AS I’M SURE YOU’VE NOTICED, we are slip-sliding quickly to the end of the calendar year. It’s time to take final stock of where you are with your goals and make that last big push to reach the finish line. At the start of the year, we embarked together on […]
IN THIS SERIES on writing productivity, I have borrowed heavily from general principles of productivity that, when applied to work and life in general, can bring about positive results. These principles include setting and achieving goals, and managing and maximizing your writing time. But does ALL advice about productivity translate […]
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft I HAVE THIS HABIT of starting each new year in high productivity mode and then later, as the year progresses, find myself slowing down. By […]
SINCE 1884, Americans have enjoyed a day of rest on the first Monday of every September. A creation of the Labor Movement, the holiday is meant to celebrate the social and economic achievements of organized labor, which brought us better wages, reasonable hours (imagine working 12 hour days, 6 days […]
JUST AS WE EACH have a limited amount of physical strength, we each have a limited store of energy each day. There’s only so much energy for focus, motivation, and self-control. Only so much energy for creative activities such as writing. Have you noticed that sometimes you feel a high […]
“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.” ~Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati WHEN YOU SIT DOWN TO WRITE, do you struggle with lack of focus and creativity? Are you easily distracted by external stimuli? Have trouble clearly envisioning that scene you are trying to write? If so, you’re not alone. […]
LIFE IS BUSY, it seems there’s never enough time for everything, and other responsibilities tend to crowd out writing — that thing we say we love and want to do most. If you have difficulty accomplishing your writing goals, have trouble getting organized, tend to procrastinate, or simply feel that […]
WE ARE ONE-THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH 2018. If you began this year by committing to accomplishing one or more goals, it’s time to take stock of where you are on your year-long accomplishment journey. Chances are, you’ve gotten a little off track due to unplanned circumstances. You’ve hit bad […]
SO YOU STARTED THE YEAR OUT STRONG. You created your big rock goals, developed an action plan for accomplishing those goals and scheduled time on your calendar. You review your plan frequently to keep yourself motivated. Sure, you’re not perfect, but you’re making progress, and that’s what counts. In fact, […]
OUR RELATIONSHIP TO DEADLINES IS COMPLICATED. From the time we start school — and sometimes even before — we are subject to deadlines in almost every aspect of our lives, from homework to after-school sports. As adults, deadlines stretch from projects at work to bills and taxes due. If you […]
DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE GETTING STARTED? Do you schedule writing on your calendar, but when it’s time to write suddenly discover you have too many other commitments or priorities? Or maybe you think you should sit down to write because you promised yourself you would, and you think about it […]
THIS IS THE THIRD of a series on achieving your writing and productivity goals. In Part 2, you created an action plan for your Big Rock goal. (If you haven’t been following along, I suggest you start with Part 1 and read forward.) Today, I want to talk about how to […]
