One reader wrote that they struggled with, "Making time for the administration work: editing, marketing, social media."
Another put it a little differently: their main challenge
was "figuring out the best mix of work session types, such as: writing new material, editing drafts, researching the market for agents, planning travel arrangements, planning renovations to my home, doing weekly social media content for the blog, doing accounting/tax tasks...how to balance it all? Or maybe just how to let myself do what I feel like, and not feel guilty, since it'll all get done in the time it should?
:)"
Here's the (slightly brutal!) truth.
Chances are, you're never going to feel like you have a perfect balance between writing and everything else.
Earlier this week, I was looking forward to the idea of retiring in 40 years because then, just maybe, I will be able to clear my to-do list. ;-) (Though judging by all the busy retired folks I know, I think that might be a bit
optimistic too...)
Here are three things you can do to get a bit closer to finding a balance:
Step #1: Have a "Writing Comes First" Rule
This means two things:
- Writing is your priority. Everything else (marketing, social media, filing) comes secondary to that. Yes, those things may well be important, but they can wait their turn.
- Ideally, your
writing happens before your other work crowds in. Depending on your schedule, that might mean you get up early to write before you head out to your day job, or you sit down and write once you get home from dropping the kids at school, or you write after dinner before tackling chores.
Step #2: Batch Similar Tasks Together
Where possible, it's generally more efficient to tackle tasks as a
"batch" rather than individually. (Just as it's more efficient to cook four portions of chilli at once, rather than one at a time.)
You might batch together tasks like:
- Coming up with ideas – try coming up with 20 or more ideas for blog posts every few weeks, then you'll always have one ready when you want to sit down and write.
- Creating plans or outlines for blog posts – I often do several at a time, before I start drafting: that way, I can stay in
"planning" mode for longer.
- Emails – set regular times of day to check and process emails, rather than doing them as they come in.
- Social media updates – I write these ahead of time in Buffer, rather than creating them when the whim strikes.
- Phone calls – if, like me, you hate making calls, it can be easiest to get them all over in one go!
Step #3: Distinguish Between "Work Admin" and "Household
Admin"
While the lines can be pretty darn blurry if you work for yourself and/or work from home, ideally, you want to separate tasks related to your writing from tasks related to your domestic environment.
For me, this means keeping two separate lists in Nozbe (my to-do list manager), one called "Work Admin" and one called "Household Admin". It also means trying to set aside different times of day for different tasks: I do work
admin in work hours and household admin around the kids and in the evenings.
(I am FAR from perfect at keeping things in their correct time slots, but I do find it's easier when I manage to keep work and household tasks mostly separate.)
So, if your admin list looks like "writing new material, editing drafts, researching the market for agents, planning travel arrangements, planning renovations to my home, doing weekly social media
content for the blog, doing accounting/tax tasks..." then you might want to separate that out:
Priority writing work:
- Writing new material
- Editing drafts
Work admin:
- Researching the market for agents
- Doing weekly social media content for the blog
- Doing accounting/tax tasks
Household admin:
- Planning travel arrangements (unless these are
work related, e.g. writing conferences)
- Planning renovations to my home
Then, make a conscious decision about when in your day/week you're going to tackle different types of tasks. For instance, you could:
- Write and/or edit in the mornings, when you're feeling at your most focused.
- Tackle work admin in the afternoons.
- Save household admin for evenings and
weekends.
Quick note: Some people do thrive on a "just do what I feel like" approach to time management. If that works for you, go for it – you may well find it's an efficient and energetic way to work. If you like at least some structure, you might want to try having one day each week that's a "do what I feel like" day, where you simply pick the tasks that you most want to
accomplish.
As I say, you're (sadly!) unlikely to find a perfect state of balance. There'll always be more you could do. What matters is that you're getting your writing done ... and that you're enjoying it. :-)
Got a writing-related question you'd like me to cover in the newsletter? Just hit "reply" to send it to
me.
