How to Streamline Daily Tasks to Make More Time for Writing by ReGi McClain

I’m busy putting the last touches on Conspiracy before sending it off to my editor, but we have a guest poster here today to give you something to read. Alaska native and professional organizer ReGi mcClain and has some tips on how to find more time to write. As we’ve discussed before, one of the self-publishing secrets to success is being prolific, so these ideas might come in handy!

How to Streamline Daily Tasks to Make More Time for Writing

By ReGi McClain

Use routines to keep up with tasks that tend to pile up. Routines are so effective that nearly every time management expert out there will tell you to develop them. Your primary routines will be your waking-up and before-bed routines.  Include a handful of tasks that need to be done frequently, like washing dishes, putting away clean laundry, etc. A very popular, free resource for developing routines is http://www.flylady.net. You can also email me directly if you want some help working out a routine that will work for you. (Psst! You can add writing/editing to your AM &/or PM routine).

Use unexpected free time to do simple tasks. Keep a written list of jobs that need little planning. When a chunk of time becomes available, do one of the jobs. You might include tasks such as sweeping a floor, dusting some knickknacks, filing some papers, cleaning off your desk, sorting socks, updating your social media promos, etc. Don’t worry about running out of time, just do as much as you can. Incidentally, you can use these times for writing as much as for anything else, but only if you have the self-control and mental recall to be able to stop mid-sentence without losing your place or patience.

Remember the Extra-30-Seconds Rule: If you take 30 seconds now, you’ll save someone 30 minutes later. Let’s illustrate this with the example of a pizza delivery driver.
·    Scenario one: The driver sees a stack of pizzas with his name on it. He grabs and goes, eager to get to you quickly so you’ll tip him big. Unfortunately, when he gets to your place, not one pizza is a pizza you ordered. (In this case, we’ll assume you have a finely tuned sense of smell that picked up on those extra onions from three blocks away so you never even had to open the boxes to know they were the wrong pizzas.) You send that driver right back to the pizzeria in question, unpaid and untipped. The pizzeria loses money on wasted time and ingredients, the driver loses one tip for sure and possibly several others since he now has to drive back to your place with the correct pizzas, using up time he might have spent delivering other pizzas and collecting other tips. You are irritated at best. At worst, you’re fighting off a hoard of hungry party guests who want to know why you’re starving them and are beginning to murmur among themselves about eating you instead. All this because the driver neglected the Extra-30-Seconds Rule.

·    Scenario two: The driver sees a stack of pizzas with his name on it. He takes 30 seconds to peek in each box to check that the pizzas inside do in fact match the pizzas described on the labels. It’s as bad as can be! Every pizza is wrong. The driver quickly sorts it out with the bakers and the right pizzas are baked. The driver is now 15 minutes late with the your pizza. You don’t tip him, but you do pay for the pizzas. The pizzeria lost considerably less money and the driver increased his chances of getting a tip from someone else tonight. Your guests do not develop cannibalistic tendencies. Instead, they consider you to be the poor victim of slovenly pizza delivery drivers, deserving of sainthood, a hero for all time. Maybe you should have tipped that courteous driver with the wisdom to employ the Extra-30-Seconds Rule after all.

The same principle applies in just about every business and home. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll discover a gaggle of opportunities to apply the Extra-30-Seconds Rule.

Employ constructive daydreaming. Work through scenes in your imagination while doing tasks that require little concentration but take a bit of time, such as doing dishes, folding laundry, etc. Mull the scenes over and rework them until they fit and form your plot the way you like it. Then, when you do sit down to write, you will be able to put the scene into print more quickly. A warning, though: keep away from scenes requiring heavy negative emotion unless you’re sure no one is going to be anywhere near you for a while. (Trust me on this. Spending half an hour refining your villain’s maniacal blood bath scene whilst doing dishes and then turning to your Beloved, who’s expecting all things mushy and sweet, without taking at least another half hour to defuse all that negativity does not end well.)

Bio:

ReGi McClain is an aspiring author whose alter-ego just happens to be a professional organizer. ReGi posts short stories every fortnight or so at http://regimcclain.wordpress.com.
Email: McClainRG AT aol.com
Twitter: @regimcclain