Why The Usual Advice About Time Management is Wrong

It’s usually around this time of year (New Year) that the usual pieces of advice come out about managing your time better so that you can write more.

And if you’re anything like me, you not only actively look for this type of advice, but you read it all and drink up all the information.

But I usually find that everything I read gives the same advice:

write out a daily to-do list
do less wasteful things
get more done in less time

Sadly, although well-meaning, none of these things will help you write more. They may help for a while, but ultimately, nothing will change.

So what will help?

If you want to write more, then there’s only one thing you can do that will help you.

Write more.

Simply that.

There is nothing in the whole world that can ‘help’ you to get more writing done.

You just have to write more.

When you’re not writing, no writing gets done.

So how can you find the time and the motivation to spend more time writing?

The remedy is to know what you want to write and then do it.

It’s best to have a simple system that you can use repeatedly so that whenever you get a great idea, you can sit down and get to work on it immediately.

So if you want to write a book you can sit and write a book.

And you’ll always be writing more.

7 Day eBook Writing and Publishing System
Want to be a published author by this time next week?
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/7day.html

Make Writing Fun and You’ll Do It More

A few days ago I wrote a blog post called ‘It’s Not What You Say, It’s the Way You Say It.’

This post was all about how prolific novelist, Dean Wesley Smith, says that writing should be fun. This post even included a short video about it.

In the video, he says that you shouldn’t take writing too seriously, and instead just enjoy doing it.

And he’s right.

I find that when I try and write something that I don’t enjoy (like when I write because I think I should or because I think it’s something that can earn me a lot of money) I’m reluctant to do it and find myself procrastinating a lot.

Also when it’s something I don’t enjoy writing, I tend to overcorrect my work which not only delays publication, but the work is never as good as it should be.

The thing about enjoying what you write is that you know you’ll enjoy it before you even write one word because you’ll be enthusiastic and fully motivated.

This is the complete opposite of writing what you think you SHOULD write or what you think will earn you the most money.

Instead, let writing be fun and relaxing and do the writing you were meant to do and you’ll know it by how much you want to do it.

And you won’t feel the need to overcorrect your work and you’ll earn money anyway.

Also, your writing will be better because your attitude also shows in the tone of your writing.

So now go ahead and write the book you’ve always wanted to write.

7 Day eBook Writing and Publishing System
Want to be a published author by this time next week?
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/7day.html

Earning Money as An Online Writer For Free

Not too long ago I was reading an ebook all about how to sell 100 Kindle books a day.

A day? Is that doable, even if you've never published an ebook before?

Well, according to the ebook I was reading, yes it is doable, but... you need to spend $100s a day with PPC ads, FB ads, press releases, etc, with no guarantee it will work.

So at the end of it, I'd gained no new knowledge. Not that I expected to. I already know how to sell books. I was just curious to see if there was something that I was missing. I love picking up little gold nuggets of information in other people's books.

I also don't like it when someone says it's possible to do something but only if I spend a lot of money. Anyone call sell a lot of books if they hyper-market it for $$$$. In fact, you can sell anything that way.

But if the readers don't like your first book, they won't buy any others you write, no matter how much you spend on marketing.

I also have a book about making money from writing, called Living The Laptop Lifestyle. But unlike the ebook I was reading, it shows you many ways you can earn money online with a cost of $0 to do it.

Once you buy the book (or download the ebook version) you can start and run your own Laptop Lifestyle with nothing more to pay.

So you have no excuse not to get started.

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

The Only Way To Get More Writing Done

Now that it's a New Year, many writers think about managing their time better.

I used to do the same thing too. I used to think, "If only there was a way to get lots more writing done."

So I set out on a quest a few years ago to try and discover this 'secret' for having more time to write.

I wouldn't say I was actively pursuing the answer to this question all the time, but whenever I came across an article about how to have more time to write, I'd sit and devour it with my eyes. I would read every word hoping to find that elusive, time-creating secret to being able to sit down and write more.

And I think I did find it a long time ago but I ignored it because it's wasn't what I wanted.

And if I'm really honest, I knew how to get more writing done all along. I just chose to ignore it.

Yet it really is so slap-you-forehead simple.

What I discovered, and which I actually knew all along but I was trying to delude myself that there was an easier way, was that the ONLY way to get more writing done, is to get more writing done.

So there it is.

That is the 'secret' to getting more writing done. It's to do more writing.

What this actually means in day-to-day reality is making writing a priority and doing it every single day. No excuses.

It's not that hard to find time every day to write.

We all have 24 hours a day and how we shape our life depends on how we spend our time every day.

And to be able to write every day, means cutting out something else that isn't necessary and that won't help you reach your writing goals.

So it may mean watching less TV or getting an hours less sleep every day to get up early and write, or spending less time having after-work drinks with colleagues.

Or it may mean utilizing wasted time like writing during the journey to work or when your sitting in the car waiting for your kids to get out of school or when you're drinking coffee.

When you start to look at exactly how you spend your 24 hours every day, you'll find ways to change things around so that there is always time to get more writing done.

Make this the year that you write every day. No matter what it takes.

https://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/LLS.html