Tag Archives: Time management

I have two precious days per week to write. I’m so lucky. Oh, just wait a minute – I can hear that the washing machine’s just finished. Be back in a mo………………

Hi again. Where was I? Oh yes. I like to start to write early. I spend some time getting my thoughts together, rereading my previous work and then I begin to let the words tumble out of my brain. This is pure novel writing or working on my current project and I like to leave any research until the afternoon. Oh, just a minute, there’s the post man………. Two bills to pay, nothing interesting. Now what was I saying?

How do writers cope with interruptions, the phone ringing, the washing to put out on the line, the floor that needs hoovering ……………all those things that just get in the way?

If I can try to find three clear hours to focus on my writing in the morning then I see myself as fortunate. It can be quite a selfish life. I used to visit friends in my holidays but now I just write. It’s addictive verging on an obsession. In order to cope with the frustrating demands of the day I’ve made myself a few ground rules and that seems to help me to remain focussed and less frustrated by my lack of progress:

• I treat my writing like anyone working from home. It deserves no less than my undivided attention. 
• I leave any research until the afternoon unless it requires a visit, when I give myself the time off wholeheartedly
• I leave all social media networking until lunchtime or the afternoon when I catch up on Twitter, my blog and Facebook
• If I have to put the washing out or do a mundane chore at home I think while I work, or better still leave it ’til later if I can get away with it
• I am struggling with the last one; the desire to  be able to ignore bits on the carpet and leave the cleaner in the cupboard until another day, but i’m working on it!

That means leaving the post on the mat and sometimes not answering the phone. You see, there’s nothing worse than being in full flow, the scene coming to life in my head and the characters buzzing, when I answer the phone and it’s the bank trying to sell me a better deal in home insurance.

No offence meant to the poor person on the end of the line intended!