While emailing a friend yesterday, we chatted a bit about keeping our writing momentum going. It’s easy to do something regularly for awhile, and then to let it all slip away. (That’s why you see the gym clear up in February and March as people let their new year’s resolutions fall to the side.) There […]
Why Take a Social Media Break?
I like social media. I like staying in touch with friends from other places, chatting with people about writing and publishing, and finding people with similar hobbies and discussing them. Even at my quietest, years ago when I was terribly shy, I liked people. I love the Internet for no other reason than it’s brought […]
How to Make a Writing Plan
It’s a nice thought to imagine that one day a creative urge will hit you and you’ll finally write that novel you’ve thought about writing for years. But it doesn’t work that way. Maybe you think, “I’ll start being creative when I retire,” but here’s the thing: it takes a lot of practice to be […]
A Week without Social Media
A week ago, I decided to give up social media for 50 days. A few days ago, I read an article about a writer talking about how he lived without Facebook and Twitter for 2 weeks. (The thing that hit me was how he mentioned “Lived…without”–Implying that social media has become something vital to our […]
A Writer’s Environment
Does a writer’s environment matter? If a writer needs certain conditions in order to write, are they setting themselves up for failure? Should a writer be able to write anyplace at anytime? Reading a blog entry called “The Where of Writing” on Paul Lamb’s Lucky Rabbit’s Foot got me thinking about something that’s never too […]
One Thing for 2011
It’s that time of year when people share their resolutions for the next year. (Or proclaim how silly resolutions are!) The problem with resolutions is most lists look like this: Lose weight. Learn another language. Travel to 5 different countries…maybe even 10! Write and sell some kind of book. Make an additional $50,000. Do something […]
A Clean New Year
My wife and I went on a cleaning spree last week. We decided to treat the second-to-last week in December like a spring cleaning day. We’re pretty tidy people, but dust eventually gathers and sometimes we take a few days and spend a couple hours on each of those days cleaning a room or two. […]
How to Clear Your Inbox
I admit it: when it comes to having a clear inbox, I’m bad. I have moments that last for weeks where my inbox is spotless, and then seemingly overnight, there’s a pile of messages. Here are a few tips that have worked for me in the ongoing battle for a manageable inbox: Unsubscribe The e-mail […]
2010: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
[While this is meant to be a writing-related post, it can apply to anything.] I’ve heard many friends say that 2010 went by in a blur. Looking back at 2010, in ways it seems like a blur to me, too — and in other ways it seems like a year that settled in for a […]
Focus on What Really Matters
I’m good at multitasking — in large part because I’m easy going and don’t get flustered when I’m interrupted with something. While I’m good at multitasking, when left to my own devices, I tend to focus on one thing at a time until it’s done. It’s a simple productivity tip that works. Easier Said Than […]
The Walking Meeting (With Myself)
I get many of my ideas while reading, or when thinking about something I’ve read. I get ideas while driving — when I do most of my thinking (and when I talk to myself). I also get ideas when I’m doing work I’d rather not be doing and thinking about how I’d much rather be […]
The Best Productivity Tip I Know
There’s a huge industry based around productivity. I only have a couple productivity books, but I follow many blogs that discuss productivity in passing. I can see the allure of constantly revising one’s system for being productive. (It’s kind of like revising a story or article if you think about it.) I see reviews for […]
How To Get Things Done
How do you find time to write; how do you get things done? For many people, they buy a book about productivity. And another… And another… They read productivity blogs, and they attend productivity workshops. They buy new systems to keep them organized and decluttered. They buy books about organization and reducing clutter. They buy […]