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Lately I’ve heard from a lot of writers who are having difficulty reaching their writing quotas. How about you? Are you having trouble reaching your writing goals?
One of the main complaints I hear is lack of time. Right behind that comes lack of focus.
Most writers become discouraged when they aren’t reaching their goals. Does that happen to you? You get behind. Then you really don’t want to sit down to write. This can become a downward spiral. The less you write, the more you fall behind your goals. The further behind you get, the less you write.
Here are a few things that might get you back on track to your goals.
- Reduce your quota temporarily.
- If your are discouraged by not meeting your goal, try lowering the goal so you can feel good about achieving it.
- Break your large goals into smaller chunks.
- ‘Finish your book’ is an overwhelming and unrealistic goal. Instead, try ‘finish this scene’ or ‘write for 15 minutes’.
- Limit the number of items on your daily to-do list.
- You can only realistically accomplish 3 or 4 tasks a day.
- Set aside small amounts of focused time.
- Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes. See how much you can accomplish before the timer rings.
You can make a lot of progress if you take small steps every day.
I’ve set up a tool to help your enter your daily tasks (action items) and set up timers for each of them. Your able to track what you do each day.
Click on the blue question mark to download the user’s guide.
You can set up action lists which are groups of related actions. For instance, promotion tasks might include 10 minutes on Twitter and 10 minutes on Facebook. Setting the timers will keep you from being sucked into the black hole of cyberspace.
I’m going to be setting up some action lists that you can download and import into the tool.
Action Enforcer runs from a website, so it can be used from a PC or MAC. It also doesn’t use up any of your computer’s resources.
Start being more productive today. Check out Action Enforcer. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Write on,
Lynn
14 Comments to 'Are You Having Trouble Reaching Your Writing Goals?'
June 5, 2010
Excellent tips, Lynn.
I think it’s true of most of us is that we simply get “stuck” in what feels like a prison with no way out. We could get stuck on coming up with ideas to write about, or stuck in moments of disbelief in ourselves, or even stuck because we’ve lost our motivation.
I especially like the idea of chunking goals down into the smallest chunks possible. I lead an extremely chaotic lifestyle and having really huge, overwhelming goals would never work for me.
I’m a humongous fan of “baby steps”!
Melanie
#blog30
June 6, 2010
Lynn – Thanks for the great tips and reminders! This week was a rough one for me, writing-wise. Worked more hours than usual, do to the people I cover for taking vacation time (really, what is it with people who think they need time off?? LOL).
What I did was drop my goal completely and focus on writing every day, regardless of how many words I put down on paper. That way, I felt like I was still marching toward my end product, and didn’t get too discouraged by not hitting my goal consistently.
Melanie – well said!! Kudos for breaking the work down into baby steps. Writing is hard enough, without getting discouraged with your own deadlines and goals.
June 6, 2010
Hi Lynn,
Wonderful tips on managing your writing time as well as time management in general. I’m working on a few products but I also have a screenplay I’ve been convincing myself I want to finish by end 2010. Guess what – haven’t even started! Not only that I don’t even know how to write a screen play. But with so much other stuff to do, I feel I’ll never get a chance. Maybe if I break it down like you have and squeeze in 15 mins here and there – I can get a good portion of it complete!
Thanks!
Gwen
June 6, 2010
Great info. I love your pink ribbon bullet points and background. where did you get them. i also love the tips especially since i sometimes get stuck. i have started the action enforcer right now. Thanks so much
Terrie
June 6, 2010
Hi Lynn,
“You can only realistically accomplish 3 or 4 tasks a day” is such a very good point. I used to write
my 6 Most Important Things To Do List every night and it would get frustrating because I could
only accomplish 2 or 3 of those among the other things I had to do. Now I have a 3-4 list. Being
realistic really does take away some of the frustration and taking advantage of small segments of
time to get one task off the list is also helpful.
Thank you, Lynn.
June 6, 2010
Hi Yvonne,
If you over commit yourself, you just bring on overwhelm. It feels as if you are slogging through sand. Using fewer tasks makes you feel better about your and you can actually get more done.
You’ll be surprised at how much you accomplish when you stack up the small steps.
June 6, 2010
Thanks, Terrie.
This is similar to Connie Green’s messy desk theme. This one is Roam to Rome. Jeanette Cates doesn’t care for it. Too wide a header. It hides some of the content.
I’m always looking for good themes, especially for writers. I had one I liked, but it didn’t work with the new version of WordPress. I can waste hours looked at themes and tell myself I’m working on my business. (I’m not).
June 6, 2010
Gwen,
I think we all have “pet projects” that we keep on the back burner. I have a friend who calls her project her “Sunday book”. She works on that one on Sundays. The rest of the week she works on the books she need to do to fulfill her contracts.
Give your screen play a little bit of time. You and your muse will be much happier.
June 6, 2010
Hi Darla,
I know how much the day job can slow down your writing. Just doing a little every day will move you along to your goals.
Hang in there!
June 6, 2010
Hi Melanie,
Baby steps ROCK!!!!! You can reach any goal a little at a time. Just keep grabbing those small chunks of time. You’ll be surprised at the progress you’ll make.
June 7, 2010
Hi Melanie,
Hey this is a great blog! I’m glad I found it through #blog30. Recently I added another commitment to my already full writing schedule — not #blog30 by the way — (probably making me certifiably nuts LOL) — but what it’s done is to help me find article topics faster, and not fuss so much about whether it’s a “good idea” before doing the research and completing the article.
I love your tips. Some of them won’t work right now, but having a “timer” of some kind is something I’ve been considering. I hate interruptions, so it would be a good incentive to be productive in the time I allowed myself.
One additional tip I can offer is that I’ve begun to carry around a small “idea notebook” with me everywhere — because great article ideas get lost if I don’t capture them immediately. In just the past 3 days I have two pages’ worth already!
As for when I get behind, I just press an imaginary “reset” button, and start working on the oldest deadline. Once that’s done, I am usually “on a roll” and can keep going.
Oh. One more idea. (See what you started???) If a goal you set isn’t working, reframe it. Instead of “write 5 articles” try “how many articles could I write if I just keep going for X amount of time”. When you make your goal “about” something that’s fun or easy or greatly desired, it shifts your resistance to doing it
Nancy
June 7, 2010
Thanks for your tips, Nancy!
The idea notebook is a great idea. I hate it when I have an idea that I’m sure I won’t forget, so I don’t write it down. Guess what? It’s usually gone.
We won’t accomplish our goals if they aren’t fun, easy, or desired, that’s true. Reframing those goals is a great idea.
Lynn
June 28, 2010
Thank you for the wonderful tips on how to reach your writing goals. I set some pretty outstanding goals back in May. Not a big deal, until June hit. Suddenly everything was turned upside down, now I am far behind on my goals. People tell me it is ok to let my goals slide given what happened, but I am a writer ,th this is important to me. So I will try your techniques! ~ MJ Schrader
June 28, 2010
Hi MJ,
Don’t beat yourself up over missing your goals. Just start where you are. It’s more motivating to set small goals that you can reach than it is to set huge goals and then fall short. Set your long term goals, then set very small goals that will get you there.
Do a little each day. You will be surprised how fast the small steps add up into big leaps.
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