Something about the winter months makes my productivity level sink like hit pirate ship. I find myself wasting more time, sulking and doing a general lot of nothing when I could be writing. As a rule, I have held myself accountable to be a fairly productive person; I have a ton of planners, I enjoy organizing my time, and I genuinely enjoy working. But even the most work-driven person can lag on their productivity and if you have the type of job that requires you to set your own schedule, it’s much easier to fall into the trap of not getting things done.
So how do I stay productive even when it hurts?
There are actually three main things that help get me through my lazy slumps and keep me focused on writing. I used to think that having more tricks up my sleeve to keep me motivated was the key to getting everything done but turns out that just doing these three things kept me on top of my game!
The first thing you absolutely need in your life is a way to keep yourself accountable. For me, that is having a daily planner where I keep a list of to do’s for each day as well as a word tracker for my writing. I find that having to fill something out physically each day pushes me to work harder. In my current planner, I list a top priority each day that is a non-negotiable then I have a list of two or three other tasks that I work on after that priority is complete. This way, if I only get one thing done, it’s at least the one that matters most!
The second way I stay productive is by setting strict deadlines for myself. Being an indie author, it gets tricky to stay on top of tasks because there’s no one in the background staying on top of you. If you set concrete deadlines and treat as you would if you were working for someone else, you’ll be surprised how much faster you get around to accomplishing those dreadful tasks. Act like you’re your own boss from hell and make sure there are consequences to not making deadlines. I find that rewarding myself with treats or trips or small purchases when I hit a tough deadline keeps me very motivated! My boss is great sometimes!
The last, and probably most important thing I do to stay productive, is to keep office hours and make time to relax. There is nothing worse than running yourself into the ground by trying to do too much without downtime. When I am on a deadline, I make sure I stop working by 7pm and that I steer clear of the laptop for at least one day on the weekends. Making time to take a bath, or spend a few hours reading or even going out to the movies is enough to reenergize my tired brain and kick start the productivity train. Be kind to yourself and the words will flow!
And there you have it! Three very simple ways to change your mindset to become the most productive writer you can be without burning yourself out.
I hope you enjoyed this post and I’ll be sure to blog more about productivity as a writer in the future.
Stay magical,
A.N.
