The Internet can save writers time, but they can also be “time-suckers.” If you are “always” on the computer but do not seem to have enough time to write, a number of factors could be working against you. It may be time to increase your writing productivity.
If you are serious about creating time that is conducive to productivity, you will have to give up some other activities. Even the most robotic multi-taskers have to draw the line somewhere. Some computer and Internet activities are not conducive to productive writing sessions. By recognizing the behaviors and programs that are sucking your time away, you can begin to cut back and eliminate them during your writing hours, and increase your productivity.
Steps to Productivity
Steps to Productivity: 1. Turn off Your Email
Writers who make money from writing need to check their email when they log onto their computers. Email is an important part of the daily business for freelance writers.
However, if you find yourself stopping your writing in the middle of a sentence each time you have new mail, it is time to turn it off. Unless you are waiting for an email aboutspecific instructions, a payment negotiation, an interview response or other important email, turn the email program off so you can get some serious writing time in.
Steps to Productivity 2. Limit News Reading
It is important for writers to know what is going on in the world around them. If you mainly get your news from the Internet, you need to designate a time of day to browse news headlines.
“Browse headlines” is key here. You do not need to read every article you come across.
For many writers, checking headlines first thing in the morning is important. When the headline news is important to you, make a point read it first thing in the morning, and browse it again in the middle of the day, and maybe even once in the evening.
Steps to Productivity 3. Just Say No to IM
IM is the best and worst thing to happen to writers. Use your IM when you are done your writing for the day. Or if you are going to have and IM interview related to your writing. IM is the biggest time sucker that writers need to avoid if they actually want to get any writing done.
Steps to Productivity 4. Limit the Blogging
For some writers, blogging at least once a day helps spark their creativity and “get them in the mood” for writing. Blogging can be an effective writing boost, as long as it does not take the place of time you could be spent writing for money.
Obviously, writers who blog for money will spend more time blogging than writers who just blog for fun or personal reasons (yes, we exist).
Steps to Productivity 5. Separate Writing from Research
Because of the nature of the Internet, the task of researching data for an article can be both effective and push you off track. In the process of researching specific information it is easy to come across many other ideas that will spark ideas for other articles. This is a useful and needed result of Internet research. The trick is to keep research time from invading on the time you have to write.
Set aside research time that is separate from writing time. That way, when you find the information you need for an article, you will feel free to explore other ideas at the same time.
