Writers Unbound

Good morning, fellow Writers. I’m happy to be at Writers Unbound and eager to keep making it a rewarding resource. I won’t take up much space introducing myself; you can read about me here if you’re interested. I’ll be tweaking the site a bit: stay tuned for a survey so you can let me know the topics most pertinent to you. I’ll also be sounding a call for guest bloggers and sponsoring contests (with prizes, yes!) as we get things rolling again.

For today, tips on our most important asset, drawn from one of the best books I’ve ever read about time management and productivity (and I’ve read a lot): Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Time, Productivity, and Sanity. With a title like that…

• Understand your per hour rate.
  If you don’t know what your time is worth, you won’t use it well. It’s easy to waste minutes and hours when they don’t matter in terms of dollars and cents. Set a goal for what you want to make each week and then divide by the number of hours you’ll be working. There’s your hourly rate; simple, eh? The not-so-simple but most important part is using those hours, every moment of them, in a way that helps you make that amount of money.
• Avoid meetings, conference calls, trivia, and other time-wasters.
  Easier said than done, but it’s possible. Once you know how much your hour is worth, it becomes much easier to say no to the stuff that distracts you from the real work. During your working hours, with every opportunity, ask yourself if it will make you money or waste your time. If you’re not sure, then it is probably just wasting your time.
• Make yourself difficult to find.
  If you work from home, as many freelance writers do, you can make yourself nearly impossible to find to other writers, to editors, to job possibilities. But what about to your spouse, your kids, your neighbor, your Mom who calls in, your dog who needs to be walked? It’s important to have a workspace at home and make it as off-limits as possible to potential interruptors. You can still love ‘em; just let them know you will be available later.
  If you work in an academic or office environment, you have to make an appearance and keep a certain amount of hours in your office. While there, though, make sure you look busy; don’t just sit back in your chair and stare at the ceiling for ideas. Get your computer going with your office program open and some words on the page; get your files and notes out on your desk; close your door; put your cell phone away; have a big clock handy. When people stop by, you can encourage them to move on by starting to type again, shifting through your files, looking at the clock, or kicking them in the butt.
  Okay, maybe not that last one.

More:
Read this article: 12 Ways to Beat Procrastination. (Don’t wait until tomorrow to read it.)
From Steve Pavlina, read how to Triple Your Personal Productivity.
Finally, but best, click through this Time Management for Anarchists movie/slideshow by Jim Munroe at nomediakings.org.