January 14, 2009

I’ve been talking recently about Margie Lawson’s class for writers called “Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors.” One of the dozens of suggestions she has for getting more done is to use a timer to both get a grip on how you spend your days and to also get more done.

Where’d the Time Go?

When making our daily goal lists, we were encouraged to estimate how long we thought a task would take, then after timing it, write down how long the task actually took to complete. (We share these lists daily with our accountability coach.) For a week or so, I did just that. Boy, was I surprised!

Some tasks that I allowed half an hour for took only fifteen minutes by the clock. However, the opposite was almost always true. I would allow thirty minutes for a project that ended up taking an hour or more. (It is similar to how people trying to lose weight over-estimate how many calories they burn in exercise and under-estimate how many calories they eat.) It quickly became apparent why I ended most of my writing days feeling like a failure. There was no way to squeeze twelve hours of work into eight,  no matter how much I pushed myself.

The timer is your friend, though–don’t let it become a tyrant for you. Now that I know about how long a writing task should take, I use the timer to count down. For example, I allowed forty-five minutes to write my blog today because I already knew what I wanted to say. Right this minute, there are twenty minutes left on the timer. I used to feel my blood pressure rising as the minutes expired. Don’t let this timer become your enemy, just one more pressure that you don’t need. Instead, tell yourself that the timer is your friend. It’s encouraging you to make the best use of your time, to feel good about what you have accomplished at the end of the day. There is also one other way to take the pressure off.

Build in Cushion Time

I used to schedule nearly every minute of the day, eating breakfast and lunch at my desk. Now I don’t. I also give myself about ninety minutes of leeway, knowing that things will sometimes go wrong, emergency phone calls will come, or there will be a computer glitch. But I use the timer to remind myself that IF I get to the end of the day without using up (or frittering away) that cushion of time, I can use it however I want. If my eyes are still able to focus, that usually means a good mystery to read. Otherwise it’s a good English movie (preferably Jane Austen.)

When I started writing years ago, I only had one hour per day (nap time) to devote to writing. As the kids got older, it stretched to two hours (in bits and pieces). This timer technique works, no matter how much time you have for your writing at this moment. And it’s a habit that will help you be more productive once your available hours increase. Otherwise, as many full-time writers will tell you, your tasks just expand to fill your available time, without getting much more done at all!

Important Addition

I also learned that “health” things had to be on my “must do” list as well. Walking three or more miles daily and doing yoga stretch DVDs also go on my “writing” to-do list. Otherwise the headaches and backaches bring the writing day to an early end. (P.S. This blog took forty-eight minutes to write, proof, find art, and post. I’m getting close!)

(By the way, even though it’s too late to join Margie’s class now, you can go to her website and buy the lecture packet for this course for only $20! Scroll down on the left side. Consider getting her lecture packet, teaming up with a writing friend or your critique group, and doing it together. It could change your writing life.)

3 Comments »

1. 

   Cushion time! Love it! Right now I want a secret for pulling time out of a hat! Thank you for this blog, though. I’m re-evaluating.

   Best,
   Carolyn Howard-Johnson
   Blogging at http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com and at http://www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com

   Comment by Carolyn Howard-Johnson — January 15, 2009 @ 4:22 am

2. [...] Writers First Aid. Blogger KRISTI HOLL is the author of 35 books, both fiction and nonfiction, including WRITER’S FIRST AID. Pages. About Kristi Holl. Blogroll. Advanced Fiction Writing Blog · Books and Writing · Chip MacGregor.com … First Aid News [...]

   Pingback by Aid First Supply » Blog Archive » First aid for the match — January 15, 2009 @ 12:38 pm

3. 

   If I had such a secret, Carolyn, I would use it myself and share it with you. I suspect that the bottom line is that we try to squeeze too much into any given day. In the effort to make the best use of our time, we over-schedule ourselves, then run like crazy to try to achieve everything. That “cushion time” keeps my blood pressure down.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — January 15, 2009 @ 1:17 pm

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