Here is a little bit about Lindsey. What a list of accomplishments!
Award-winning writer Lindsey P. Brackett once taught middle grades literature, but now she writes her own works in the midst of motherhood. A blogger since 2010, she has published articles and short stories in a variety of print and online publications In both 2015 and 2017, she placed in the top ten for Southern Writers Magazine Best Short Fiction. Previously, Lindsey served as Editor of Web Content for the Splickety Publishing Group, and currently she is a general editor with Firefly Southern Fiction, an imprint of LPC Books. In addition, she writes a popular column for several North Georgia newspapers.
Today on the Alley, Lindsey shares her thoughts on Time Management for the Writer with a Life. And boy can we use this, right?
Time Management for the Writer with a Life
People crack me up when
they ask how I “do it all.” I’m pretty sure if these same people were a fly on
my wall, they’d a) have full run of the house because I’m too busy to buy a fly
swatter and b) realize pretty quickly, I’m definitely not doing it all.
What I am doing is a lot
of little things that take up a lot of precious time. Some of these things help
fund my writing. Some of these things help keep my sanity. A few of these
things are because I’m still unable to use the word no to my best advantage.
And all the
people-pleasers just whispered amen.
However, as my career
grows, so do my commitments. I launched a book last month and suddenly social
media, marketing, and networking have become black vortexes of time. I’ll sit
at my computer for three hours, look up and realize I only accomplished one or
two items on my Bullet Journal daily task list. (Canva is the culprit, I’m
sure.)
I’m realizing pretty
quickly I can’t go through life chained to my computer. There’s a time for “butt
in chair, hands on keyboard”—and there’s a time for scrolling and posting and
sharing. There’s also a time for walking and reading and cooking and showering.
The trick is to realize: your time does
not manage you. You manage your time.
I like to work in big
chunks, so as my needs migrate, I’m muddling through a new system. I’m
constantly self-evaluating, and I’m having to remind my task list that this
thirty minutes of self-reflection is going to help me work more efficiently in
the future.
Here are three questions to ask yourself as you
manage your time:
1.
When do I feel most creative?
2.
What finished tasks bring me joy?
3.
What’s my return on investment (ROI)?
I’m at my most creative
in the early morning hours, so right now I’m using those to work through my WIP
and get it ready to send to my editor. I love teaching and connecting with
other writers, so I’m changing some of my social media focus to allow time for
engagement, rather than only sharing. I’m looking at my marketing techniques
and putting my money into passive streams that make sales, but my time into
places where I actually get to connect with readers, like libraries and
bookstores.
We can all agree, as
writers, we’re doing so much more than crafting stories. But I think we can
also learn from and support one another so that venturing out into this
beautiful busy place doesn’t have to be quite so intimidating. Don't you?
Here is Lindsey's debut novel!!
Here is Lindsey's debut novel!!
Still Waters, influenced by her family ties to the South Carolina Lowcountry, is her debut novel. A story about the power of family and forgiveness, it’s been called “a brilliant debut” with “exquisite writing.” A Georgia native, Lindsey makes her home—full of wet towels, lost library books, and strong coffee—at the foothills of Appalachia with her patient husband and their four rowdy children.
For more information about Lindsey and her writings:
Wow, Lindsey. Thanks for those amazing time management tips! We loved having you here on the Alley and pray God's blessing on your debut novel.
Do you have any questions for Lindsey?
If not, please leave her an encouraging word.
Lindsey, this is good stuff and so true. I am also involved in the newspaper business (what's left of it). I recently retired from a 30-year career as a beat reporter. Still freelancing to two papers because you need a little something on the side these days and it keeps me sharp.
ReplyDeleteTime management has always been a hobby of mine, I read everything I can get my hands on and can't wait for the planners to come out in the stationery aisle each year! My writing plan is based on something I read by Pamela Redmond Satran years ago. She said she always did her fiction first, when she was fresh, and then worked on her nonfiction, which was paying the bills at the time. Both are art forms and both demand a mastering of craft, but fiction demands it in a special way, and she recognized that. So I set my first block of time at the computer as my fiction time, and then I catch up on the nonfiction in the second block.
BTW, I had a weekly personal experience column when my children were in middle school and high school, and it was very rewarding. For me, not for them, they were frequently embrarrassed. I remind them that they should be glad they grew up before Social Media, when young moms feel compelled to record everything, including toilet training, for the amusement of their friends. What an age we live in...
Thanks for sharing.
Kathy Bailey
Probably the best tip on time management I ever got was to do what only YOU can do first. Be a wife to YOUR husband, be a mother to YOUR children, write YOUR book. Work God's plan for YOU. And then fit everything else around the edges, or not at all.
ReplyDeleteKB
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI had such a fun time getting to know you at the Blue Ridge Conference and am so excited to have you here on the Writer's Alley! Welcome!
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteGreat comments! And yeah, that social media is gonna make today's babies embarrassed for their weddings!!.
Doing fiction at the time when one is wide awake and sharp is so true. The creative juices just sizzle!
I love your trick: Time doesn’t manage you, you manage your time. I work a stressful full-time job and tend to waste time in the evenings because I am exhausted. I need to learn to manage my time in a way where I’m at my creative best.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you are using passive streams of marketing. What is that? I’ve never heard that term befor.
Thanks for being at the Alley!!!
Hi Sherrinda! Basically passive marketing is something that's continually keeping my book in the streams but that I'm not actively posting everyday. My publisher has seen good results with Ask David which is a book promotion service for twitter. And I bought a couple static ads on well traveled sites. It's a learning process!
DeleteLove how similar our approaches are Kathy! I block out the fiction time and the do the bill work too!
ReplyDelete