SACHA BLACK

productivity

The Productivity Problem #MondayBlogs #Amwriting

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Original Photo by Craig Garner on Unsplash

I had all these plans. Plans for my second non-fiction book to be about heroes or maybe characters more generally.

But like Lennon said,

“Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” 

And no matter what I do, it’s not characters I’m thinking about. It’s productivity. I mean, just two weeks ago, I wrote about productivity and Cal Newport’s book Deep Work.

I guess now I understand the phrase write what you know. Productivity is where my focus is at, so writing about anything else is proving difficult. [Read more…] about The Productivity Problem #MondayBlogs #Amwriting

5 Tips To Write More In Less Time #MondayBlogs

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Original Photo by Freddy Castro on Unsplash

I don’t believe in miracles or luck. I believe in hard graft, grit, a ton of sweat and the 70,000 words of baking time needed to make a book.

So until I either win the lottery or publish and sell enough books I can replace my salary, I’m pretty sure I will live in a constant state of unhinged mania and excessive perspiration.

It also means I constantly seek out new ways to make myself as productive as possible. ‘Efficiency’ is my middle name… mostly, when I’m not, you know, procrastinating in the time swallowing beast that is social media.

Now book 1 is done, released in the big scary world, I thought the burning desire to publish books would wither, or at least simmer down momentarily. But instead, I pressed published and it was like throwing uranium on my already lit book-flamethrower.

The knowledge that I can do it, has only fuelled my insatiable need to do it. In a way, I guess I’m a fifteen-year-old book-boy who just had his first shag and now he can’t get enough of getting his leg over the publish button.

But that provides me with a problem. I don’t have any more time in my day. I’ve given up everything, including my poor neglected wife. Which means I need to find a way to be more productive. I need to find a way to write faster or achieve that euphoric state of ‘flow’ quicker.

I’ve just read a book that blew my mind. And I want to share some of the things I’ve learned about time, productivity and output.

[Read more…] about 5 Tips To Write More In Less Time #MondayBlogs

3 Tactics to Make You a More Productive Writer

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Image of a laptop, coffee and phoneIf you want a career writing, then you need to be productive. Not just productive, but prolific. Here are three quick tips to help you be a more productive writer.

Do you ever sit down at your desk/sofa/perch of perpetual word-vomiting midnight visiting coffee guzzling glory with the full intention of having an awesome writing session, only to look up at the clock, see it’s 11 pm and realize you’ve written the sum total of, fuck all?

Yeh, me too. I need to be a more productive writer.

But I’m trying to change that. After a catastrophic month in which I managed approximately three WIP words, I’ve decided next month has to change.

I gots me some books to write, people. Wasting a month, no matter how many of those hours were spent on important things, just ain’t good enough.

But I don’t want to just write faster. Me writing faster looks like a garbled shitstorm of gobbledycrap. And that’s less helpful than a delete button on steroids.

Instead, I’m approaching this tactically and I thought I’d share the tricks I’m implementing with you. [Read more…] about 3 Tactics to Make You a More Productive Writer

10 Life Hacks For The Efficient Writer

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Life Hacks

Do you ever need just five more minutes in your day? Maybe you want to edit another post, or write a short, or a piece of flash for a competition. But you just don’t seem to have enough time. I’m writing this post, because I always need more time. I’m pretty good at being efficient. But I could be better. I know I could squeeze another half hour out my day. But how when I’m a busy worker bee, mother, wife, friend, chef, cleaner…. Etc etc?! [Read more…] about 10 Life Hacks For The Efficient Writer