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3 Time Management Tips to Help Writers Get Back On Track of Their Writing Goals

3 Time Management Tips to Help Writers Get Back On Track of Their Writing Goals

3 Time Management Tips to Help Writers Get Back On Track of Their Writing Goals
Photo by Steve Buissinne / via Pixabay

3 Time Management Tips to Help Writers Get Back On Track of Their Writing Goals

Are you having trouble finding time to write? Do you struggle with getting words on the page? Do you get distracted every time you sit down to write?

Procrastination is a common thing for writers. We’ll search high and low for something, anything, that will help us avoid writing. But what we’re really trying to avoid is the feelings that go along with the struggle of writing.

Writing isn’t always easy. It doesn’t always flow. And the ideas aren’t always readily available for use. Because writing seems so hard, we end up feeling frustration, irritation, despair, or self-doubt. And that’s why we search for things to distract us. We’re saving ourselves from those feelings. At least until the feelings associated with not writing become greater than the feelings we’re trying to avoid.

Staying on track of our writing goals means we have to take a proactive stance on writing. Here’s how to do it:

Time Management Tip #1: Sit down to write no matter what.

Sitting down to write is the first step. If we can’t do that, we’re just not going to get any writing done. But we also have to stay seated and get our fingers moving. If we allow distractions to interfere with our work, we’ll get up as soon as procrastination strikes.

Procrastination has a funny way of distracting us and keeping us occupied. But we have to fight the urge to let it take control. We have the power to be in control. It just takes a little effort to rewire the brain.

Time Management Tip #2: Study the writing craft.

One of the biggest reasons writers will find something else to do when they should be writing is that they don’t feel they’re good enough. Self-doubt sinks in and instead of dealing with the issue head-on, they avoid it.

Studying the writing craft will help immensely. If a writer devotes 15 minutes a day to studying and learning, eventually she’ll notice her skills are improving. And then she’ll start to feel more confident about her writing work.

For time management, this is huge, because instead of dreading the process or looking for something else to do, the writer will be more likely to stay focused. The writing will flow more easily, and as she writes the first draft, she’ll be looking for ways to write better words which will help make the revision process easier.

Time Management Tip #3: Track writing progress.

Once you’re starting to master the first two tips, it’s time to track your writing progress. By doing this, you’ll be able to see how much you’re writing each day, week, month, year…

If you’ve been putting off writing for a while, this will help you get back on track of your writing goals as you make daily or weekly progress because you’ll start to feel better about your writing. Building confidence and letting self-doubt take the backseat will help you stay focused and keep you motivated to push toward your writing goals.

And if you have a word count goal for the year, you’ll want to know how far you’ve come and how far you need to go to meet your goal. It gives you a sense of direction. Without it, it’s too easy to flounder in inactivity.

Following these three tips will help you get back on track of your writing goals. It’s going to take some time to get into the swing of things, but once that happens, the writing will flow more easily and you’ll start to enjoy your writing time instead of dreading it.


Special Offer! To help writers improve their time management skills so they can focus on their writing work, I created a 30-day time management program that delves deeper into motivations and goals and offers tips to get them moving in the right direction. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, now’s the time. I’m offering it for 75% OFF until 11:59 PM Eastern Wednesday, September 27, 2017. Plus you get three extra products free of charge! Just $16 for all four! More information here…

Jody Calkins
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