Make a Master List. First, I had to sit down and take a hard look at my workload. The first step was making a list of everything I had already obligated myself to do, organized by deadline. Not just the huge things like “turn in XYZ book to editor,” but also the blogs I’d agreed to write, my own blogs, the columns I write for my publisher’s website, bookstore or conference appearances, day-job deadlines, doctor’s appointments, etc. Everything gets assigned a deadline, even if it’s one I set myself. This might seem like busywork—another time-suck.But how can you really assess your commitments if you don’t have a way of looking at everything in one place? My list gets reviewed and updated at the beginning and end of every day. Anything that doesn’t get finished gets bumped to the next day or I reset the deadline if there are more pressing matters. I keep two lists, by the way: one organized by deadline, in a simple Microsoft Word document, and the other a to-do list using a free app called Wunderlist that syncs between home computer, office computer, and smartphone.] Decide What to Let Go and Learn to Say No Assuming your novels are your first priority, what things on your list take the most time but have the least payoff in terms of either advancing your name, improving your writing, or making money? What are the things most likely to throw your schedule off? I stepped away from a freelance copyediting job I loved but its unpredictable workload kept causing train wrecks with my own book deadlines. (The other thing I’ve let slide is housekeeping, but, hey, anything for the cause.) I also have this inane desire to please, which makes saying no difficult. I’m working on that one. Outsource What You Can Afford. Are there things on my master list you can outsource? I’m such a control freak that my first answer to this question was no. Desperation changed my mind. I finally took on a virtual assistant (i.e., “friend willing to work cheap”) to post blogs for me after I write them and dig up the artwork. I do a very time-consuming monthly series of columns on new book releases for my publisher’s website and it’s good exposure, so I don’t want to drop it. I have that same assistant pull together the raw material each month and organize it so that a thirty-hour project can be done in two or three hours. Money’s a factor in outsourcing, and you have to weigh what it would cost you to outsource against what it might gain you in time. But it’s tax-deductible. Streamline. I mentioned earlier that I do all my blog posts ahead of time and outsource the actual formatting and posting. I recycle those columns for the publisher into material for my own blog. My reading time has become so limited that instead of reviewing books, I do a mix of “drive-by” reviews, guest reviewers, and guest posts, but still respond to commenters. Maximize Your Writing Time. Notice how in this whole post I haven’t mentioned real writing? Every author has to work out a system. My day job runs from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. I take a couple of hours off for dinner and family, and then work from 8-midnight every weeknight either writing, revising, or proofing. On Saturdays I do a short five- or six-hour writing day. On Sunday, I put in a twelve-hour writing day—more if I’m on a book deadline. That routine is religion. I rarely vary from it unless I’m on the road. To maximize my hours, I use onlinestopwatch.com to work in one-hour sprints. Until that timer goes off, I can’t reread. I can’t check email. I’m also a plotter—“pantsing” is a luxury I can’t afford, since it means more revisions and longer writing time. I still feel overwhelmed when multiple deadlines pile up, but at least I have a system in place to manage it. What tricks can you share for managing your writing time?
Right but I need to maximize my writing time. That routine is religion. I rarely vary from it unless I’m on the road again. And I can't wait to get on the road again. Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway. We're the best of friends. Insisting that the world keep turning our way. And I can't wait to get on the road again.
I thought it was "Do nothing with nothing. Nothing comes of nothing"; which is my new motto. I thought management had studied their Shakespeare, but it is evident that they missed that vital lesson. Oh, then there is always "Garbage in, garbage out". I'm not sure who the author of that priceless quotation was, but evidence of its impact on Abbott is abundant.
