Scheduling Time a Great Writing Habit

Many years have passed since I read the advice in a book written by the keynote speaker at a writers’ conference. It was one of those nuts-and-bolts type collections, with the author’s insights on finances and other procedures for freelancers.

One that caught my attention was about planning your day. In addition to making a list of tasks, he advised noting how much time would be needed to complete each one.

I tried it, but wasn’t ready to receive his tip.

“I felt like somebody was standing over my shoulder, watching me like a hawk,” I told a friend one day at lunch. “I just went back to making a list of six to eight jobs for the day. That was good enough for me.”

Well, not really.

Righting the Ship

Much later, I started a new year with a mountain of misery. A year earlier, I had lost several jobs that had generated $1,600 in monthly revenue. I also completed a book project that I had cash-flowed at $500 a month. This was all considerable money at that time.

Although I had landed a pair of projects that offset $1,800 of those losses, one only lasted six months. Consequently, I struggled constantly all year.

So, as the calendar turned and I tried to figure out how to right the ship, the Lord brought something to mind: a planning spreadsheet I had downloaded earlier.

The consultant who attached it to an email said he planned everything, including a break to pick up his child after school.

Now, his spreadsheet covered an entire year. I re-saved it as a one-month plan. Then I set up my plan for the current week.

This helped me appreciate one of my inherent weaknesses: wanting to finish an entire assignment before moving on to the next task.

Such a regimen is mentally draining. One of the consultant’s practices: limiting his time on any one task to two hours a day.

Taking Smaller Bites

I followed his advice and broke assignments into smaller bites. That gave me the confidence that I could keep moving a variety of projects along. And, without getting too wrung out by spending most of a day on an individual task.

This especially helped me with a feature story, when I learned that one person I needed to interview was in Florida for two weeks—and no, he didn’t use a cell phone.

Having talked with everyone else for the project, I started the draft and left a space for his comments. Then I set the thing aside for more than a week, something I struggled to do previously.

When he returned and we connected, I completed the story. In fact, I turned it in a week before the deadline.

This practice particularly came in handy when I tackled much longer features. Scheduling sessions allowed me to keep moving without sweating an approaching deadline.

Solid Results

Two things happened after I adjusted my writing and editing schedule:

• A couple of months later, my business took off.

It started with an unexpected offer to edit a book for a business consultant in the Boston area.

Using the two-hours-a-day routine, I gradually edited his material over three months. Being more organized with scheduling made me ready to handle more work too. I don’t think it’s an accident that more arrived in the ensuing months.

• Over five years, my revenue increased 70%.

Lest you think I’m some kind of financial wizard, I didn’t even realize this until after it happened. One doesn’t have to be brilliant to benefit from good advice.