Time Management

Do Your Writing Goals Meet The Criteria?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

While many of you have been navigating the #ds139 "Writer's Block"NaNoWriMo challenge this month, I can’t begin to tell you how many pages I’ve crumpled up while navigating my own challenges, but that’s life.

At any rate, I’ve decided to stop fretting so much and set new goals, only this time make them more sensible, otherwise, I may be the interesting story you read about in tomorrow’s morning newspaper.

In my past life, I was a nurse, and we prepared a plan of care (POC) for every patient, which included stated goals to be achieved before the patient was discharged.

Each goal had to meet the following criteria:

  1. It had to be specific to the patient.
  2. It had to be measurable-“the patient would be able to …. before discharge”.
  3. It had to be achievable – We had to be certain, based on the patient’s condition, the patient could accomplish the goal.
  4. It was a realistic goal- based on the patient’s condition
  5. The goal was attainable – based on the time frame the patient would be in the hospital.

This got me to thinking, why couldn’t I apply the same concept to writing? Life may be throwing a load of crap my way, but I could still set goals for myself based on these same criteria. Once I realized establishing goals was no different from one discipline to another and that I could use something so familiar to me, a load was lifted from my mind. It became easy to apply this to my writing, and I immediately put a POC, of sorts, in place for my writing. You can too.

 Remember:

  1. Goals are not written in stone, they can be renegotiated; don’t panic.
  2. They need to be specific. Make the goal specific to the project.
  3. They should be realistic. Don’t set out to write a novel, when you know you only have time to write a couple of short stories.
  4. Goals must be measurable. Establish a word count per day or a story per month, for example. You must be able to have something to show your goal was completed.
  5. They should be attainable. Set a time frame in which your goal will be completed and stick to it.

Make yourself accountable by writing your goals down. You can list your goals, paste them on a mirror, computer monitor, or make them your computer screen saver, whatever works as a daily reminder. Index cards work well for me.

Goals give you something to work toward becoming your own daily prompt.

Do your goals meet the criteria?  Leave a comment and let me know.

 Related Articles

 

Setting Effective Writing Goals by Moira Allen

Setting Your Writing Goals by Sharon Hurley Hall

Best Laid Plans

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Typical scene at a local emergency room

I had the best plans laid out yesterday morning. I  was up bright and early at my keyboard, ready with an article outlined for Cow Pasture Chronicles, and Morning Pages was brewing in my head. I had pulled my notes and was prepared to start back to work on my novel, mid-morning, when….

Well, stuff happened… Instead of getting any of those things accomplished I ending up spending the next twelve hours in the emergency room with my daughter. It wasn’t as simple as the flu, but she will be fine. It’s going to require more family support, but taking care of family is my top priority, right now. Even, the best laid plans don’t  always work out.

So, what’s the writer supposed to do? Here are a few of my suggestions.

  1. Schedule like hell.
  2.  Make a to-do-list
  3. Use micro moments of time – use travel time to revise, or work on previous pieces.
  4. Have a notebook and pen with you at all times, even at the bedside to jot down ideas, outline notes, etc.
  5. Assign a limited time to social networking each day, otherwise you may find yourself wasting enormous amounts of time.
  6. To save time group tasks together.
  7. Learn to say,”No” to unnecessary drains on your time.
  8. And, keep on writing one word at a time.

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Writing Referee?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

I need a referee for my writing time. Someone in a striped get-up with a whistle to blow every time someone, steps out of  bounds into my writing arena. I can see it now, the shrill scream of the whistle as the referee throws his arm out, screaming, “Out of bounds! You’re outta here!”

But, I haven’t been very lucky persuading my husband the need for another man around the house. Go figure. With that option off the table, I’m left having to re-evaluate my time management. Or, better yet find a balance.

80/20

The 80/20 Rule, also known as the  Pareto Principle, states that 20 percent of our efforts produce 80 percent of your results.  Boy, I’ve been working too hard! Perhaps, I’ve simply worked poorly. Trying to juggle family, friends, and trying to find time for writing. I can tell you, it hasn’t been working well. My output and creativity have suffered. I’ve been sidelined the last few weeks. On the bench, and out of the game. Why?

Sidetracked: 

  1. Distractions:  The everyday kind. The phone. You know the thing that never leaves our hands or        hips. The email or tweets that beep and chirp constantly. The house that needs attending. Grocery Shopping. Life. The unexpected.
  2. Family and friends: Including the four legged kind. We love them, but family activities can be demanding on our time. Whether it is the child/grandchild, your spouse, the aged parent needing attention, or the dog who needs walking, there are only so many hours in the day. At times, it seems, everyone is pulling on our apron strings (so to speak).
  3.  And then there is work: I’m fortunate enough to be retired, thank God, but I understand the demands of a full time job. They can be exhausting. Add all the rest, and finding time for writing takes a lot of planning.

What to Do:

  1. Be realistic and change your expectations. Otherwise you’ll lose the joy, passion and desire you had to begin writing.
  2. Set a schedule. Work it into your day-to-day, but build in some flexibility for those unforeseen situations that will always arise.
  3. Set Priorities. I know all about the hype on social networking. Tweet, LinkedIn, Pin interest, Facebook and the zillion other sites on the net. They are intoxicating, captivating and additive. They also can rob you of value time.
  4. Focus: What is it you want to accomplish? A novel? Anthology of short stories, Self-publish an Ebook? Short fiction guru? Competition? Publication in literary magazines? All are great goals, and I believe one can do some of those things simultaneously. However, when time is an issue, can one do them well?
  5. Re-evaluate your goals. When things are hectic it might be time to look over your goals. Are they too lofty, for right now? Too much? Too soon? Can you accomplish your project in smaller sections? In other words, take smaller bites.
  6.  Re-evaluate your time: Put your life  and writing in perspective. 80/20 it.
  7. Change it up. Do something different. Take a break. Breathe. Whether it’s reading a good book, different from your favorite genre, trying your hand at poetry or painting, make a change. Give yourself permission to relax.
  8. I don’t need a referee and neither do you. We need perspective. Writing is about inspiration, fun and passion. Our words aren’t going anywhere, but family and friends do. Our kids grow up, move away, friends drift into their own lives, and parents grow old, forgetful and leave us. A little balance sounds good to me.

6530 Words in Two Days

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 1 Comment

It’s amazing what you can do when you ‘re able to focus and shut out all the distractions around you. I took a mini sabbatical this weekend. Packed my little laptop up and drove to Charlotte to baby sit my daughters two cats, well that was the ruse I used. After all, she was going to be gone five whole days!

My plan was to get some serious writing done on my novel, which lately I had been unable to do. Now, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mislead my family. My husband knew exactly what I was up to, and was completely supportive. Although, I must say he had some rather unrealistic expectations. I told him coming back with a “Complete novel ready for the publisher” was not likely. Hell, at home over the last week or so I’d been lucky to met my goal of 500 words a day. Coming back with a complete novel in two days, I just couldn’t see happening.

Life just kept interfering, but you learn to roll with the punches. Anyway, I was excited about my plan, and I wanted to tell you how it played out. Saturday through Monday was all I had available, but here’s what I accomplished during my mini sabbatical.

Once I arrived, sometime after two o’clock pm, on saturday, I didn’t leave, not even to eat. I had my food delivered. I was on a mission.

Since saturday, I have written over 6530 words on my novel and plotted out the rest of it. In fact, I’m pretty certain I know how it will end. I’d have to say, It was a very productive sabbatical.

Life happens to all of us. We want it to. We want to be engaged and involved with our loved ones and the community around us, but sometimes we need time, me time. Uninterrupted time. You may not be able to get a weekend or even a whole day away like I did, but you can ask for an hour or two.

And when you do here are my recommendations:

1: Prepare your mind for writing – Clear it. Tell yourself: your time is limited. The only thing you need to be thinking about during that time is writing.

2: Tell your family – “If you need me, here is how you let me know it’s important, otherwise I won’t answer.” For me, I tell them to put 911 after their text. I’ll know it’s important and I call immediately.

3: Have a plan for what you want to accomplish. Whether it’s a word goal, chapter goal, or to complete a project, and have a way to MEASURE IT. Hold yourself accountable.

4: Last but not least, keep writing. The world needs to hear from you.