Overcoming Stress; or how I stopped being insecure about pressure and painted my nails instead.

Deadlines, obligations, accomplishments, and expectations... these words have been highlighted in my life lately with the big fluro yellow marker of stress. I need to let go a little.

Another self-imposed deadline! But a fun one.I'll post my wrap up of the blogfest tomorrow. Want to visit the participants? Click on the image.

Deadlines can be great for productivity, but not when the pressure outweighs the benefits. In Theories of Productivity I included the triangle theory - the idea that you can successfully prioritise up to three segments of your life at any one time, but accept that there are many more divisions which will have to wait their turn for attention (to read more, you can see that post here). The problem is, each of those departments wants to be at the top of the triangle all the time.

I love being busy. But I take advantage of that trait and pile it on too thick sometimes. 

Do you convince yourself everything needs to be done NOW? I do. 

My natural rhythm is to be an early bird. I love, love, love sleep and can't wait to curl up in bed each night and get excited to jump out of bed early each day. Not lately. I've stayed up until midnight on my websites tweaking, fixing and then mumbling curse words at WordPress. Then I drag myself out of bed early ('cause, you know, I'm an early bird) and walk around in a daze. Of course that leads to being unproductive all day, so I feel I have to stay up late to catch up and... well, you can see the pattern.

The solution

You didn't think I'd just depress you all for nothing? My solution was two part. 

1. Get to bed! Sneaky me, set a challenge for the family. For one week we all must be asleep by 9pm and awake by 6am. They took the bait. Three days in and I'm feeling great and getting more done each day than I could in a week when I was tired.
2. Paint my nails. I was never much of a nail painter. It involves sitting still too long for me. But during my weeks of no sleep and high stress, I realised that was exactly what I needed. I paint my nails and then I CAN'T move or touch anything, or do any tasks until they dry. I do several coats so it takes a good hour to dry properly. I've also noticed family members seem to value my nail-drying time more than my work time. They leave me alone, do things for themselves, even offer to do tasks for me, all because they don't want to ruin my nail polish.

I appreciate that last suggestion might be tricky for some guys - but find something that makes you stop thinking and just sit still. You need time to take a big breath before you dive back under the ocean of deadlines, obligations, accomplishments and expectations waiting for you.

My next read is Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Work Week

This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group. To join up, click here:

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8 Things to Give Up for NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month.

50,000 words in one month. Sounds crazy. Ready to give up? Great! Me too. I'll give up lots, just so long as I don't have to give up writing my novel. It's all about the words and we know getting words on  the page can often be all about finding the time to write. What are you prepared to sacrifice?

Here's a list of the things you could give up for November to win NaNoWriMo:

1. Plot - 'But I'm not a pantser!' I hear you shout. That's okay. Maybe you spent all of October planning every scene for your novel. Fine, try that. But if you don't have your story plotted out already - now is not the time to do it. Just go with it. And if you do? Add some random things on the days you feel stuck. Sometimes knowing what you have to write can slow you down. Have your character pop into a cafe for a bowl of jelly and find a fly in it. The thing is you'll get your word count, it's great writing practice and you can always delete it in the edits.
2. Perfection - Repeat after me - 'This will be a crap draft, but at least I'll have a draft.'
3. Cleanliness - Now I'm not suggesting you stop showering, that's a great place for inspiration. But forget the vacuuming, washing clothes, mowing lawns etc. Kids can wash their own clothes and wear their uniforms crinkled. The family will figure out how to make baked beans on toast, and maybe they wouldn't mind whipping up something for you while they're at it. It is a universal rule that NOBODY EVER visits an author's home in November. Make sure you don't visit a writer friends house and comment on the cobwebs either. That's like killing puppies, you don't want to kill puppies... do you?
4. Television - Ooh this is going to be a hard one for some people (me). I can't remember the last time I turned on tv to see what was on, but we watch a lot of DVDs and download tv series from iTunes (I love Castle, The Walking Dead, Justified & Bones). But for November I've pledged to watch NOTHING. My family are sadly not supporting this challenge, so I'll be spending a lot of time alone in my room typing.
5. Company - Those people called family and friends will only weigh you down dude! Ditch 'em now. You may however, hang with other writers and encourage each other with word races and accountability for word counts. If you can't trust yourself not to wander off for coffee with mates, hide all your shoes for the month.
6. Stress - Nothing slows action more than worrying about it.
7. Blogs - Don't panic, I'm not suggesting you HAVE to close down for the entire month (although many bloggers are), but you shouldn't let yourself on until you've met your word count for the day (at least). I'm not planning to do much blogging over November and I doubt I'll be visiting blogs, unless I get ahead of schedule. There's a zillion blogs to visit, no one will mind if a few of them slow down. Plus, I don't like to blog unless I'm reciprocating by visiting blogs, otherwise I think it's a bit selfish and rude. And I don't want to be rude. I want you to like me :)
8. Internet time - Schedule a reduced time, maybe thirty minutes a day, to check emails, Facebook, Twitter etc, or again, let yourself online AFTER you reach your daily word count.

That's my list. I'll be giving up all these things for November. How about you? Another one for the guys is shaving, let your stubble go wild this month!

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Insecure Writers - Time Management

Every 1st Wednesday of the month is a time for insecure writers to group together. This month, my mind is obsessed with time. 

I have a bad habit of taking on more projects each day than can possibly be tackled in a 24hr period. My to-do lists grow into epic quests. Some of the projects I'm trying to juggle now are:

• Organise a launch, distribution and sales points for My Zombie Dog.
• Finish writing first draft to Undead Kev, sequel to My Zombie Dog.
• Edit/rewrite DOGNAPPED? My tween girl mystery.
• Find time to write my love project Warracknabeal Kids, a mystery set in 1939 outback Australia.
• Edit and submit short stories into competitions.
• Set myself up to run workshops at schools/libraries for creative writing.
• Together with my team, organise an Indie Expo for Australia's music, film, art and writing industry.

Each of these projects have many tasks to complete, and I want them all done NOW! I start to feel panicky, like I'm running late (I CAN'T run late EVER). Of course I also need to fit life in around these tasks. 

I am taking steps to manage all these projects:

• Downloaded Pomodorable from the Mac App store. This uses the method of set time limits per task. You work on one task for twenty minutes, then take a ten minute break (stretch, move about).
• Morning pages - I write three pages longhand when I wake up. It's not always useful words, but it does push me to keep going.
• I'll (try to) limit my task numbers on my to-do list. Do you know if you have more than five tasks on your list you're less productive on each one? A to-do list needs to be achievable, otherwise it just becomes a reminder of failure and a form of punishment. I need that reward of ticking boxes.

So what do you do to manage time wisely? If it's time to write you need, you can check out this post:

10 Ways to find Time to Write

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Are you blogging too much?

Is blogging and visiting blogs taking up all your time?

When I started blogging I was hooked straight away. There are so many awesome blogs on writing, I'm sure I gained more information and help from the online world than I did from my studies at school. I was starting at scratch learning the art of writing and I wanted to share that with other peeps. I guess the focus of my blog is - if I can fumble through this, think how easy it will be for you.

I blogged my butt off. Some weeks I'd blog up to four times. My opinion now is that's just not necessary. I know you can reach out to other writers and build a platform for your writing. That's the marketing side, you'll also make great blogging friends, I know I have. BUT. Now I blog about once a week, twice if something special comes up. This gives me more time to visit other blogs, improve my writing skills and work on my books. Less blogging means each post is live longer and has more chance to actually be viewed by readers.

So rather than update you every time my dog does something cute or I have a weird dream, I think about what will be helpful to my reader. The tip I'm suggesting today? Social media is a tool, a great tool, but if your goal is to publish a novel or write flash fiction or poetry, then make your craft your priority. Spend time on your art and balance that time wisely with your platform building. Let social media feed and propel your productivity, not steal from it.

Are you making time for your writing?

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The Art of Not Getting Stuff Done

We all have a lot to do. There's stuff you have to get done for work, family, the dogs, the house, your blog, your health and somewhere way down on the list is the stuff you have to do for your writing. Sometimes it can't be helped, we have to prioritise and we can't always ignore work deadlines, or leave the kids to starve, but if you want to get that manuscript written, it might be time to move it to the top of your list.

I blog a lot about lists, I've always created them and love ticking items off. There's different ways to manage your tasks, lately I have a tick-box list on my calendar on the computer. iCal has become increasingly more important as I've been going to more and more writers events and courses. If you're a visual person, you might like The Writer's Kanban. I used to use a day-to-a-page diary to write my lists, and I expected to finish every item before the next day.

This month I'm including at least one meditation session each day, which would seem impossible when I think about how quickly my day fills up. But this has been great because it's helped me to shift my priorities. I've still got a big list of things to do, lessons to prepare for my workshops, homework for my writing courses, signing up, visiting blogs, blogging, tweeting, reading and writing. Difference is, I don't need to tick everything off. I'm taking a mellow 'don't get stuff done' approach and it's working well for me.

My writing is prioritized and I just stop everything else sometimes to fill a page in my notebook, or take my laptop out on the deck to be alone and type. If you're feeling busy and overwhelmed, take some time each day to just do nothing. And if stuff doesn't get done? Eh.

Somebody who is very productive at the moment is my good friend Denise Covey, Denise and I are in a great writing group, but you might know her from .... Well, she's started another blog! Check it out:

FLASHQUAKE - Friday Flash

If you want to find ways to get more done in your day (not less, like me), or you want to prioritize your writing, you might like these posts:

8 Ways to Prioritise Your Writing

Best Free Apps for Productivity

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What Blocks Your Writing?

I don't get writers block in the sense of not being able to think of anything to write, but I do manage to block myself from writing by convincing myself there are other tasks that MUST be completed first. My latest? I wanted a new screensaver and just couldn't find the 'right' picture. I've now been working on this for three days. In this time I've gotten NO writing done.

What silly things do you let interrupt your writing? 

Tomorrow WILL be productive. That is my vow. But for now, here's my laptop wallpaper:

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Organisation and the Writer

The Writer's Kanban:

I started reading Personal Kanban. A book about organising your tasks. I'm a big to-do list girl but am always open to new ideas for organisation and project management. The biggest problem I've found with most tools is when you try to combine several projects at once, for me that would be teaching, writing and home life.

This book was easily read in a day and I suspect it is one of those techniques that you have to use for a while before you appreciate it. It seems simple enough; write all your tasks on post it notes, stick them in the backlog (to-do) column, prioritise and move the ones you can work on now to the 'doing' column and move them to 'done' when finished. The key difference that I can spot between writing a to-do list and using this system is in a list all your tasks are there waiting to be done, it can be a bit overwhelming. Kanban insists you limit your WIPs, that is limit the number of tasks you allow in your 'doing' column.

I didn't have a whiteboard handy, so I improvised with my wardrobe pink is writing, blue is teaching (today was Mother's Day, so I felt no need to add domestic chores):

I'll try this for a while and let you know if it turns out to be a life-changer. You can find out more about the Kanban system by visiting the website:

http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/

Or view these slides:

Personal Kanban 101

I've been trying it out along with the Pomodoro technique - you work on a task for 25minutes, take a 5minute break and then move onto a different task for 25minutes. I've blogged about it before in:

8 Ways to Prioritise Writing

Or, you can find out more at:

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Now I'm reading Seth Godin's Poke the Box:

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Writer's To-Do List

Weak attempt to make a to-do list seem sexy.

So much to do, so little time to recline in an alluring pose. This week I plan to...

• Buy more Paranormalcy hardcover copies for gifts at the discounted price (click here to see or go to Paper Dolls for a review from 13yr old Milly).
• Check out what local writing events are coming up and whinge a lot that Canberra does not seem to have its own writers festival anymore. *pouts*
• Finish writing Ch3 of MY ZOMBIE DOG - Zane is trying to wash the dog he buried yesterday, but undead is the hardest smell to get rid off.
• Send another Query out for DOG SHOW DETECTIVE.
• Catch up with my Graphic Designer over content data for the website (but really for cups of tea, cake and gossip).
• Get a little (read teeny weeny) bit of editing done on THE COSTUME MAKER.
• Fantasise about getting a new MacBook Pro laptop. Mmmmm pretty....
• Read My Personal Kanban a book I heard about on a new podcast Kindle Self Publishing. This book promises to make me a more organised project manager for my writing, and possibly write better to-do lists. (I'll blog more when I've read it)
• Blog - about something (it'll come to me).
• Catch up on visiting your blogs.

Think I'll climb back into bed now and cover the reading part.

What's your to-do list looking like?

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10 Ways to find Time to Write



Think you have no time to write? I'm finding some of these tactics helpful to get me through writing MY ZOMBIE DOG.

1. LOVE your WIP. Seriously, this is the best way to find time to write, if you can't wait to get back to it, you think about it all day long, then you'll find a way.
2. PRIORITISE. Stop thinking you need to find 'spare' time to write. There is no spare time, everyday only has the same 24 hrs. Start deciding to write before you take on daily chores.
3. MORE HOURS. There's the get up early or stay up late method. Even if it's just 30 minutes and you get a couple of hundred words in, it's a start to get you motivated.
4. NOTEBOOKS. Take one with you everywhere, you'll be amazed how many words will add up when you add a few on the bus, waiting in line at the supermarket or sitting in the pub waiting for your mate to get back from the bar.
5. DON'T COMPARE. If you start focusing on how many words other writers get in, you'll feel disappointed.
6. MINIMUM LIMITS. Sometimes I set a time I'll be on a break and I'll say, ok, just have to get ONE sentence in, then leave it. Of course once you get that one sentence, you'll be motivated to write more.
7. REWARDS. I've done this before where I want a book on writing or to attend a workshop. I'll set myself a wordcount I have to reach before I'm allowed to purchase/book it. I think everyone should have a nice big reward for finishing a draft. That's a big deal!
8. TURN OFF the Internet. I could be writing now.
9. Write BETWEEN tasks. I have a 20 minute  cleaning routine. The whole family runs around madly cleaning for 20 minutes. From now on, I'll extend that routine to 10 minutes writing, 20 cleaning, then 10 writing. Once it becomes part of the routine, it'll have to be done (those are the rules).
10. SHORT SPRINTS. Even if it's 5 minutes. If you can sneak in ten of those a day, you'll find you write faster and more productively if you know you don't have much time.

How's your writing coming? I've been squeezing in time in my lunch breaks to write, Zane has now found the smelly undead dog back in his room, after burying it yesterday. And it seems to like him.

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8 Ways to Prioritise Writing

I've been trying to stick to my writing goals for 2011 (which ironically include me writing less). The number one item on my list was to PRIORITISE (you can see the complete list in 7 Tips for a Writer's Year).

As much as I love writing scenes, the priority this year is for me to edit. Using many books and an online course to guide me, I completed my edits on Dog Show Detective. All I needed to do was type up the revised manuscript. Easy. You would think. I don't think procrastinating will be a new concept to any fellow writers/bloggers, but I made an art of it. Enough! This is the new 2011 productive me, so, last night I sat down and typed up the remaining five chapters. And now it is DONE! Feels good, I can now format the manuscript, and start sending it out.

There are many ways to prioritise your writing, here are some I found:

1. Lists. I love 'em. Keep them short and not an extensive overview of every task needed before you purchase your novel from a bookstore. Focus on the NOW. For me it was my Dog Show Detective manuscript. Next will be a list of steps for editing either Digging Up Death or The Costume Maker. This will make your goal seem more attainable and hopefully encourage you to hurry up and achieve it. If you struggle with keeping your lists short, then fine, write up a four page itinerary of all the writing tasks ahead of you - but then - you are only allowed to choose a MAXIMUM of 5 tasks for your to-do list. Yep, 5.
2. Allocate Time. My most productive times have been where I have a set time of 1-2hrs a day which is my 'writing time' I was not allowed to break for tea, snacks or go online during that time. It was time for WORK. I find this hard to keep up as work and family make changes. It's worth a try though.
3. Be Objective. If you were your boss, would you put up with all your time-wasting? I would have sacked my butt ages ago if I were paying me (ooh, maybe you could pay yourself an hourly rate, and that money is how much you have available for buying books?).
4. Schedule the Distractions. I'm going to try this one. I'll give my self set times of the day that I'm allowed to blog-hop, twitter, Facebook, etc. And I won't be allowed on any other time.
5. Prioritise by Urgencia (urgency - see, I'm learning Spanish). It's easy to think there are no deadlines for writing when no urges you. But you can set them. I need my manuscripts ready for a Children and YA Writers Conference I'll be attending later this year, so I can submit them to the attending publishers.
6. Prioritise by Passion. Maybe there's an unfinished manuscript calling to you while you work on your WIP. Maybe you've lost that loving feeling with your WIP. You could switch for a while, you may be more productive on the one with more appeal. Maybe make this a one time only pass though, or you might keep swapping every time your WIP drags.
7. Keep a Writing Journal. This is not your ideas notebook, but a journal to record what writing tasks you complete that day. It can be a motivator when you do well and a reminder when you get a few days of 'nothing'.
8. Use the Pomodoro Technique. This is an very efficient way of forcing productivity. Each project has the steps, planning, tracking, recording, processing and visualising. You work on each task for 25 minutes and then break for 3-5minutes. Then you move to the next task. There is no finishing early, you keep going until your timer sounds 25, and you can not keep working on the same task after 25 minutes. To find out more, you can check out:

http://freestylemind.com/pomodoro-technique/

or the Pomodoro Technique site for free downloads of worksheets and manuals:

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

How do you get yourself productive? I know some writers can work on a dozen different projects, write at 3am - 5am or work around the clock until it's done, but sleep rings pretty high on my priority list too. Pinkachu agrees with me:

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Make It Happen

Time to crack that whip and get writing!

I'm on a kick of making writing time, rather than trying to find it. And it's working for me. As I force myself to write something everyday, I'm finding more creative ideas arising. It's like Paul Newman once said, "The more you do it, the more you can." (although I don't think he was referring to writing).

How can you make yourself write? Here's a few tips I've picked up from other blogs, books and my bossy little voice in my head:

• Set a daily minimum word quota (500 seems to be popular). Keep a note of your highest number of words too, you HAVE to reach your minimum, but you might feel like aiming for your high-score some days.
• Turn off the internet. Seriously, don't just 'say' you'll ignore it. No Facebook, emails, Farmville, Twitter or blog-visiting until your writing is DONE. If you can't resist temptation (like me). Turn off the computer and use a notebook and pen.
• Make an appointment with writing friends or join a critique group. This way you'll have to produce something to share with them by your scheduled date.
• Give yourself short sprints of time to write throughout the day, like little writing breaks. It doesn't matter if you can't fit in a block of an hour a day - shorter writing spurts make you more productive, because you have to work fast.
• Use prompts to get your writing started. No sitting and staring for ten minutes. Just start anything until you're ready to write your WIP. That pen should not stop moving!
• Bribe yourself. If you beat yesterday's high-score word count, you bake some cookies.
• Hold your day to ransom. Write first. House is a mess, and you better get onto it or you are a bad bad mum (or it feels that way), but, you are not allowed to put those dishes away until you've done a ten minute writing stint or you've written one page. This method works best for me.
• Record your dreams in the morning. They may not seem relevant but there may be a spark of an idea that can merge into your WIP.
• You can stay awake for just ten more minutes, you're in bed, drowsy, write your random thoughts.
• Plot out an idea or conflict in your novel while you do menial tasks. As soon as you're done the task, jot it down.
• Choose the time of day that works for you, find your natural flow, perhaps you have more imaginative thoughts in the morning, or, like me, you're better after the first cup of tea.

Hope some of these get you writing today. I'll even forgive you for not commenting if it's because you're rushing offline to write. :-)

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Start Again, and Again, and...

After a week of little or no writing because I was too busy, I realised I had my mindset all wrong. I was thinking that I needed spare time to write. When is that ever going to come? No, instead of waiting for spare time, I needed to make writing time.

I revisited the audiobook Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg (because I don't think I gave it enough attention the first time and I've been going a little overboard with my book purchases lately). One of the exercises suggested sounded interesting.

Golberg recommends taking a first line from a poem or novel (choosing randomly by just opening the page) and using it as a prompt to riff-write (I've done a post on riff-wriitng before, you can find it here). You just write anything that comes to mind, don't worry if it sounds irrelevant to your story at first. When you start to get stuck, or your writing goes off in a tangent that is unhelpful, stop. Then rewrite that first line and start again. A fresh start. Write until it no longer feels right, then stop. Write the first line again, and off you go.

I did this with a line from a poem; "I can't remember a time when I did not know you." I couldn't see the connection, but I put my trust in the task and wrote. Then I tried again. And again. What I found was a new subplot in my narrative that opens up my characters, creates conflict and explains motives for my main story problem.

So no excuses, must make writing time every day.

I also want to say a huge THANK YOU to Shannon from Book Dreaming for her wonderful post about my daughters' book review blog: Paper Dolls. Please check out the Book Dreaming post - it's beaut! (Aussie slang for 'pretty darn good!').

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Turn it off

I could crawl inside and live in the Internet. There are free downloads, websites, programs and devices that you can use to enhance your writing abilities. If you want to write about an unfamiliar subject, you no longer have to spend months going from library to library, you can google all you need in a few hours.

I'm often heard gushing over podcast. I love it. It is like a gift from the techno gods. Radio programs annoy me, if I do find a channel that plays music I enjoy, it's usually interrupted by call-ins trying to guess the source of an obscure noise, or a lonely/bored soul that wants to talk about...everything. Podcast allows me to download exactly what I want to hear, and lately that's writing episodes.

The other day I drove to work and was out of podcasts on my iPod. Darn. I tried the radio but it just started to irritate - now people try to guess famous laughs - why? So I turned the radio off and faced an hour and a half drive with no noise. I talked to myself (I do and I'm happy to admit it), I thought about the stories I'm having trouble finding the time to write. I thought about my last chapter written. Then... I thought through the next chapter. I got it all sorted, details, visuals, motives. It was my most productive drive ever.

Tomorrow I head out to a farm to meet up with my Drama class who are on a camp. I will stay overnight and there are no phones, computers or iPods allowed. It is the longest I will ever go without technology. I was worried about how much work I have to do. But now I'm excited.

Lots of time with just me, a pen and a notebook - doin' it old school!

So embrace the devices that make your life easier, but remember that your fiction comes from your imagination; you don't need to plug that into anything. Turn everything else off - and you'll hear it.

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