15 time management tips for writers

Many writers find time management to be at least a minor problem, while for others it can be a major problem, especially those who can’t seem to find the time to write. The following tips may not completely eliminate all typing time management issues, but they will hopefully reduce time management issues to a minimum.

1. Track your time. If you find that you just have no idea where you consistently spent your time, then it’s time to start tracking your time. Take a week or two to record how you spend your time from when you get up in the morning until you go to bed. Use a spiral notebook, divided into columns: the left column for the start and end time, the middle column for a brief description of each activity, and the right column for the amount of time to complete that activity. Record the day and date at the top of each page. Then review the journal to determine where you can reduce the time of the activities (or eliminate them from your routine) to create more time to write.
2. Set goals. Objectives give writers something to aim for. It could be a minimum word or paragraph count per day, a minimum word or page count per week, or a minimum article count per month. Reaching your goals will keep your writing progress moving forward.
3. Set aside time just for research. Having to keep stopping to research facts you don’t know interrupts any writing schedule, reduces available writing time, and distracts writers from their writing goals. Set aside a regular time to research the information you need to write down during the week. So your typing time will be available only for typing.
4. Dual Role Research. When researching for an article or any other piece of writing, research with multiple stories in mind, both fiction and non-fiction. Ask yourself this question: “How many stories, articles or novels can this information be used for?” This means that you will get the maximum amount of writing time for a minimum amount of research time.
5. Use research time to brainstorm other ideas. Use previous research to generate as many new ideas as possible. Once you’ve created a list of titles for the week, review all of your previous research on similar topics and use it to fill in some of the details for each topic. This will reduce some of the research you’ll need to do.
6. Retip or update an old article. Find some of your old articles and brainstorm some ways to rewrite them from a different angle or update the information, both of which will require only minimal additional research. Since most of the writing has already been done, your writing time for these “new” articles will be cut down a bit because you will only need to rework what has already been written.
7. Making use of waiting rooms and other time wasters. There are many times when we have to wait in a doctor’s waiting room, wait in the school pick-up line for our kids to get out of school, wait for our kids at gym practice. Instead of just sitting there bored flipping through old magazines or eavesdropping on other people’s even more boring phone calls, take your writing with you, whether it’s on the laptop or handwriting with pen and paper. Take advantage of that wasted time by turning it into writing time. One of the best things about typing is that it’s portable.
8. Keep a pen and paper with you at all times.This allows you to take notes on all the new ideas that pop into your brain at the strangest of times. Other times, you may find that your mind is wandering, thinking of something other than writing, when suddenly, the solution to that problem you’ve been having with a particular piece appears. Write it down right now, while you think about it. Then get to work fixing the problem at your next writing session.
9. Email yourself.This is the electronic version of having pencil and paper available. As you go about life’s other business while you’re on the computer, you know, paying bills, making appointments, setting up carpool schedules, or making calls on your smartphone, you get an idea about pieces you are working on. Send yourself an email while you think about it, and then get on with the essential tasks of your daily life.
10. take breaks. Many of us have been trained to believe that we should stay at our desks, writing, even when our minds and bodies are crying out for a break. At those times, we are not working at our most efficient levels, and as a result, the words we write on the page are not the best. We need to take occasional breaks to recharge our batteries. It may be just to take a bathroom break so that we are not operating from a place of discomfort. Or we may need to eat lunch or exercise to fuel and rejuvenate our brains and bodies so that we are awake and alert when we get back to the desk.
11. Eat well. Eating a healthy diet keeps our writers’ brains in good working order. Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast, and eat healthy snacks if your brain and body need it. Reduce caffeine. Too much will make him nervous, not alert. Reduce or eliminate alcohol. It doesn’t make you a better writer, it just makes you an alcoholic who wastes too much valuable time writing while drunk, or at least high.
12. Keep your writing flexible. Sometimes writers find that the pieces they’ve decided to work on during their writing stints just don’t work for them that day. But another piece is calling them. There is no law that says you have to stick to a writing schedule exactly as you planned. Sometimes it is more efficient to write the piece that is easiest for you and save the most difficult piece for a day when it is easier for you to write it.
13. Balance your workload. “A little foolishness from time to time is enjoyed by the wisest of men.” I heard that one in the movie “Willie Wonka,” the Gene Wilder version. This is a much longer version of the previous “Take breaks” rule. This one requires you to take a day off, or even a week or two, to get away from your desk for a while. He begs you to stop writing and spend time with your family, doing fun things like going on a picnic, swimming at the beach or watching a movie and playing board games. The only rule is that you are not allowed to write or even think about writing. You are only allowed to have fun, to balance work.
14. Learn when to say “no.” Some writing jobs aren’t worth it because (a) they don’t pay enough, (b) they’ll take up so much of your writing time that you won’t have time for other paying jobs, or (c) they’ll require too much time away from your family. Learn to say “no” to these projects, unless there is a very good reason to say “yes.” Additionally, writers must learn to say “no” to friends and family who insist on calling “just to chat” during their regular writing periods. There are plenty of good books and articles out there with great suggestions on how to politely handle these writing-time intrusions. It is worth the time to investigate.
15. time wasters. Among the many time management problems writers run into are those personal demons known as the waters of time. Major time wasters include: procrastination, spending too much time on unproductive “stuff” that doesn’t help us with our writing or anything else, spending too much time organizing and rearranging our writing spaces and writing schedules. , watching TV, answering emails, reading the newspaper, answering phone calls, reading (books, newspapers, magazines) instead of writing, allowing interruptions, and the ever-popular surfing the web. By eliminating these time wasters, or reducing them to an absolute, strict minimum, we will get more time to write.