A Foolproof Time Management Technique to Get More Writing Done

Working from home is never easy because there are too many distractions and without deadlines, or a boss looming over you to make sure you’re working, it’s too easy to not work, or worse - to not even sit down and start.

But I found a simple time management technique that makes sure that no only do I sit down and get my writing done, but I get even more done.

It works like this -

When I used to have a full-time job, I had 8 hours a day to get my work done. And it didn’t matter how quickly I finished it each day, I still had to stay there for the full 8 hours. And so if I finished my work early, I’d use the rest of my time to get other jobs done like cleaning equipment, tidying up and organising files.

For a few years, I also worked as a domestic cleaner, cleaning other people’s homes and I used to charge for 4 hours of work. At first, when I took on a new house, it would take me the whole 4 hours to clean, but once I got familiar with each house, I’d find that I had 20 or 30 minutes to spare, so I’d use that time to do extra jobs like cleaning windows or scrubbing out bins.

And this same technique can be applied to working at home as a writer.

When I first started writing, I’d sit down to write with a plan of what I was going to be working on. Then I’d do my writing, stand up and think I was done for the day.

But then I realised that I used to get more work done at my previous jobs if I had a set time to work instead of a set agenda of tasks. 

So I applied this time-blocking technique to my writing and so instead of only planning what I was going to write, I’d plan how long I was going to write for, that way, once I got my writing done, I could do other tasks like clearing my inbox, responding to emails, website work, researching, or writing one more quick article (in only 15 minutes as per my fast article writing system).

So see if it works for you too. Instead of sitting down to write, time-block an amount of time to write every day, and then stick to it no matter what. And if you finish early, you can do other writing-related tasks that you’ve been putting off. Or you can sort through all your digital files or do a computer backup.

Or write an article in 15 minutes or less.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/15.html