Wednesday, July 5, 2017

IWSG: The Batching Edition... (#29)


Insecure Writers' Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blogAlex J. Cavanaugh.


This month's IWSG Question is, "What is one valuable lesson you've learned since you started writing?"

I'm sure I could go on about the valuable life lessons I've learned since becoming a serious writer, or even not-so-serious writer, ala The After School Special, but I feel like I would rather blog about something I have learned more recently that I feel is extremely valuable in the practical sense.

I've been trying to figure out how to organize my time in such a way so as to be more productive and get things done in a timely manner. Obviously, my writing productivity was needing a boost, most importantly, because I found simply squeezing in time to write everyday was not producing a whole lot of writing.

That sounds like it doesn't make sense, but it ended up being very true because I am quite the procrastinator. What I've discovered is that when I have an infinite amount of time to get something done, I will almost always choose to put it off for the next day. Only, the next day becomes the next week, then the next month, and sometimes even the next year.

I decided to not give myself so many days in the week to write anymore. That sounds kind of stupid, right? To experiment, I dedicated only three days to writing and I would just have to get all my week's worth of writing done in those few days, or I wouldn't be getting my writing done. Those other days were simply meant for other things. Turns out, that worked wonders for me!

I am getting so much writing done, it's amazing. I have to spend more time writing each of those three days, of course, but it's working in producing thousands of word-count days for me, which I never got done in any given day with my old system because I was squeezing in writing time, rather than letting myself have all night to write as much as I could for only three days during the week.

Funnily enough, I learned about this technique earlier this year and happened to recall learning it from Bryan Cohen, an indie author marketing guru, through his newsletter. He wrote about a productivity hack called "batching," where, instead of doing something a bit everyday, you give it a dedicated day for the week and get it all done, like catching up on email, reading, organizing your closet, whatever.

I didn't jump to try it out back when I first learned about it, but I ended up figuring out batching for myself. I use it now for everything, pretty much, and I am finally getting things done. Last year, I went off the rails and just allowed myself to get distracted by every little shiny thing, which resulted in virtually no writing, or planning of novels getting done, at all. I'm happy I've finally discovered something to battle the procrastination beast with because he was beginning to devour me whole!

Have you ever heard of "batching?" Have any productivity hacks you feel work amazingly well for you?

18 comments:

  1. For me, it's all about giving myself permission to take time out of my schedule to write. If I'm feeling guilty about not doing something that needs to be done, or ignoring my family, it doesn't matter how much I sit down and write. The words come too slowly. Having a dedicated block of guilt free time is where I accomplish the most productive writing.

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    1. Good to here, Ken. Blocking out time to get writing done seems very essential, however it can be accomplished.

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  2. If that's what works for you, rock on. Not everyone can write every day. And like you, if I have a whole free day, I'm probably going to just waste it doing something else.

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    1. I'm so bad a procrastinator, I have to streamline when things need to get done so they will get done. Too much free time means things will get put off forever.

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  3. I've never heard the term batching but it sounds pretty good to me! I use weekly word counts instead of daily and I end up writing a lot over a few days so the same idea. It works really well for me!
    Happy #IWSG DAY...

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    1. We all need a system that works for us! Thanks for stopping by. ;)

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  4. I never tried what you're doing but glad it's working for you. I definitely do not write every day though.

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    1. I recommend batching if you are prone to procrastination. It helps so much, but if you are good about getting things done on time, then it's probably not necessary.

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  5. That makes a whole lot of sense and I'm glad to hear it works for you. I actually do something very similar in my day job, assigning specific but arbitrary periods to get certain tasks done. When I have the whole week open to do them any time, they end up not getting done or rushed at the last minute.

    http://www.cdgallantking.ca/2017/07/strangely-funny-iv-release-iwsg-july.html

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    1. Sounds like I've found a fellow procrastinator! We have no choice but to do this sort of thing, or our work never gets done. C'est la vie....

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  6. This idea intriguies me! I could use this for so many things. I should try it. I'm glad it's working for you.

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    1. It's great for bad procrastinators! Give it a try. Can't hurt anything.

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  7. I have heard of that as a productivity tip--it sounds like a great idea for some. That's kinda how my husband works. He procrastinates and procrastinates, then pounds out a crapton of work in a short period of time.

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    1. We procrastinators must do what we must. At least there is hope for us!

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  8. I like the idea of reducing your week. Sounds kind of drastic in some sense, but I know I write more when my time is limited. It's such a common effect. Batching sounds good too - then you know it's properly done rather than half-done.

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    1. It does sound like a drastic thing to do and counterintuitive to be productive, but batching works because you don't give yourself unlimited time to waste. You do what needs to be done in a short time frame, utilizing all the time you truly need to get that thing done, no less, no more.

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  9. I haven't really heard of batching, the term, but I do that sometimes, particularly with emails and editing other people's work. Maybe I should consider it more with my own. Hmm...

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    1. It's notoriously used for email! I suppose it can be used for just about anything that needs a productivity boost.

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I would love to know what you think about this post! Leave me a comment. Thanks so much!

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