Time Management and Writing

It goes without saying. 

How writers manage their time is paramount.

To productivity. To sales. To success.

Nowadays, sitting down and writing is but a fraction of a what a writer does. Authors also have to establish a brand. They have to manage a website, a blog, social media pages, and marketing, and that takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. 

So how do writers juggle the Mount Everest-tall pile of tasks that is required of them?

First, they recruit help. They get an agent. If self-publishing, they hire a book designer, a formatter, an editor or even an assistant. 

Secondly, they create and keep a schedule. 

Thirdly, they implement a system of time management, and begin to utilize time management techniques. Here are some examples of some of the popular time management techniques and systems used by writers:

The Pomodoro Technique: Use a timer for set periods and to take breaks in between jaunts. Here’s a link to one version of an online timer. https://tomato-timer.com

18 Minute technique: This is a technique outlined in the book 18 Minutes,  by Peter Bregman. He advocates spending time at the beginning and end of the day, as well as each hour spent working, purposely refocusing your task trajectory. 

The Glass Jar, Rocks, pebbles and water: This is a method of separating your tasks into most important to least important using the analogy of rocks being most weighty, then pebbles, and water being the tasks that fill in the gaps. It’s a more metaphorical way of perceiving the technique described below.

ABC-Pareto Analysis Combo. As in the Glass Jar, tasks are separated into most important, second most important and least important. The most important tasks are first. According to the Pareto principle, those top percent of tasks have greatest impact on goal you’ve set, ergo, 20% of tasks are responsible for 80% of a goal’s success. 

Books on time management are abundant and it’s the topic of an endless number of articles, videos and podcasts. Popular time management books include: Deep Work by Cal Newport, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, anything by Gretchen Rubin. Also, Getting Things Done by David Allen, or the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferries. Laura Vanderkam, another time management guru, has several books on time management including 168 Hours. 

Two well reviewed books geared specifically towards writers is Time Management for Writers by Sandra Gerth and Overwhelmed Writer Rescue by Colleen M. Story.

I just took a great course offered by Sarra Cannon, a bestselling YA fantasy writer. She imparts her own method of time and task management to students as part of her HB Quarterly Method Boot Camp. It’s an online, weekend course and a good value for the money. Check out her website where you’ll find out more: heartbreathings.com

-Hero Young

FB: Hero Young Author