I was reading a business article today, where the author rattled off productivity tips for small entrepreneurs. For some reason, I kept relating the guidelines to writing. As it turns out, good advice in the field of business can easily be rearranged to be applicable to us.
Remove distractions. While multi-tasking has been the norm for a lot of individuals, it is also the biggest culprit for sub-standard work. This is especially true for writers, whose focus needs to remain on the job at hand. Actively pursue being able to write uninterrupted by scheduling your activities (such as emails and phone calls), rather than taking them whenever they come in.
Not every idea is worth exploring. Everyone in a creative field tends to walk around with lots of ideas. Just because you have them doesn’t mean they’re worth putting to paper, though. You’ll have to weigh the value of one over the other, pursue those that could lead to better results and put the rest on a backburner. Needless to say, trying to work on too many things at the same time can lead to extremely watered-down results.
Eliminate, delegate and automate. For small businessmen, being able to free yourself from routine jobs lets you open up more time for work that can lead to better results. That’s the gist of what this technique is about: eliminate as much of the stuff you do yourself, either automating them or delegating them to someone else.
In writing, we’ve expounded countless times about the value of using software tools to help you – automated grammar checkers, writing assistant software and all that. If you use them wisely, you can eliminate close to half of your entire work cycle for each piece, without your material suffering as a result.
