How I Get More Writing Done Every Day

Recently I've been reading a lot about how to get more done in a day.

My typical working day doesn't just include writing and publishing, but also boring things like washing clothes, vacuuming the house and shopping for groceries. And somehow I have to fit these in around my writing time.

At first I used to do my writing first. And for a while this worked. I'd sit and write all morning and then in the afternoon (usually around 3 to 3.30) I'd stop for the day and do all the other things that needed doing. I'd prepare dinner, walk the dog, mow the lawn and many other other things and try to squeeze them all in before it got dark outside.

The problem with working this way is 2-fold. Firstly, it leaves too much to do in a short time in the late afternoons. Secondly, my mind isn't 100% focused on my writing because somewhere, in the far-back recesses of my mind, I'm thinking about all the other things I have to do that day.

So lately I've been changing things around and doing what I have to do first in the day and then sitting down and writing later, say around 11am or 12pm.

But that doesn't work for me either because while I'm running around doing other jobs, I'm thinking of all the writing I have to do and the deadlines that are looming.

It seemed that no matter how I worked, I was always thinking of other things I had to do.

Aaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Then recently, I began listening to a few audio recordings of talks given by the late, great copywriter Eugene Schwartz. He says that he  never works for more than 33 minutes at a time.  He sets a timer for 33 minutes before he starts writing and when it rings, he takes a 5 minute break.

Working this way, he says, he never gets mental burnout. He also says he only works for 3 to 4 hours a day and works on 3 different projects for an hour each. This way, he says, he is 100% focused on his work and is incredibly productive.

Pretty smart way of working, isn't it?

I also read an article from SparringMind.com, that says that you should work for 90 minutes at a time and then have a 20 to 30 minute break away from the computer. And you should also keep a diary of your working times to figure out how much you're actually working and how productive you are.

I also read an article by fiction writer, Rachel Aaron, in which she describes how she went from writing 2k words a day to 10k without writing longer. She simply kept track of where, when and how long she was writing every day and from this she figured out her most productive writing times, and began a new writing schedule.

I wrote about what she did at http://writeaholics.net/articles/2013/2k-to-10k-a-day.html.

So I spent quite a bit of time thinking about all this and decided, screw it! I'll just write when I need to and get other things done when I have time.

Now my writing days are different. I still stick to a schedule but I find that on days when I have a lot of other things to do, I'm better off getting those done first before I sit down to write, even if that means not placing my bum on my chair till after lunch.

I also found that, despite the fact that I always believed I could write more and write better in the mornings, that I can be just as creative, if not more, later in the afternoons and in the evenings.

I've also been tracking what I do during the day, and I have to say that being accountable for every hour of the day, makes me waste less time. I don't want to have to write down that I spent 45 minutes reading articles online, that weren't even related to the work I was supposed to be doing, and clicking links in them to read more. Instead I close my browser and get back to my writing.

Because I live in a hot place (Brisbane, Australia), I also need to juggle what I do at home depending on the weather. For instance, it's really hot now through the day, so if I want to get something done in the garden, I need to do it as early as I can before it gets too warm to be out in the sun. And I have to wait to walk the dog until much later in the day when it's really cooled down.

Some days (not many at all) it will rain for most of the day. On these days I make plans to stay in and write more, or I go to the library and work.

I also find that working away from home makes me more productive, probably because I have nothing else to do. I don't even have the Internet when I'm out unless I go to a Wi Fi cafe or to Maccas.

So the upshot of all this is that if you want to get more writing done every day, don't listen to others. Do whatever suits you at the time because there is no magic way to getting more writing done. You just have to apply your backside to chair more but do it during times when you have nothing else (or nothing urgent) to do, so that you'll have better focus.

I remember the singer Kate Bush once said in an interview that she could not sit down and write songs if the dishes weren't done. And I'm the same. If there are chores not done, they nag at me so I can't concentrate on my writing.

But if I've done everything I need to do, then I find it much easier to write AND it makes me more productive because I'm focused on what I'm doing instead of watching the clock and thinking of all the other things I should be doing.

Finally I've got it right (after years of trying) and the answer that I was searching for, was to stop searching for an answer and just get on with what I have to do.

And one day is never like the next.