by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
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| 10 Tips to streamline your writing life. |
So often we make things harder than they have to be.
Sometimes we do it because we’re used to doing things a certain way, or because
it’s the only way we know how. But things change quickly these days, and it’s
always a good thing to take a look at your routine with a fresh eye. Today I’m
going to share some tips to streamline your writing life. Some you may already
do, some you may not have ever considered. Just take a look at the list with an
open mind and see if there’s anything on it that can make your life easier.
Tips to Streamline
Your Writing Life
1. Take a look at
your goals. It’s important to have goals—and it’s important to have written
goals. It’s easy to just float along, taking things as they come. But when we
do that, it’s hard to make progress—and it’s even harder to evaluate progress.
Beyond that, there’s something almost magical about writing down your goals.
Having them recorded somewhere gives them weight and makes it easier to make
them a priority.
2. Evaluate how much
time you’re spending on social media. If it’s more than thirty minutes a
day, it’s time to re-evaluate. After thirty minutes, your return on investment
takes a severe nosedive in the downward direction.
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| Let go of your expectations—for yourself & others. |
3. Let go of your
expectations. No this isn’t a
contradiction of #1 above. There is a huge difference between goals and
expectations. I bet if you’re honest with yourself you have quite a few
expectations—from what you expect from yourself, to what you expect from
others. For me, when I took a hard look, a lot of those expectations were
totally unreasonable. So spend some time and take a hard look at your
expectations. The ones that are reasonable, make into goals and priorities. The
rest of them . . . well . . . just throw them away.
4. Determine when, in
a 24-hour period, you are most creative. Some of us are night people, some
are morning people, and some of us work best in the afternoon. But we each have
a specific time when the words and ideas tend to flow easier. Look at your
internal clock and figure out when that time is. Then, guard it like you’re
guarding gold. Really that’s what you’re doing. Our income and dreams are
locked up tight with our ability to create. When we figure out the time that
work best for creative work, it’s like someone has handed us pure gold.
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| Come up with a way to schedule your time. |
5. Come up with a way
to schedule your time. I know not everyone can have a detailed schedule.
But truthfully, if you’re trying to carve out time to write (and who isn’t?),
you need to schedule that time. There are lots of methods to help with time
management from an old fashioned spread sheet to the Pomodoro Technique. Do some research
and find something that works for you.
6. Commit to quit
talking negative to and about yourself. When someone bashes our ability
and/or our manuscript, it takes time to recover. The same holds true when we do
it to ourselves. So take a page from my author friend, Alton Gansky, and QUIT
IT!
7. Take care of
yourself physically. This means getting enough sleep, eating well, and
especially exercising. The sedentary lifestyle of a writer can quickly take its
toll on us physically and mentally. Sure these things take time—often time we
don’t feel we can spare. But even though this may seem counterintuitive, it
will streamline your writing life. You can accomplish so much more when you are
physically healthy and mentally alert.
8. Build in regular
breaks. Especially when I’m on a deadline, I’ve found that taking regular
breaks greatly improves my productivity. A good friend and spiritual mentor of
mine Kent Pate has a saying, “Divert daily, withdraw weekly, abandon annually.”
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| Surround yourself with encouraging writers. |
9. Surround yourself
with encouraging writers. You don’t just need encouraging friends, but also
encouraging writers. We writers are an odd lot, and we need others around us
who understand our thought process, our struggles and our quirky joys. These
writers should be active and growing—not those who just talk about writing, but
those who spend time writing.
10. Engage a prayer
team. This may seem odd, especially if you’re fairly new to even calling
yourself a writer, much less having something published. But the truth is, this
life is hard. When we answer God’s call to step out and share His message,
we’re going to encounter spiritual warfare. For that, you need people to pray
for you. If you’re also building a ministry, trying to grow an income and/or
beginning to speak, that’s even more of a reason to surround yourself with
prayer. These folks don’t have to be writers, but they should have a connection
to you.
These are just some of the things that do to help my writing
life stay manageable. I’m sure there are lots of other things that would help
as well. Be sure to chime in with your suggestions in the comments section
below.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
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