JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We’ve shared a lot about productivity on JRW. I used the blog’s search function to look for “productivity” efficiency” “time management” and “get to work” and had SO MANY hits I couldn’t pick just one or two to share here! We’ve talked about the Pomodoro method, and making lists and writing in sprints and the importance of physically moving and not just sitting on our keisters. (I’m trying to bring back the word ‘keister’.) We’re always open to trying new things to write better and more consistently, not to mention managing the busy, distracting lives we all share.
But you know, there are some weird productivity hacks out there. I remember back when I was going through menopause, and would wake up like clockwork around 3am and be unable to fall asleep again for hours. (Then Mr. Morning Lark would wake me at 6 and I’d have to restrain myself from mariticide.) I read an article urging women to use these hours to exercise, paint, or get the week’s meal prep done. First of all, excuse me? It’s 3am! It’s dark outside, and everyone in the house is asleep! I don’t want to be greeted at breakfast by the smell of the meatballs I made three hours earlier. I don’t want to get all sweaty and have to shower before going back to bed for what would be a half hour. And the only thing I’d be inspired to paint would be a reproduction of Edvard Munch’s THE SCREAM.
I recently discovered The Most Dangerous Writing App, and yes, that’s its real name. You set a time - three minutes, five minutes, etc. - and then write. If you stop typing for FIVE SECONDS the screen will blur and everything you’ve written during that set period will disappear. Forever! There’s a slightly gentler version, Write or Else (formerly Write or Die) that gives you the option to replace sudden death with a loud screaming noise.
I recognize this would work for some people. After all, efficiency hacks like “stop eating and only drink your meals standing up” also works for some. But it’s not gonna be me.
How about you, Reds? Have you seen any productivity/efficiency advice that makes you think, “Oh, no thank you…”?
HALLIE EPHRON: That “Most Dangerous…” writing productivity tool would make me want to give up writing completely. Because sometimes you just need to sit there, in a pool of quiet, and THINK about what you want to say. Or go rummaging around in your file directories to find the document that contains some previous thoughts you had on whatever topic you’re writing about. Or take a detour to Google for facts and inspiration. And it sounds like the app doesn’t count editing as writing. Which it SO is… because my first drafts are crappy.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: No way am I waking at 3 a.m. and going to write! Or do laundry or plan next week’s meals! As for the Most Dangerous Writing App, that would pretty much end my chances of ever writing anything. I’d be too anxious to have a coherent thought.
As for productivity hacks that DO work, nothing has ever worked so well for me as our little Reds writing accountability group. I do not want to be the one with no pages done at the end of the day. And we encourage each other, which helps enormously.
JENN McKINLAY: I’m with Debs. Our Reds writing accountability group has kept me on task, especially as a deadline LOOMS.
I had a friend who used an app where if you stopped writing it started to eat the words one at a time like a little Ms. Pac-Man. No thank you. I can’t write and have a panic attack at the same time.
RHYS BOWEN: Absolutely no hacks of any kind for me. I’m a really disciplined writer. I sit down after breakfast and write 1500 words. I’m not allowed to stop until I’ve completed this. Some days it goes easily and get even more done. Some days I look up and it’s two o’clock and I had no idea. Other days I walk around, fling a load in the washer, get coffee and keep working. It’s like pulling teeth but I am not allowed to quit. I think what I have written is cr*p. But the next day it doesn’t always look so bad. Everyone has to find what works for them!
LUCY BURDETTE: I HATE the idea of those punitive apps. It doesn’t work for kids or pets, so why would anyone think this would encourage writers? I agree with Debs and Jenn–our little sub group is SO helpful. Though honestly, I’ve mostly been watching Jenn pile up her words for the last two weeks. Hopefully now that we’re back sort of settled in Connecticut, I’ll get back on that horse!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The very idea of that app makes me cringe! Yow. Absolutely the opposite of anything that's gonna make me write. Write at the gunpoint peril of your own words? Yikes. I’m already panicked enough! I have a words per day chart, my deadline is set in my mind, I’m reliable.
I DO set a timer to keep me focused...34 minutes at a time, NO switching projects or doing the laundry or getting a diet Pepsi or checking Instagram. Solid 34 minutes of writing. It works beautifully, and most often, I’m so immersed that I just hit the start again and do it again. But yeesh, don’t threaten me.
JULIA: How about you, dear readers? Have you encountered any extreme productivity tips? (Apparently, getting up to work at 4am is the latest thing on LinkedIn...) What do you think of them?
That "Dangerous Writing" app is absolutely cringeworthy . . . who would set themselves up for something like that?
ReplyDeleteSomehow I've been fortunate enough not have found any of those extreme productivity tips, but it doesn't sound as if I've missed anything . . . LinkedIn may think getting up at four in the morning to work is a good idea . . . I believe I'll just have to sleep on it!
Perfect answer, Joan!
DeleteI'm one of those that get up at 4am to be at work by 6am. I do not a productivity app. That "Dangerous Writing" app would frighten me to see my words disappearing on the page.
ReplyDeleteIn my teaching years I routinely got up at 4 AM to prep for my classes and do barn chores before 8. The joy of retirement has been learning to sleep until 5:30 or even 6 AM. Sadly, in the last 100 days I have become so anxious that I am again getting up at 4 AM, but not to work, just to read the headlines and worry. The best productivity help I've found was recommended here by you, Julia. The Freedom app. Thank you! I shut off all social media for hours at a time and I am able to reclaim my mind from doomscrolling and marinating in the many ways we are headed for disaster. It's a huge relief and certainly supports my mental health, in addition to my productivity. I am grateful.
ReplyDeleteHank, I am interested that you work for thirty-FOUR minutes at a time. I've used a timer for twenty minutes, thirty minutes, etc. But never 34. What is the magic in that number? (Selden)
Today I’m using my “awake at 3am” to read and comment on this blog! It’s normally when I’ll get some reading done, but I’ve never felt like doing anything more active then.
ReplyDeleteI write like Rhys, except I don't have breakfast first. I check in with Ramona's Sprint Club at seven, but often I've started work before that. 1500 words if I'm writing a first draft, and I can't leave the house until it's done. A morning of revising after the draft is done. Those apps would drive me bonkers!
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in Toronto, I did sometimes send emails at 4:00 am. I convinced myself it was a necessary thing to do before I left home at 6:00 am to commute 1.5 hours to Environment Canada HQ! Crazy, crazy.
ReplyDeleteThose timed productivity writing apps sound evil to me. It would do the opposite: make me panic and freeze.
From Celia: good morning to everyone, yes my life has taken another turn and I'm up and dressed before 7am. Well I've talked a lot about TM and tried to help others who find that a struggle. So I've always tried to find how my client prefers to work and build from there. I don't believe there's a magic bullet and thinking way back to Marlo Thomas - Free to be you and me - it is all about the money. Every app wants to be paid as we want compensation for our efforts but don't give away one's hard earned cash without some guarantee.
ReplyDeleteThat app that eats your words when you pause? Nonononononono. Not if they paid me megabucks to use it. Nope.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do use is an app or program (what's the difference, anyway?) called Pacemaker that I discovered through Sisters in Crime. I post my wordcount after each day's writing session and it gives me a little puff of confetti! That's the kind of motivation I need. Not threatening to eat my words. Anyway, I set up my WIP on Pacemaker, set my total wordcount for the book and tell it my deadline. It gives a calendar with the number of words I need to write each day to meet that deadline. I usually write at least twice that many, and it adjusts accordingly. Then when I hit a dry spell, it readjusts again so I know how much to write in order to catch up. Right now, I only need to write 345 words a day, so I'm in really good shape.
that sounds cool Annette, I'd love the confetti!
DeleteI have a weekly goal and give myself Friday afternoon off if I meet it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm staring in the dark at 3am, I read Heather Cox Richardson's overnight column. Heather's on it, no worries. I fall back asleep.
When I used to write editorials, and that was the most stressful part of putting the paper together, my ‘inspirations’ would most often come while driving to get groceries, or in that foggy time at 3am between sleep and not sleep. At no point then was there a pen or computer. The interesting thing was that 3am, it was more likely to be a concept or a new idea, but the driving one was usually putting the whole thing down in sentences. Unfortunately, my memory when I sat down at home would then not bring back that perfect prose. So, start again. Sometimes the restart was ok, but often that first unwritten ‘edition’, was I thought always better. Who knows? As for your check-in chats – that would affect me and annoy me like a nag, I suspect, and my answer would always be…soon…
ReplyDeleteAs for when it was time to quit – I would start thinking about recipes, and off to the kitchen I went. There was no more left to mine after that. Darlene, my other person on the paper, would often say “Are you in the kitchen, yet?”
Annette, I love the mental picture of you working for confetti!
ReplyDeleteMan, I work well under pressure, but THAT kind of sudden death pressure would be a nightmare! It doesn't exactly fall under the heading of self-care, does it?
Deadlines are usually enough to compel me to act. The annual community garden tour is June 8 this year, and I've been working steadily to prepare for it. Last year I was getting anxious and I finally realized that no one else knew my timeline of goals but me, so I would be the only one who knew whether I'd met them or not. That helped me relax and enjoy the day. My one anxiety this year, one I have no control over, is whether or not my mulch delivery will happen in time. Or at all.
Also, we have had more than average rain, and naturally, it's going to be dry this coming week while we are away. (Wo)Man plans, and God laughs.