We’d all like to be more productive if given the chance. Sometimes we don’t get much time to spend doing the thing we love most, so we’ve got to really make what time we do have count. Here, I’m going to present a few ways to make those spare minutes count even more. These are on no particular order, though I do think the first three are probably the most important.
1) Sufficient Sleep
This is the most obvious one, but the one it seems many of us still struggle with in today’s world of distractions, deadlines, and late night entertainment offerings. But the benefits of not spending every waking hour yearning to go lie down are innumerable. You can find just a few listed here.
Now, how to actually get sufficient sleep is another matter. It’s not just the quantity that counts, but the quality. Do whatever you need to to make yourself comfortable for starters. An exercise routine or a very physically demanding job will also help make sure you’re good and tired come bedtime, so you’ll have less trouble falling asleep.
2) Exercise
Again, the benefits of maintaining physical fitness are many, but this is something a lot of folks out there struggle with, so I’d like to highlight that fact. How we get that exercise is a matter of our circumstances and preferences, but generally speaking, anything that gets the blood flowing more freely and keeps us in good trim is a good choice.
Some will be lucky enough to have a job that keeps them physically active. For others, it will be more of a struggle. I personally recommend a quick warmup routine of some sort right after you wake up, and ideally before you take breakfast. Whether that’s a few reps with dumbbells or a jog around the block doesn’t matter as much as making sure you do it regularly. If you spend long hours behind your desk–whether writing or working some other job–it might be a good idea to stand up and stretch a bit now and then as well.
3) Hydration
Another obvious one, but staying hydrated is key to just about everything functioning the way it’s supposed to. When you’re sitting at your desk writing, keep a glass of water handy and make sure to actually drink from it now and then. When it runs out, fill it up again. I cannot emphasize enough the problems that can arise from concentrating on a project for hours on end without a single sip of water.
4) Take Notes
I made a post about this just last month, but I think it deserves reiterating here. When you have a good idea but can’t apply it right away, WRITE IT DOWN! Or at least find some way of recording it so it doesn’t pop out of your head and get lost to the ages. Your future self will thank you once you’re seated behind your work desk putting together your next brilliant plot.
5) Discipline
This is the key to success in any self-motivated endeavor. Whether you’re writing as a hobby or an actual career, you need to have the willpower and the concentration to see things through. It is doubly important if your time is limited: the less you have, the more you’ve got to make it count, or your progress is going to interminably slow. And the longer it takes to finish a project, the higher the chances that it never gets completed at all. Cut out the distractions and unnecessary noise of life: sit down and write!
6) Make an Attractive Workspace
This subject was covered in a guest post by Christopher Haymon a couple years back, but one of the passive ways in which you can induce yourself to spend more time writing is to create a space you actually enjoy being in. Decorate your work area in a way that you find attractive, whether it’s a mere corner of the room or an entire home office. The more homey and comfortable your workspace is, the more time you’ll want to spend in it, hopefully writing.
7) Goals
This one really warrants a post of its own someday, but having achievable goals is critical to success. Having a target to aim for in your creative pursuits, both daily and long-term, will give you some helpful parameters to work with when setting up your routine. Do you want to draft a certain number of pages in a day? Type a certain number of words? How long do you want to give yourself to have the whole book completed? These are all things to consider, and finding answers to them will help you structure your time wisely.
8) Set Up a Routine
As stated above, once you have your goals established, you can set up a routine that will help you achieve those goals in a reasonable amount of time. How the routine looks will vary, but in essence you will probably want to have a particular aim or set of aims you wish to achieve by the time your session is done. Alternatively, you can just sit down and start writing/reading/typing etc. and see how much you get done by the end of your session. This might work for some, but most will probably want something a little more definite to shoot for.
9) Read
This is another obvious one for authors, or so you would think. After all, how are we to get inspiration for how to write and steucture our own stories if we don’t have something to model them after? I tend to find my workflow improves immensely when I’m reading something, compared to the stretches (unfortonately rather frequent the last couple years) when I don’t have time to read anything.
For those who suffer from this problem, I suggest audiobooks as a potential remedy. I myself never really got into them until a few years ago, and while I still prefer handling a physical book when I can get one, sometimes audiobooks are simply more practical, particularly if you often perform tasks that require both hands to be occupied at once.
10) Travel
This may seem like an odd one, but the fact is, the world is a big place. There are all kinds of wonderful sights, sounds, and experiences just waiting to be discovered outside our door. Whether travel to you means a simple trip into town or a genuine international vacation to experience life in a foreign land, getting out into the world can be a great source of inspiration. It can be expensive, yes, and time-consuming certainly (after all, time spent traveling is time not spent behind our desks writing). But at the end of the day, it is a great way to break the monotony of our everyday life (yes, that means escaping our carefully constructed routines sometimes). And when you finally sit back down at your desk after your journey, you may just find a new well of ideas you would never have come up with otherwise.
So, there you have it: my list of ideas for enhancing productivity. They’ve all worked for me to one extent or another, and I hope at least some of them may work for you too.
On a side note, I am vending at Texas Furry Fiesta once again in the Artist Alley this weekend. Sadly, I do not yet know what days, due to the way it’s done here, but if you happen to be here in Dallas this weekend, come on in and check it out. And if you do happen to catch me at the Bluedrake Books table, don’t hesitate to stop by and say hello!