Changes Are Afoot

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to send you an email, but I have my reasons and I'll explain it all. Plus I'll tell you what I'm going to be doing and the changes I'm making.

Firstly, since I signed off before Xmas, I've done several things

I moved from a 4-bed house into a teeny-tiny 2-bed house (all part of my new minimalist lifestyle) with a big garden for growing food.

This has meant sorting and getting rid of most of my possessions and has taken ages.

On the day of the move, my husband Dean and I, looked at our overcrowded little house, bursting with unpacked boxes and way too much furniture, made a joint executive decision, left the house and went to the pub.

It was all too overwhelming.

It took 2 weeks to sort things out.

How I Waste Time Thinking That I'm Saving It

So often I waste time instead of utilising it. And today was another classic example.

I was putting information together for this week's writers' newsletter.

I had an article outline ready and then... instead of typing it up, I decided to use the "dictate" software on my Mac computer.

But I'm not a natural speaker and so my ideas didn't flow because I had to speak them instead of writing them so what I ended up with was a page of useless garbage.

So then I decided it would be far quicker to find a syndicated article online and publish that instead.

Next thing I know I'd wasted an hour searching and finding nothing.

Do you know how I could have spent that hour instead?

Writing Articles Using Dictation for Mac and the Funny Mistakes it Made

Last week I had a few articles to type up so I thought I'd try the new Dictation software on my Mac Book Pro computer.

I like to write by hand with a pad and pen (or pencil) and then type up my work later. I find writing by hand much better for my creativity than writing straight to keyboard.

Anyway, after doing an update on my Mac computer a couple of weeks ago to the new Maverick software I thought I'd try out the new updated Dictation software.

Before, I had to speak first and the software would type up what I said when I'd finished and clicked "done". Now with the new updated and improved software, it types as you speak.

So I thought I give it a go.

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.