5 Ways to Increase Productivity for Bigger Writing Profits
Posted by Susan CarterAug 9
Unless you sell products or receive substantial royalties on book deals, writers are paid only for their time to research, write, and think for their clients. Developing efficient and productive habits will pave the way for additional profits. Remember—you are running a business. Focus on efficiency and productivity to attract money, not tasks that eat up precious time. Here are five ways to increase your productivity for bigger writing profits:
- Early to Rise. Perhaps the most obvious habit is to start working an hour earlier than you currently do. Nothing feels better than to get up at 6 a.m., work for an hour or two, then jump in the shower and come out knowing you’ve already made a dent in whatever project you’re working on before the phone starts ringing and your IN box begins to fill with email messages.
- Reduce the Number of Face to Face Meetings. Whenever possible, opt for phone, email, teleconference, or other tech-supporting means of communicating with clients. Not every part of a project needs to be presented or discussed in person. Many times, your clients prefer fewer meetings, too—because THEY want to be more productive.
- Eliminate Interruptions. Are you constantly checking email? Do you answer the phone every time it rings or respond to text messages immediately? These are huge time robbers. Whenever possible, set specific times during the day to read email and check and return phone or text messages.
- Outsource. How much is your time worth? When I first started as a freelance writer, I met with the client, taped the interview, transcribed it, wrote the article, proofed it and sent it on its way. Now I typically outsource transcribing and proofing to others so I can focus on the client, not the task. I can take on more projects and don’t get bogged down in task-oriented work that I can farm out at a reasonable (yet lower) rate. Carry this idea through to errands, like going to the post office or picking up supplies. There are responsible high school or college students who will gladly work for a modest hourly rate that keeps you free to focus on your writing.
- Use a Schedule. This one, admittedly, is still a hard one for me to follow but I’m getting better at it. At the end of today, schedule what your work day will be tomorrow. For example, “work on Project A from 6-8am, shower and eat breakfast from 8-9am, check email and respond from 9-9:30, phone conference from 9:30-10:30am, continue work on Project A until noon.” If you do your own errands, then schedule them all into a half day to be done once or twice a week, not sporadically throughout the day. You’ll save time—and gas money!
These are certainly not earth-shattering recommendations. Yet, so many writers view the writing process as one that waits for the muse to come when it is ready. If you want to make a living as a writer, develop productive habits and the muse will come when YOU are ready.
One comment
Comment by Dawn Colclasure on August 9, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I get up at 5 a.m. on weekdays and I tell people that, as a parent, it’s the only chance I have for some “me time.” But aside from praying, enjoying my cup of coffee and reading news items, I also tackle projects on my to-do list for the day. For example, this morning, first item was to turn in my article. So I spent some of those early hours working on putting my article together. My toddler did wake up while I was working, but fortunately, right when I was in the editing stage of the work, so I was able to handle keeping an eye on him and editing the article at the same time. Got my article turned in and I credit getting an early start on that accomplishment!
Like you say to do, I ignore text messages if I’m in the middle of working on something. I read and respond to them after I’m done.
Also, I can’t be logged in at my email account while I’m working, because watching for that number of messages to go up is too distracting. If I MUST be logged in at email, say because an email in my inbox has information I need, I set my status as “busy” and open a tab then go to a different site (like Google) so I won’t be distracted.
As to email, I’ve made it a point to check it 3 times a day instead of every free chance I get — if I’m NOT under deadline and waiting to hear from a source. Also, that extra free time is now focused on the OTHER items on my to-do list.
There are just so many little things we can do to be more productive with our time. You have shared some of the better ideas in this post. Good insights!