, and a pace, and you stick with the pace, you will in fact finish.”
On to the IWSG Blog Hop. . . .
Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. I'm skipping this month's question, but sending thanks to founder Alex Cavanaugh to this month’s blog co-hosts: J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton.
Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. I'm skipping this month's question, but sending thanks to founder Alex Cavanaugh to this month’s blog co-hosts: J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton.
In case you missed it, my last blog post was a review of the productivity book by Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before.
Happy Writing!
Happy Writing!
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