Heaven only knows that being writers, we can all procrastinate. Anyway, rather than postponing the actual writing of this article by meandering around with words, let me get to it for you. Here are three tips to apply starting today to begin to postpone writing procrastination:

1. Clean off your desk. You might think that this is actually a way to procrastinate, and it can be. What I am suggesting here though is the idea that when it is time to write, you have a cleaned-off surface. Depending on where you write, this may be the surface of your desk or it could be the space around your computer. A clean and clear desk eliminates many distractions, with those distractions being the last thing you need when you are trying to avoid procrastination so that you can write.

2. Notice when you are messing around and only pretending to write. I will make the assumption that you are an adult and that you have the executive control functions required to be a productive grown-up. Given that fact, you know perfectly well when you are fiddling around and not writing.I am sure you could list all kinds of “pretend” writing that you do. Tinkering with margins, changing fonts, tracing back over words on a pad, making sure all your pencils are sharpened…you know what I mean. Call yourself on these behaviors and get back to writing.

3. Sit down. Maybe you don’t need this tip, but when I was a professor, I could not believe the number of people who would stand out in the hall or wander around the office area talking about how much they needed to write and complaining that the publication expectations were too high, etc., etc., etc. It was all I could do not to go out into the hall and suggest (nicely, of course), that they might want to get their rear ends into chairs and start writing instead of standing around talking about writing. Recently, Chris Clarke-Epstein said she had heard a quote (so I guess this is hearsay), that if you are hoping the Muse is going to visit when you write, it’s best if the Muse knows where to find you. So sit down and let the Muse know you are available for inspiration.

All three of these tips work in conjunction with each other. This means that if you have one of these under control, it will help you with the other three. So, which one will you start with – right now? No procrastinating, please.

Title your set of tips, e.g., “Top Ten Productivity Tips to Help You _________.”

Write an introduction. Your introduction can be one sentence or a full paragraph. It’s just a little introductory piece that prepares everyone for the tips you have written. For example, “You know how you always wonder about this…” or “If you’ve ever had this happen and you’ve tried to figure out if there are any solutions, well, here are 10 tips for…”. All you need to do is just give the reader a little bit of an intro so that he/she doesn’t just see your title and then Tip 1, Tip 2. People like just the tiniest bit of preparation, that is so that they think, Oh, here’s what I’m about to read about.” So one sentence up to about a paragraph is usually plenty.

Write your tips. This is what people are there to read, i.e., your top ten productivity tips for ______. And if you are wondering “Now, how long do these need to be?” the answer is, “It depends.” It might be a short, bulleted list. Other times, you may have a tip and then an explanatory sentence or two. That is up to you and generally depends on whether you need or want to add more explanation (or even examples). Remember, however, that even though you could talk about the information in some of your tips for about 16 pages, people were attracted to your list or article because they saw the word “tips.” They are looking for something quick. If you are writing for the web, know that people are more likely to read what you have written if it shows up on their screen without a great deal of scrolling. If they choose to print it in order to have the information handy, they often like the tips to print in one, no more than two, pages. So you want to keep it reasonably succinct.

Write your closing. Write a sentence or paragraph (which follows the tips) that provides some kind of a closing idea. This is where you are just pulling your ideas together for your reader. You could make a recommendation for a book by writing, “One of the good resources I’ve read to learn more about this was…” and you would just put the name of a book in there. That might be your closing. Or, you could summarize the ideas in a sentence or two. Another way of pulling it all together is writing a ‘call to action’ for your readers to implement one or more of the ideas you have shared with them in your article or blog post.

Create a resource box/contact information section: Lastly, you will need to have what is called your “resource box.” Realize that at the end of your tips, you want to let people know who you are, what you do, and how they can get in touch with you to learn more. There are MANY ways of setting these up depending on who will be reading your tips and what your overall purpose is for sharing your ideas. The main idea to keep in minds is that you want to provide an invitation to readers to make contact.

Now get started generating lists of ten productivity tips (or whatever number of ideas you are ready to share). Use the structure of this article to help you get those ideas into a format so that you can help others.

And if you would like a venue for sharing your Top Ten Productivity Tips, then feel free to access

** http://toptenproductivitytips.com/ContributorInfo.php

It’s a great new project and you can be part of it! I look forward to reviewing what you’ve written and sharing it with a global audience!

There is no perfect time to write. There’s only now.  ~Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver’s quote applies to a variety of your projects including:

writing, studying, completing budgets, preparing for meetings, creating presentations, sending thank you notes, calling to set up appointments, and to so many other tasks, commitments, and responsibilities that you have both professionally and personally. 

You can apply it to any particular area of your work or personal life, but I’ll illustrate it by applying it first to your physical and email in-box.

It’s possible that you have looked at a piece of paper from your mail and thought, ‘I need to sign this and send it back,’ or ‘Hmmm, this looks interesting. I think I’ll send in a check so I can attend.’ However, instead of immediately signing and sending, or writing a check and mailing, you drop the items back into your in-box or pile to “do later.” 

Reread the quote:  “There is no perfect time to write.  There’s only now.”  How about signing and sending the paper back or writing the check so you can attend – and doing those things now, while you are pulling the items from your in-box?  Certainly, don’t read through them, think about what you want to do and then just plunk them back in the in-box where you can go through that whole process again.  Yikes – what a time and mental-energy waster.

With email, the delaying tactic is quite similar.  If you’re a teacher, you might open an email from a parent, read it, mentally know what your response is, but then you don’t type it and send it. Somehow you think that if you wait, you’ll be able to respond more professionally/cleverly/personally. You think “I need my gradebook before I can answer this email” but even though your gradebook is fewer than 20 steps away, you don’t get it and respond to the parent. Instead, you go on to the next email where the process may be repeated.

You have mentally “acted upon” each of these items, but in reality, nothing occurred. Of course, the next time you sit down to look at your email, all those items are still sitting there, waiting for you to process them again… And the parent who sent you the email is complaining to everyone within earshot that you don’t respond to your email. What an incredible waste of time, energy, and intellect.

You will not find the “perfect” time to handle routine tasks that show up in your physical or electronic in-box.  Wait, yes you will – it’s now.  Try it and see what a relief it is to do so.  Keep applying it to other projects and tasks, too.  You will be more peacefully productive before you know it!

And if you would like many more tips to help you keep moving forward on your goals for more peaceful productivity, then you’re invited to join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (and see what is available for download at no cost at the following websites):

**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay (http://www.KeepingChaosatBay.com)

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!

This is a great book, especially if you are considering writing a novel.  HOWEVER, and it’s a big however, I recommend it regardless.  I am certainly not writing a novel and I have learned a great deal from reading this book. 

If you love having books arrive FAST, be sure to sign up for Amazon Prime…free 2-day shipping for one flat rate each year (and you can have 4 family members all using it.  Such a bargain for those of us who want books NOW vs. later!)

http://hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-find-er-make-time-to-write.html

I happen to think this guy (who is half my age) is amazing…so smart and so in-touch as a very young person.

FIND/MAKE time to write.

Meggin | 8/16/08