Blogger: Mary Keeley
This week I’ve been trying to follow the health advice Janet blogged about on Monday. It went pretty well for two days, exercising in the morning and getting up from my desk every half hour or so to get the blood flowing. I used my short breaks to get the evening’s dinner going, which was a bonus. I rejoiced in my efficiency. But adding something to an already full schedule calls for increased self-discipline to continue covering the daily bases.
Old habits are hard to break, but adopting these simple, practical routines is a good place to start.
Keep a small spiral notepad handy while you work. Jot down to-dos as they arise during the day. Electronic devices have revolutionized data storage, research, and communication, but the old-fashioned pen and paper are still most efficient for some purposes. In the time it takes to pick up your device and select your notes app, you could already be finished handwriting a quick reminder, and it remains in your line of vision. When you resort to the app on your phone or your electronic calendar, the temptation to check social media, email, or news updates will lead you off-course. The efficiency of the notepad is its minimal distraction from your main task at hand.
Put things away. When something leaves your hands, take an extra minute or two to put it where it ultimately belongs. If you don’t have a designated place for your keys, pick a spot now. If you are one of those who hangs your coat on the chair or sets things down on the nearest horizontal plane to put away later, this tip could save you countless time and frustration.
Mental attitude. A thankful heart breeds joy. Thank God throughout the day for the things that are going well today, for the many blessings he has entrusted to you, and especially for the challenges he allows you to face, because he is growing you.
Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it. Some creative types recoil at the thought of being restricted by a schedule. This might sound harsh, but get over it. Keeping to a schedule is the shortest distance between your to-dos and getting them done. There will be two parts to blend in an efficient schedule: those things you do every day—checking email, connecting on social media, blog posts, and writing—and those spontaneous tasks and appointments as they arise. Assign each daily activity a certain amount of time and practice disciplining yourself to stick to the time limits. Don’t get discouraged by early failures. Stick with it until you experience the benefits of a daily schedule and you’ll embrace the habit. When you are contracted and your manuscript is turned in, your allotted writing time will be used for marketing and promoting your book. Discover the pleasant victory of successful self-discipline. Note that I’m motivating myself as I write this. It’s a challenge for all of us.
Get enough sleep. Some people need more sleep than others. But regardless, before you turn the lights out, treat yourself each day to half an hour of quiet decompression time, completely disconnected from communication devices. Close your eyes and listen to soothing music. Read a book you enjoy—not on a tablet that is hard on your eyes—just for the pleasure of it. Pray. Whatever contributes to your health and enhances your quality of sleep. Don’t eat for two hours before you go to bed.
What about you? What practical efficiencies have you developed that help you in covering all the daily bases? In what areas do you struggle to stay disciplined?
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All good suggestions, Mary. I am a fan of the paper to-do list; I would miss the pleasure of drawing a line through the completed item.
I designed my own weekly to-do sheet for work, with my routine daily and weekly tasks already listed. I have sectins for types of tasks (meeting preparation, long-term projects, etc). I start it at the end of the day on Friday. It gives me a picture of my week come Monday morning. As the week progresses, it is a scribbled mess. And a reminder that I am making progress!
I like your discipline of ending the week with planning and writing down your schedule for the next week. When I have done that, I’ve always always started the next week hitting the ground running. You have motivated me to make sure it happens every week.
Yes! Pen and paper user here. And having and adhering to a schedule is what allows me to write, travel, and homeschool three middle schoolers. I have no idea how I’d do it if I didn’t have a set rhythm to my days. Thanks for this post.
That’s two votes for pen and paper to-do lists so far. Hannah, your three middle schoolers reap the benefits of their mom’s scheduled routine. I’m sure they appreciate it, even though they might not think to tell you often.
I have 6, yes, SIX, notebooks beside my computer. I almost always shop with a list, otherwise I forget stuff.
I make notes on paper because I’m old school and don’t want to lose a brilliant idea if my (insert name of electronic thingie) bites it.
I usually have something small, like milk and yogurt, before I go to bed, simply to keep the blood sugar stable, but that’s the hypoglycemia talking. I don’t really have a choice.
My day revolves around the kids’ school schedules, and that’s been a great way for me to keep “office hours”.
Oh, and I like reading on my tablet because, umm, I can make the font bigger. Not that I’m blind, I just can barely see the little words. 😉
Impressive, Jennifer. Let’s see, one for the school schedule, one for the hockey schedule… And finally, one to combine all your worlds onto one calendar, right? Mothers tend to excel at schedules, motivated by self-preservation.
Ah the car keys. I learned this one the hard way. My Hubby’s solution…just leave them in the ignition and then you always know where they are. I keep a set in my purse in case someone locks our car door. But yeah, I’ve had to develop a schedule as I get older and learned to keep track of things, and my 3 children’s things, and my husband’s things. Good advice Mary.
We keep a bowl on the front hall table for all the keys. With 3 drivers in the house, sometimes 4, it’s simply The Rule.
But, of course, whenever the keys go missing, they’re usually in the pocket of the last garment the teenage son wore. 😉
Leaving the car keys in the ignition is against the law in Florida–too much temptation for thieves or joy riders. And for sure I’d lock mine in there. But a place for everything and everything in its place has always been a good axiom. Just hard to follow sometimes! 🙂
Ha ha, we live way out in the woods in the Cascade Mountains. Very few car thieves. There is only one road into our area, a gravel one, and if some strange car drives up, everyone goes to investigate. Different worlds, huh?
I’m definitely a pen and paper user, too. I’ve been using a composition journal notebook here lately. I’m afraid my scribblings in it are not very nice and neat, but it’s all in one nice and neat location. My dad’s birthday is today … I tore out a sheet last night and wrote “Call Dad” on it, and placed it over my laptop. If I forget to call him today, I’ll be devastated.
With my notes, I usually go through and highlight or mark through everything that I’ve accomplished. If the item isn’t marked through, I know it’s still hovering. And the notes are usually corrections to my WIP. I keep it with me everywhere I go.
Fortunately, there is no grading on penmanship for our notepads. Mine usually has little sub-notes or reminders squeezed in between the main notes. And the beauty of the system is that it’s quick. Just get it down legibly enough so I know what it says when I go back to it.
Highlighting is a great suggestion, Shelli.
Thank you! I called my dad!! 🙂
A timer can help keep you on task or, in my case, remember to go downstairs and get things out of the oven (usually).
I started using one after I overflowed the swimming pool a couple times while writing around chores . . .
Ha! I’m there with you, Michelle. Fire and flood are effective motivators for using a timer. I can’t begin to count the number of burned dinners in our house as a result of my work absorption. I now use the alarm on my phone.
What a practical post, Mary! I, too, am a hand-writer of to-do lists. I like the satisfaction of crossing them off once they’re completed. My grocery list? Still hand written. I keep scrap paper in a couple spots around the house so I can write a note if I need to.
One thing I’ve begun doing is inputting my writing time into my calendar as an appointment. On Sunday, I look over the coming week and see where I can put writing in for each day of the week. And I set an alarm so that I can stop other activities and start writing. This has been helpful for me.
As for sleep. I’m definitely working on getting more. Not enough sleep has other ramifications on the body besides just waking up tired. Insomnia makes it hard sometimes, but I’m being more purposeful about this. Of the suggestions you mention, this one is the hardest to stay disciplined in. 🙂
Jeanne, your approach to a schedule is a good solution for any writer whose schedule might vary from week to week. I agree that getting enough sleep is hard to self-discipline, especially for those of us who are task-oriented or can’t sleep. If you find a successful means of accomplishing better discipline for sleep, let me know.
Discipline is the price you pay for freedom.
A disciplined, intentional approach to life and to writing saves so much time! Getting unpleasant tasks done immediately, for instance, keeps them from holding a Damoclean position over your head, impairing creativity, efficiency, and fun.
And discipline is also the only lighted path out of despair, when God seems very far away. If the only thing you’ve got that makes sense is a routine for effort…even if the goal seems unattainable…the discipline of keeping to that path can make the other parts of living worthwhile.
The moto poster would say, here…”And look what may happen!”
Maybe, but there’s no promise of the happy ending. Discipline can make it possible, but no more than that. The road has to be enough, and the satisfaction, however bleak it may be at the time, of putting one foot in front of the other.
And mental attitude…yes. I am grateful for the good things.
But personally, I’ve gone past where some of the challenges are growing me. They are literally killing me, and the past twenty-four hours have been more deeply frightening and vile than I would like to describe.
Discipline helps there, too. I usually can’t accomplish my Plan for the Day. There is a limit to ‘push’.
And there is the discipline of accepting that, and moving on from where one is, rather than deriding self or circumstance for failings.
It’s not self-pity, and it’s not self-soothing. It’s just operational necessity, and preparing the next minute for the best possible outcome.
Because in the disciplined life, you can leverage the fact that the next minute is really all you have.
Yes, yes, yes to getting unpleasant tasks done right away. For the reason you so colorfully described.
Andrew, with the health challenges you face daily, getting anything done is a victory to celebrate. Those that don’t get done were merely nice ideas.
Love this, Mary! My oldest daughter has developed the habit of carrying her current book around the house with her, so whenever she might be able to steal a moment, she has it handy. I’ve picked up on this as well, but I think I’ll also carry my little spiral notebook. I’ve made a morning to-do list (which includes checking in here) which I keep handy, just in case the homeschool hurry-scurry makes me lose track. I think I’ll glue it in the front so it’s always there. Now maybe I need to use my husband’s nail apron to carry it all with me until I get to my sit-down writing time in the afternoon…a sort-of home office on-the-go. Quite frankly, I’m not sure if I’m kidding about that or not.
An on-the-go home office apron. That makes a lot of sense for your busy homeschooling routine, Meghan. Very efficient. Your notebook and pen at your fingertips when you have a brainstorm thought in the middle of a lesson.
Great tips, Mary! I agree about the paper and pen. That’s where I keep my daily to-do list because otherwise, Pinterest and email will hijack my focus. 🙂
Yes, paper note taking avoids that irresistible force. 🙂
My to-do list is on a big whiteboard on my office wall, decided with seven spaces for the days of the week. I check things as I complete them, then erase them all at the end of the day. That always feels good.
Ooops! I meant to say divided, not decided. Spell check strikes again.
Janet, I imagine you swishing that eraser with great flair and personal satisfaction. Great way to end each day.
In answer to all of your questions: Coffee. 😉
Jaime, how could I forget to mention the special ingredient for a productive day: coffee. Thanks for catching that oversight. 🙂
Flair and personal satisfaction, oh yes! That’s what I get when I rip the page out of my purse-sized spiral at the end of the day. Nothing works like notes on paper for me. I feel the act of writing itself is food for my memory cells.
I hope I’m not annoying you by responding a day late.