Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Many of you got a good dose of snow over the weekend. I’m not going to talk about being snowed in but about that horrible feeling of being snowed under.
I decided to use these first few weeks of January to work on my systems– something I always resolve on January 1st but never allocate enough time to do. It always takes far longer than I estimate and I end up feeling guilty enough to give up and “get back to work” before the job is done. It’s part of the reason I spend the rest of the year feeling snowed under with work.
In my last job our office manager, Anna, always came back to work in January carrying boxes of manila folders. She took the files from the year before last and put them in cardboard boxes, carefully labeled with the year and the kinds of files–accounts payable, vendors, customers, etc.–and had them carried upstairs to the file room. Then she moved the previous year’s files down a drawer, and made fresh files for each account. Being the boss and being a person who doesn’t like change, I’d always moan when I went to reach for an oft-opened drawer and found fresh, empty folders. But Anna knew what she was doing.
Managing our projects, our family, our lives is a challenge. It’s easy to get snowed under.
I’ve been reading the book, Do More Better, by Tim Challies and he sets out a great productivity plan, giving step-by-step instructions. His advice is to have three systems–an information system (I’m using Evernote), a calendar (I use the Apple Calendar) and a task management system (I’m trying Nozbe, but he recommends Todoist). I also made use of online instruction, taking Dave Crenshaw’s Time Management Fundamentals through the learning site, Lynda.com. I followed his advice and used his method of processing–hence boxes of unprocessed stuff that needs to be done. I took a photo of some of my boxes for Facebook. Scary! Plus I’m using Anna’s filing method and creating new files for everything.
I also took the plunge and updated all my computer and mobile device operating systems, knowing I’ll have to patiently work through the glitches and software bugs that will arise. But if I don’t bite the bullet and get it done, I’ll soon find everything obsolete.
So why am I telling you all this?
Because, many of you are starting out on your writing careers. This may be the last time you ever have breathing room enough to think about productivity, to become familiar with the programs and systems you will desperately need once your career moves into high gear. Forget spring cleaning, use this time to do an audit of your systems and think through how you manage information. One day, if not today, you will be snowed under with information.
My recommendations?
- Read and work through a good time management book like Challies book or Getting Things Done by David Allen.
- Try Lynda.com. A trial membership offers ten days free and you can take as many courses as you can fit in ten days. Take a time management course like the one I took from Dave Crenshaw. Take an in-depth course on Evernote and all the other software you need to dig into.These courses are superb. You may end up like me and decide to invest in lifelong learning.
- Download and install all system upgrades and app updates. I know you hate to mess with things when everything is humming along nicely but. . . it’s a necessary evil.
- Keep at it until everything is operational. Don’t settle for workarounds. If you have to call helplines, get ‘er done.
- Dig in and begin to cultivate good habits for handling email and processing information.
- Set up your reader list and decide the many ways you are going to capture this information and build this database. (Nothing makes you more attractive to a publisher than a vigorous database.)
- Build good habits early in your career. It may make all the difference in the world later.
So, did you groan when you saw I was writing about productivity again? (I know, I’m a productivity geek.) What tips do you have for the rest of us?
I wish I had time to respond to this.
Grinning, Jim.
*GROAN*
Here I am, nursing a case of sniffles, and your post makes literally sends me back to bed with a promise to save it for another day (funny how the common cold makes me uncommonly exhausted). One of my most useful talents is the ability to step into a state of confusion and bring order–organizing files, sorting possessions, streamlining workflow or renovating a house. Thank you for sharing your suggestions, Wendy.
* The older I get, the more I appreciate Martin Luther’s statement: ‘I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.’ When I get it right with God, the other things fall into place.
Shirlee, feel better. 🙁 I hate being sick. When I can’t straighten my house, it drives me crazy. Right now, I’m nursing a sprained knee. I hate having to rest it so much and seeing the piles grow around my house. 🙁 But, we work with what we can do, right?
*And I love that Martin Luther quote!
You shared: “The older I get, the more I appreciate Martin Luther’s statement: ‘I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.’ When I get it right with God, the other things fall into place.”
Amen and Amen. If I miss my quiet hour in the morning, my day is shot.
I’m old school. I need to be able to flip pages and sort by hand. Maybe it relates to that spatial/tactile issue we were discussing about books vs ereaders. Anyway, I keep detailed notes in a binder or notebook. I have a separate, notebook for each manuscript and never combine them.
Ever since I had a malware invasion of my laptop a few years ago, I never leave anything in an efile that I haven’t backed up and stored elsewhere.
As for productivity, I try to stay ahead of things. But like yesterday, one kid stayed home sick, one was writing finals and then flitted hither and yon all over town to acquire a Go-Pro for his mountain biking trek to Iceland. There is no such thing as a normal day around here! I have to work when and how much I can.
I’m the same, Jennifer. Anything stored digitally might as well never have existed as far as my memory is concerned. I need everything possible in hard copy (notebooks and files), which makes for some clutter but one day (I dream) I’ll have a whole room to devote to my office/work space and then I’ll be tidy I’m sure of it. 😉
I totally get the “no such thing as a normal day” thing, Jennifer!
*The reminder to make sure everything is backed up is a good one. Thanks for mentioning that. 🙂
I’ve always said you were spatial, Jennifer.:-)
Hahaha! Well played!
Wendy, I went to school with a David Crenshaw … he was brilliant. Wonder if that Dave is from Terrell, TX?? Files help me so much on my computer … creating files for pictures and all my articles. I have a blog picture folder and have files under that for about every kind of picture imaginable … that I’ve taken. Really helps when I need a blog photo. I try to utilize my computer as best I can, but I do wish I were more computer savvy.
Shelli, you and I are a lot alike. I have tons of files on my computer. They help me stay organized. I guess one thing I need to do in organizing is to take the time to go through and see which ones I no longer need. 🙂
Now is the time, Shelli. It’s such a vital tool for us as communicators.
Ug, I did groan. But of everything going on in my life, my writing is the most organized of the lot. I’ve got files, I’ve got my own bookshelf and desk, I even have a filing cabinet. Pretty sure that the rest of you guys blow me out of the water, but for me, this is organized.
Kristen, we all do what we are able to be organized, right? I used to be so much better about organization. But with growing, random, messy boys, and with writing in the mix, things are not where I’d like. They are however, workable (mostly). So I’ll take that over perfectly organized but either disconnected from my family or not having any time to write. 🙂
Good choice, Jeanne. My in-laws house was perfectly organized, never an item out of place. My hubby appreciates the freedom to have some clutter. We try to live by the 5-minute rule: it should never take more than 5 minutes to find something.
It must feel good to have this part of your life completely organized. The ability to organize is often dependent on the season of life as well. If someone had a house full of growing children, flexibility may be more important than organization.
One of the reasons I work so hard at organization is that there is too much to do in 168 hours, so each month I must reclaim hours that are wasted in order to keep all the plates spinning.
I’m sure this post will help a lot of people, Wendy!
* There are three things that help me; they are more general than specific, and may not appeal to all –
1) I have something of an eidetic memory (if such a thing actually exists) and keep as much in my head as I can.
2) I always do the unpleasant things first, and always made it a habit to volunteer for the nasty bits. This wasn’t apple-polishing or an aspiration to sainthood – it was and is a simple discipline, that drudgery calls for as much attention to detail as diamond-cutting.
3) I avoid euphemisms, particularly picturesque ones, to describe a situation.”I’m snowed under with work” doesn’t really SAY anything, but it builds the wrong mindset, and brings to mind the picture in today’s post. Far better, I think, to say, “I have several tasks to accomplish, and they should optimally be accomplished within this timeframe”…and stop. That way, whether you’re finishing another round of edits or trying not to become guests of a country whose representatives would love to bid you a permanent welcome, you’re not hobbled by emotion, nor bound to your own imagery.
Amen to #3, Andrew. I think of problems and failures as “opportunities for improvement.” I’ve been well-taught by some very wise folks.
Every success is built on a solid foundation of failure, Shirlee.
Andrew, I especially like your second suggestion. When I get the unpleasant thing done first, I feel like I’ve accomplished so much. 🙂 It makes it easier for me to go into the rest of the day with an optimistic attitude. 🙂
1. I did a brain dump last week putting everything– absolutely everything on paper to free my mind for creativity. I got eight pages of things that need to be transferred to my to-do list. I’m the opposite of you.
2. Great strategy. I need to apply this.
3. I love euphemisms, metaphors, colorful language. If it wasn’t for cliches I couldn’t speak. 😉
Grooooooan. Here’s the funny thing. I love the *idea* of productivity and order. There’s nothing better than a freshly cleaned house and no more laundry to put away. I get the itch a few times a year to purge, sort, and organize. But it is not natural for me. It just isn’t.
For me, approaching productivity feels like mounting a bike and starting to pedal up a hill covered in molasses. (How’s that for dramatic?)
I’m not sure how to change this inherent characteristic of myself. But I am willing to give some of your suggestions a try. Within the realm of writing, I am unequivocally a pantster. Evernote would give me a great place to organize all my scribbles in the margins of my WIP. Utilizing a calendar would protect the writing time I’ve otherwise simply identified in my head. And, like coming home to a clean house, seeing increased productivity will encourage me to keep going. It’s a self-feeding organism.
The productivity you’re talking about is all about holding oneself accountable. If I have committed to a life as an author with aspirations for publication, I need to act like it. I’m thankful for a safe space here to work through our process, shine a spotlight on our weaknesses and help each other be better. This post has certainly done that for me. Thanks, Wendy!
I love your honesty, Teresa. 🙂 We all find our own rhythm. It’s nice to be part of a community where we can glean from and encourage each other. 🙂
Indeed, Jeanne!
I love the challenge of getting organized but I hate the discipline of faithfully staying organized. Happily it can become a habit.
I love posts on productivity. Your suggestions make sense, Wendy. When I get update notifications for apps on my devices, I just do them right away. With my Mac, I’ve had issues almost every time they come out with a new operating system. But, as you mention, it’s so much better, and less frustrating to call the help line and git ‘er done.
*As much as I love productivity, I haven’t come up with a good system (or good suggestions to share), so I will read and learn from those who are more on top of this than I am. 😉
I’m all up-to-date right now, except my fitbit no longer syncs, I can’t send email, my backup is not working because there is no longer enough space on the external disk and… and…
It’s all part of the process.
That NEVER-ENDING process. 😉
One point that perhaps deserves mention…don’t impose your own ideas of order on someone else. people are different, and process both information and memory in different ways.
* Case in point – in any decent account of the Battle of Midway in WW2, you’ll read quite a bit about the Navy code-breakers who broke JN-25, the Japanese naval code…which led to the victory that was the turning point in the Pacific War.
* People who do cryptanalysis are weird; some are very ordered, and some…well, they might be hidden behind stacks of paper, several months’ worth of data…but if they see something in today’s intercepts, they’ll be able to dive into a stack and pull something else that will become a major piece of the code ‘puzzle’.
* Tidy them up, and they can’t do their job. Simple as that. It’s not an excuse for sloppiness (though some may use it as such)…but the takeaway is that productivity can only arise from within.
You’re right, Andrew, We each need to find our own system. The Crenshaw class I took was especially interesting because the presenter is “off-the-chart” ADHD. He used organization as a way to survive.
Another thought…productivity and efficiency are great, but…
* “No man stands so tall as he who stoops to help a child.”
* Or a homeless veteran, or a stray dog, or…
* We have not been placed here to write, except insofar as our words give – not merely show – God’s love for the lost and heartbroken.
The Challies book I recommended says it so well: “We are committed to productivity and to a distinctly Christian understanding of it. Productivity is effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God. The reason we use these tools is that they enable us to be most effective in that calling. We are not working for our tools but making our tools work for us. All we are doing in these chapters is meant to help us in our great pursuit of glorifying God by doing good to others.” Do More Better by David Challies
I use Kanbanflow for my lists and the promodoro technique for keeping on task. I need serious help with the physical logistics of my office. My family throws all the stuff they don’t know what to do with in there. That has to change! I sure would love some help purging it. Anyone up for it? Huh, huh, huh?
Sounds like we have some great organizers here on this list. Maybe you need to gather your family to take a course together so they can learn how to process their own things. 🙂
Alas, it’s a lost cause. Between autism, Alzheimer’s and ADHD — they all have these diagnoses — I just do my best to stay in the canoe and paddle furiously. I’ve learned to pick my battles. Once in awhile the pressure cooker blows, but usually grace prevails. Which is another reason I HAVE to use kanbanflow to keep from drowning!
Okay, okay. Windows 10 it is. I will put off the update no longer!