Tag Archives: time

advice

Mid-July Bulletin: Summer is Passing You By!

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beachchairs
Every writer needs rest. And sometimes, especially if your life is
particularly harried, you simply need to stop and "be" for a while.
Great writing doesn't flow from an exhausted, frustrated heart.

Source: Beth Erickson, filbertpublishing.com

Mid-July Bulletin:  Summer is passing you by!

We’re one month into the season and too many of us are tethered to a wi-fi signal instead of a beach ball.

Need some inspiration to help you make a few changes before we run out of summer?

  • Take a Friday off…  Get any deadlines finished early, and go outside Friday morning for some fun.
  • Swim… Get to the water, either a nearby pool, a lake, or a good walk along a calm river. Let your mind float.
  • Eat out… Work-at-home freelancers eat from hand to mouth – usually a sandwich or handful of snacks from the kitchen. Enjoy summer by eating at an outdoor cafe. Nothing formal, just a flatbread and a glass of wine, a good burger, or a great ice cream sundae. You deserve it.

Freelancers aren’t alone in our relentless workload. Corporate employees also fail to take enough time off.  A Harris Interactive study states nearly 57 percent of working Americans had unused vacation time at the end of 2011.

So shake off your Monday routine. Tonight, go out and watch the stars, and enjoy the richness of quiet relaxation.

Helen Gallagher it the author of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way. She shares her advice and ideas on small business and technology here at Freelance-Zone.com and through her books and blogs, accessible through www.releaseyourwriting.com. She is a member of ASJA, National Book Critics Circle, Small Publishers Artists & Writers Network, and several great Chicago-area writing groups.

advice

What’s Your Best Time?

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I can’t function in the morning. Simply put, I’m a night owl. Most of us have times that we work well–and times that we don’t. One of the keys to writing is learning to schedule your time so that you are productive, and part of that means doing the bulk of your writing when you are at your best. It’s fun to take a peek inside the life of another writer, so in that spirit, I offer you a sample day as an example:

Here’s my routine…

I get up around 9 or so, put on a pot of coffee, walk the dog and then settle in to check e-mail. I answer the simple ones, file the old ones and leave anything that requires thought in my inbox for another look when I am conscious. Then, I take a break, eat breakfast, and grab another cup of coffee. The rest of the morning is typically spent sending out e-mail inquiries and invoicing. Then I break for lunch. When I get back to the desk, I make phone calls, and then I write. After a couple of hours, I head out for a trip to the gym, then come home and write some more. How long I go then depends on how much work is on my plate.

Separating tasks into chunks of time works well for many writers. You may want to consider what your “best” hours are and reserve that time for actual writing. Do the menial tasks when you are waking up or winding down. It may not seem like this would make much of a difference, but I’m here to tell you that it really does. I get much more done going with my flow rather than I did when I fought against it.