Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Write from go to whoa: end procrastination for good

When I mentor new freelance writers, I remind them that everything takes longer when you’re starting out. You’re learning. Within a month or two, you’ll complete a task which previously took you an hour in ten minutes.

When you’re a new writer, you’re learning as you’re earning

I wish I were a new writer today—I envy you, because you can earn while you learn. Hop onto one of the freelance marketplaces, and start bidding. Alternatively, get your own freelance gigs by sending pitches.

Once you’ve got a gig or two, it’s time to complete them, so you can move on to the next gig.

Start with this workflow: customize it to make it your own.

Read the article, and use the workflow to end procrastination.

 

Getting Things Done for Writers (new series)

I'm a huge fan of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) process.

It's been  beneficial to me as a writer, because it gives me confidence that I'll be able to manage my dozens of projects and hundreds of tasks. All I need to do is ask myself: "What's my next action?"

Over the years that I've been working with GTD, my understanding of it has grown, but what's amazing to me is that my understanding of myself has grown at the same time. I'm more relaxed, and inspired.

GTD is valuable for all writers. If you're using it in some form, I hope you'll share your own thoughts, ideas and insights in this new series.

Let's get started by thinking about the Weekly Review.

The Weekly Review: Relax and Think
I'm using OmniFocus, which makes the Weekly Review relatively painless. But I admit I tended to skim projects and actions. My "review" was a Weekly Glance, rather than a real review.

Then I found this concept, which has helped me to look at the Weekly Review in a new way. Now my review is a real review, and I look forward to it.

"How I learned to be my own assistant and love the GTD Weekly Review" offers this:

... the Weekly Review... is a time to reflect, and not do. Now when I do my Weekly Review, I treat it as a real meeting with a real assistant. When I frame the weekly review as a session, during which I get to delegate to an assistant (rather than figuring out what I need to do) then it takes on a liberating quality instead of feeling like another should. I suppose you could really file this approach under “acting as if,” but whatever you want to call it, it works for me. When I’m delegating to someone, I have to be very clear as to what I want them to do. I can’t vaguely say “Work on the Thompson Project.” I need to give that person specific tasks to accomplish. Tasks that I can review with them the following week in order to determine how much progress has been made.

I love this idea, and it works for me. Rather than feeling that every action I add is another weight on my shoulders, I "delegate."

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Are you a GTD fan? How do you manage your Weekly Review?

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