Theories of Productivity for Writers

There are so many suggestions for practices and products to make you more productive, just searching for them can become a procrastination artform. By attempting many, many different organisational or productivity ideas, there is a basic truth I've learned: Everyone has their own natural rhythm in life, and as such, different methods work for each of us. 

For example, I find most productive techniques work well for me... for a very limited time. While it's new and shiny, my brain is in awe enough to follow instructions. But once I get used to the routine, my brain gets time to manufacture sneaky ways to lure me away from my good intentions. 

Here's a few theories of productivity and suggested methodologies. Try a few and choose what works for you.

30 days to become a habit.

Now, I've seen suggestions that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and my meditation tape recommends listening for 24 days in a row to achieve the 'habit' of creative meditation. I figured I'd play it safe and suggest 30 days. Habits formed can be active or resistant, i.e. you can 'do' something for 30 days, or you can abstain from something for 30 days. This trick worked well for my kids last year when I banned fast food. It's now been 17 months since their last trip to MacDonalds. The first few weeks were hard, but it did indeed become a habit. The ban is lifted, but my kids tastes have changed (they're 11 and 15) and now they don't want to eat that food. This month we've taken the step of banning Coke-a-Cola. I'll let you know how that goes!

So what are the rules? Basically, you must complete 30 consecutive days to form the habit. If your habit is to write a page a day, and you miss 1 day, your 30 days start again. Be clear with your goal and it's a good idea not to try and achieve too many at once. I'd start with just one for your first month. Want a free 30 day calendar? Andrew Dubber created one for his blog. You can download it by clicking on the image (or visit http://andrewdubber.com/2013/03/resurrecting-the-30-day-calendar/)

Challenges

There are always plenty of blog challenges to join, whether you want to write one short story a month and submit that story (write one, sub one), get 50,000 words in one month (Nanowrimo), or read an instructional text on the craft of writing each month (The Progressive Book Club), you'll find a blog challenge to meet your goals.

This method employs the tactic of accountability. If you announce your intentions to enough people, you'll feel obligated to see this through. Beware, there is a conflicting theory that if you announce your goals to people, and get patted on the back for your intentions, your brain can get tricked into believing it has already made an achievement and you'll be less likely to see the project through.

Triangle theory

A friend told me about this theory, and I embraced it because it's a very forgiving theory. Through our lives we pick up various responsibilities and projects. We'd probably be amazed at the number of things we've attempted. But at any one time, our life can only support three main focuses. We might change those three from time to time, but only three will fit comfortably within the pyramid that represents our life (pyramids are very popular with theorists).

Last year my pyramid consisted of Family, Writing and Fitness. This year I took up tutoring for work, so that has replaced Fitness. I've found this to be an honest approach. As much as I wanted to keep up my runs and workouts, I really don't. I can for a short time swap an item to get fitness back in, but I have to be honest and admit that something else would have to go. You might swap your focus daily, depending on your weekly schedule. And although there can be three things we can be productive in at any one times, only one will sit at the top of the pyramid.

Lists

Us writers love these, but they can actually increase your procrastination if you don't use them right. Many experts suggest the way our brain is wired means if we put more than five items on our to-do list, we are less likely to complete any tasks, but if you stick to five or less (3 key things you want to achieve today, is a good start), then you're more likely to achieve them all! Less is more. I do cheat a little here. I write a master list, with about 50 to do items, and each day I take the three main things I want to achieve from that.

Time chunks
Regular breaks are an important ingredient for any productive workplace. For health reasons you should look away from your monitor and off into the distance every 15- 20 minutes (http://www.spreeder.com/blog/avoiding-eye-strain/), you should also stand and stretch your shoulders and back regularly. Besides tired eyes and sore muscles, our brain gets bored stuck on one thing too long. By breaking tasks down into 20 minute segments, you'll be much more productive. Take a short break between tasks or switch to a different task. Keep your mind interested to work more productively.

Another time-related trick for productivity is to schedule your distractions. Set time-limits for social media, otherwise your triangle of productivity becomes more like this:

Want more? Here's some popular posts on productivity:

8 Ways to Prioritise Writing

Best Free Apps for Productive Writing

Organisation and the Writer - the Kanban method

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