I have a bad habit of setting totally unrealistic goals for almost everything in my life. I forget that I have three children, a husband, two dogs and a zillion other things to do. I usually never have ALL of the time to I think I have to devote to a particular project. But writing is important to me. It is my business. It is my passion. It is what works! So I have to commit a certain amount of time to it. And so should you.
So how should you achieve this? Well you really need to set realistic writing goals. Because when you do that, you will end:
1. writing frustration
2. incomplete writing
3. poor quality writing
Here is an idea of how I like to set realistic writing goals for myself…
1. I bought a kitchen timer (a pyrex one to be exact) from the supermarket
2. I decide on what I’m working on. An article. A chapter in my book. An infoproduct section. Whatever.
3. Based on the task, I allot a certain amount of time for it. Thirty minutes for articles. Sixty minutes for products and book chapters. (This is all rough draft work of course)
4. I check the timer once. When I’m at 10 minutes before time is up – I start wrapping things up. And that could mean finishing a paragraph or even just finishing a sentence. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to complete the entire task.
5. When the timer goes off – I respect it and stop what I’m doing. I go onto my next task to accomplish for the day whether that is another writing assignment or whether that is marketing or some other part of my business. If I have some time leftover of my “work day”, I will devote it to finishing the writing project I started earlier. Otherwise – I will just pick up where I left off the following day.
Quick Tip: Write the same time everyday. Waiting to write when inspiration hits – may mean you won’t write until next year:-)
Lisa Angelettie
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Hey there, I like your tips!! I’ve never used a timer, but that is a great idea. I sometimes have the opposite problem. I’ll get so absorbed in my work I’ll go over time. I may need the timer to stay in my alloted time!
Thanks for posting this!
Denise
The Motivation Mama
http://www.motivationmama.com
http://www.wordstolivebytees.com
Denises last blog post..Wearable Motivation!
Hey there, I like your tips!! I’ve never used a timer, but that is a great idea. I sometimes have the opposite problem. I’ll get so absorbed in my work I’ll go over time. I may need the timer to stay in my alloted time!
Thanks for posting this!
Denise
The Motivation Mama
http://www.motivationmama.com
http://www.wordstolivebytees.com
Denises last blog post..Wearable Motivation!
Hi,
I really liked your post. I use a timer to clean my house and never thought of using it for reading and writing. What a fabulous idea!
Thanks much,
Rosy
Hi,
I really liked your post. I use a timer to clean my house and never thought of using it for reading and writing. What a fabulous idea!
Thanks much,
Rosy
Great tips! I find that my unrealistic goals issue is that I set unrealistic goals on how much I can write in a month, on how many projects.
Since I have a daily blog, weekly eZine, and weekly radio show, I’m already creating tons of content (yes, it can be repurposed) — so when I have ideas of also working on a book or info product, I have to fit in that writing into my already packed schedule. And I always think I can get more done in a month than I do — big projects take much longer than I think.
~ Elizabeth
Elizabeth Potts Weinsteins last blog post..Ep #61 The Ten Commandments of Small Business Marketing Success
Great tips! I find that my unrealistic goals issue is that I set unrealistic goals on how much I can write in a month, on how many projects.
Since I have a daily blog, weekly eZine, and weekly radio show, I’m already creating tons of content (yes, it can be repurposed) — so when I have ideas of also working on a book or info product, I have to fit in that writing into my already packed schedule. And I always think I can get more done in a month than I do — big projects take much longer than I think.
~ Elizabeth
Elizabeth Potts Weinsteins last blog post..Ep #61 The Ten Commandments of Small Business Marketing Success