10 Ways To Increase Your Productivity

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books in lots of weird genres like fantasy (Blood of Kings and Kinsman Chronicles), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website. You can also try two of her fantasy novels for free here and here.

Feeling unproductive lately? Boy have I ever! To be fair, I did write a 250K book in eight months, not that it's done yet. (Now entering the editing stage...) But King's War was one of the most difficult books to crank out. Ever. Why? I pondered that a lot over the last eight months. The biggest obstacles against me getting that draft out sooner was a combination of my work schedule (or lack-thereof) and my work style, meaning I sat at the computer for far more hours than I actually worked. I Googled things. I Facebooked, Instagramed, and Tweeted. I checked my email. I bit my fingernails. I ate food. All while staring at the screen, wishing I was writing.

I felt I knew what was wrong, and I was mostly correct. I couldn't do much about it, though, because of life. There are things in life I can change and things I can't change. But I learned a lot though this experience, so I'm going to share it with you all.

1. Have a plan. When I set out to write a book, my plan goes something like this. I start by defining the book (ex: 100K medieval fantasy novel set in a new storyworld). Then I look at the calendar, things I have coming, and I set myself a loose deadline. Or if I sold this book idea to a publisher, they will set the deadline. So I have a genre, a word count goal, the general idea of a plot, and a deadline. I'm good to go.

2. Prepare. It's no secret that I am a storyworld first author. I can't start writing until I've done all my storyworld building and character development and some level of storyboarding or outlining. I also need to make a map and create a story bible document. I might also need some family trees or lists of characters and ranks. I might have to create some foreign language, so I'll have some sheets of paper with translations for reference. In this last book I had a list of characters with their titles, magical abilities, the name of their shadir (a creature) if they had one, and the names of their family members.

All this preparation might take me several months. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the writing process, but I cannot write productively until I have all this figured out.

3. Get organized. I print out a bunch of the stuff I created in number two. I need my map and important character lists nearby. I need my foreign translations! It's the worst to be writing a scene and have to stop and go look for something to help me get through it. Then I waste an hour looking. I try not to do that anymore. Instead, I will put a comment in the manuscript as a flag that the scene is missing important information. But I still have to find that sheet of paper later and then go back in and add it. If I am organized, I save time.

4. Set aside time to work deep. I've been reading the book Deep Work by Cal Newport, and it's fascinating. What is deep work you ask? Here is Cal's definition:

"Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way."

I've always been a multi-tasker. Multi-tasking produces a feeling of instant gratification that makes me happy. But Mr. Newport says that multi-tasking is actually bad for your brain! It deteriorates the muscle that helps a person focus for extended periods of time. Now, there is a time and place for multi-tasking says this mother of two. I try not to do work when my kids are at school or sleeping that I can do when they're home. For example, I can save the dishes until the kids are playing in the living room and do something more important when they're sleeping or at school, like writing my book! That's good use of my time. But when I do sit down at the computer, Mr. Newport suggests I set my sights on "immersive single tasking"—no distractions!

Writers have been doing this for centuries. It's the concept of going to that cabin in the woods to finish your book—a place where you can concentrate and not be disturbed. This is much more difficult when you're sitting at a computer that is connected to the internet. Or when you have your cell phone sitting right next to you with the notifications set so you can hear them. Any little distraction such as glancing at the phone to see if someone texted you breaks your concentration and impairs your ability to focus and complete the task you working on.

I'd like to add a caveat for us writers. Mr. Newport gives examples of taking an hour or two to work deep. And I think that's great for a lot of things—I can get things done in that kind of time. But I think most writers work best when they have at least three uninterrupted work days in a row. I might only write for two or three hours each day, but the consecutive days help keep my brain stay deeply immersed in my storyworld.

5. Set the timer. Use word wars/word sprints to help you. For example: Write as fast as you can for the next fifteen minutes with a goal of 500 words. Or a goal of 100 words in a half hour. Whatever goal works for you. Intense, focused work trains you in concentrating. This will help you be more productive faster. The reality is, you could learn to write so fast that you only need to work two hours a day! Then you would have more time in your day for others things.

6. Have a routine. I blogged about this a few weeks ago. The human brain likes routines. Click here to read that post.

7. Take breaks. If you have to write all day (or want to), great. But you need lots of breaks. I feel there are two types of breaks necessary to the productive writer. First you need periodic breaks to keep your body healthy. Use word sprints or word wars to help you know when to break, or set a timer and break every hour for five minutes. Get up from your chair and walk around, have a snack, stretch, whatever you need to do, then get back to work.

The other type of break is needed on a daily basis. This is a boredom break. A do-nothing break. Something you need for your mind to stay healthy. Go on a walk. Go sit on your porch for an hour and drink some lemonade. Go for a drive or a bike ride. Exercise. All this gives your brain some free time to think and recharge. And if you do this every day, you'll find yourself energized and inspired with new ideas.

8. Learn to say no. I wrote about this a few weeks ago too. It's super important to "protect the asset," as Greg McKeown says. Click here to read that post.

9. Limit (quit?) social media and television viewing. It's best to turn off the internet and hide those cell phones or tablets when you sit down to write. The internet and social media can be a terrible distraction. But the truth is, we waste our lives online and watching television. While these are different activities, they're both more screen time on your eyes (for us writers who are already looking at a screen all day), and they're both pretty much a waste of time. I can't imagine anyone on his death bed saying, "I wish I had spent more time on Twitter." Or, "My only regret is that I never got around to binge watching Merlin." *heavy sigh* It's fun to spend time on social media. And it's fun to watch television. But we were made to be with people, and we should do more of that in our off hours and certainly during work time!

10. Get enough sleep. This is so important and so neglected by many over-achievers. Not getting enough sleep is bad for you. Period. It's bad for your brain (impairs alertness, concentration, and reasoning). And it's bad for your health (weakens your immune system, which can increase your chances of getting sick; can lead to serious medical conditions like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes; and increases anxiety and depression). Getting enough sleep will keep you from burning out on life. It will help you make fewer mistakes and better decisions, both in life and in the story you are writing.

I have to point out that I wrote a post on a similar theme back in January, so there's proof for you that I've been struggling with this for a long time! If you're struggling too, here is the link to the post I wrote called 10 Ways to Get Something Done When You’re Feeling Unproductive, which you might also find helpful.

Are you a productive writer? Do any of these tips resonate with you? Do you have a tip that works for you that I missed? Share in the comments!