Organize and Thrive

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Periodically the books, random papers and magazines pour into my office. After a while they stack up and I have to stop some activities and spend time organizing and throwing. If I don't organize, then I find the mess will will overwhelm me. I will get stalled and unable to function and be productive. Do you ever have this experience or feeling in your own writing life?

 

In the last several months, I've traveled to three live events and while this change of pace is welcomed, it does interrupt my schedule, normal reading pattern and ability to process things that come into my mailbox and inbox. Things tend to stack up and fall behind.

 

My physical mailbox and my inbox often involve exchanges which provide opportunities for exposure (marketing) and making money. These opportunities do not happen without clear communication with the other person and a steady stream of communication. Sometimes I can handle these issues on the road but on other occasions I have to be sitting in my office on my desktop computer. Your skill to organize your computer files, your desk, your bookshelves and much more is a critical part of this process. Your organization system will be different from mine. If you don't have a plan or system for these areas of your work, then I encourage you to create one.

 

As a writer, we have multiple projects in motion and need to keep it organized to be able to move forward. For example, at a recent writer's conference, I promised some people that I would send them a piece of information. At the time, I made a little note about this promise on their business card, then when I got home I sent through these cards and followed-up and handled these various situations. Do you have a plan in place to handle these types of situations? If you do follow through, you will be one of the few who do it and it is a way to standout and enhance your reputation in the publishing world.  Yes, it is that simple to standout.

 

As my files, desk and other areas of my office are better organized, I can increase my production and what I accomplish each day. If it is disorganized and I have to spend a bunch of time to locate something, that is a poor use of my limited time and energy. Each of us have limited time and energy whether we realize it or not. Just so you know I am not obsessive about organization and still have areas of my office which are disorganized but in general, I have a good handle on where things are and how to move things forward. I understand that increased organization will help me to be more focused and thrive in the days ahead.

 

How are your organization skills? Do you have some insights for us? Let me know in the comments below.

 

 Other Blogs With My Recent Writing:

 

As I've mentioned in these entries, I regularly write articles for other blogs. Here's some of those recent articles:

For the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference blog: Build A Body of Writing Work

For Writers on the Move: Why I'm Still Blogging (and You Should be too)

 

For Almost An Author: Four Ways to Support Other Writers

 

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Organize and thrive is the counsel from this prolific editor and author. Get his insights and the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Does your fiction or nonfiction book have a business plan? Every type of book needs a proposal—even if you self-publish. Get this resource. 

Advantages to Being Organized

 

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 

It is true confession time. I tend to be a bit of a “pack rat” (which my wife can affirm). For example, I save magazines. Recently I sorted through a large stack of Publishers Weekly—which arrives every week. I saved a few issues but most of them I tossed and it felt great to get more organized.  Through the years I've learned that being organized saves time and stress. If I need something, if I've organized it and put it in its place, then I can easily reach the particular item. Otherwise I waste time searching for it. Admittedly it is easier to put it in a pile—but that is not a productive action.

 

In the past, I used to create little piles of paper and other things to be filed. My wife would come to my office and wonder how I could accomplish anything since I was surrounded with piles (and it looked chaotic). I've learned the hard way that it's better to process and organize as I work and it makes it easier to find something as well as takes care of it in a timely manner. It also helps my focus because I work in an orderly and neat environment instead of chaos. Now I'm not obsessive compulsive about the order but it is a regular part of my daily activities.

 

There are an endless area of places that need to be organized: books, magazines, articles, conference information, book projects, book pitches and proposals from authors and much more. Some of this material is physical and in my office. Other elements are electronic and I need to be able to access them easily on my computer.

 

I suggest you tackle organizing different areas at different times. Maybe one day you organize a single drawer in your desk then the next day you work on organizing your books. One of the ways you keep from being overwhelmed is to do it a little at a time. With my books, I have my reference books in one place and my how-to-write books in a different area. I don't have my books organized alphabetically (like one of my publishing colleagues used to do). I do have an area on my shelves where I keep the majority of my autographed books. I have another area on my bookshelves where I keep new books that I am reading and reviewing. I encourage you to organize your books in a way which will work for you and your work habits. As you organize, the books will be easier to locate. For example, I have several writing how-to books about contracts and others about marketing or publicity. I group these books together so they can be easily used.

 

After you get the material organized, it is important and generally easy to maintain this order. If you don't do maintenance, then the paperwork and other things can easily stack up and bounce you right back to where you started organizing. The organized writer is a productive writer and gets things done and meets deadlines. If you don't have this skill, I encourage you to learn it and implement it in your writing life.

  

From my experience in publishing, if you are organized, it will save you time, stress and effort. What other steps are you taking to be organized? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Productive Writers Are Organized

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

During my years in publishing, I have been through many different changes. At times, I've been a pack rat saving all sorts of things gathered in piles in my office. I've interviewed more than 150 authors and saved interview tapes. I've written many books and saved various versions of the manuscript and all sorts of things—many of them unnecessary. There is a basic principle that I've learned: the more chaotic my working space—the less productive I become. The chaos weighs on my writing.

When we move, this situation often helps me. Especially when you use a moving van and pay for the weight, it makes you review everything to see if it comes with you or you give it away or toss it. Especially when we moved from eight years in Arizona a while back, I tossed a lot of things I was keeping. Over the years I kept complete magazines of the different articles I had written. That amounted to boxes of magazines. In some ways, I wish I had taken the time to scan those articles (which I didn't) so they got tossed. But to be honest, I don't need those articles.

These days I'm much better organized in my office space and also electronically. I've discovered the increased organization has a number of benefits:

1. You are in touch with your priorities and meeting deadlines (large and small one). The majority of writers miss their deadlines. I've been the editor they call for extensions with their excuses. In book publishing when you set a deadline for a contract, it sets off a chain of events inside the publishing house that writers never see—but are critical to the success of the book and its release. When you ask for additional time, you disrupt that schedule—and unknowingly affect the sales of your book (which you will not know or experience until months later). It's not a wise step to extend your deadline and instead set realistic ones you can achieve from the beginning. Again it harkens back to organization—the theme of this article.

2. You can easily find projects and pieces of paper and bits of information. As an editor and writer, you would be surprised at the random emails and phone calls I get from my colleagues asking about some book or author. If I am organized, then I can often give a quick answer. If I am not organized, then I have to take time to dig for it (which could consume a lot of time).

3. You take a few minutes here and there to keep things organized and you will be much more productive and accomplish more in a single day than in the disorganization.

It is not easy to be organized in my view and takes continual effort and work—but the payoff is worth it. I have much more work to be done in this area but my encouragement to you with your writing life is to continue to this organizational effort. Once everything gets organized an in place, it takes continued vigilance and maintenance to keep it that way. If you ignore it, the piles of paper and disorganization tends to grow and get out of control again—or so has been my experience.

How does organization play into your writing life? What tips can you give us? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Increase Producivity. Get Organized.

As I get older, I'm more aware each of us have the same amount of time in every day. We have a lot of information and opportunity coming our direction. How do we harness these opportunities and increase our effectiveness? One important aspect is to get organized and keep organized.

If I take an honest look at myself, I tend to be a bit of a pack rat. I save magazines, articles I might write some day, books people have sent to read and review, manuscripts and proposals I've been handed at conferences, and the list goes on. This material can easily flood my office and pile up. During the last few weeks, I have been vigilant about sorting, filing and throwing most of this accumulation. At the moment, I'm much more organized than I have been during other periods.

Take Time to Eliminate & Organize Clutter

For me, it is a matter of taking a hard look at what has accumulated and asking if I will ever need this again. Most of the time that answer is “no” and I can throw it. Or can I quickly store some needed information such as an email address or phone on my computer where I can search and easily access it in the future? You can increase your effectiveness and productivity if you have less right in front of you to handle.

Use Your Smartphone Effectively

Often I meet writers who have a smartphone but only use it as a phone—and little else. Whether you are aware of it or not, you have a powerful communication device that you carry. Take the time to use various features. For example, I use the calendar to remind me of meetings and phone calls. I use the reminders section to call to my attention critical deadlines.

I also use my smartphone to post on social media. For example, I use Hootsuite to time out my posts for several social platforms. For Facebook at the moment, I post them myself using my phone. It is not the most efficient way to do it (as I know) but it does get done. 

Also I use my smartphone to quickly answer some important emails when I'm away from my office. Just a brief answer shows the other person you got it and responded. Use your phone as an effective communication tool.

If you don't know how to use these aspects of your smartphone, then take the time to learn. You can even take free classes at the Apple Store (which I have done).

Be Aware of the Time Zappers

I regularly hear from writers who spend hours scrolling through Facebook then wonder where they lost part of their day. Or they binge watch a television program or spend time at a bookstore browsing. None of these things are wrong or bad in themselves but increase your awareness of how you are using your time can help you be more effective.

Create a System to Achieve Over and Over

If there is something you need to accomplish over and over, I recommend you create a habit to accomplish it. Just writing 20 to 30 minutes a day on a project can continue to move it forward toward completion. Or set a word count for your writing then do it repeatedly. People wonder how I keep up with my social media. It's pretty simple. I've created a system where I do the functions over and over (with many different purposes and reasons).

 I still have things slip through the cracks and doesn't get done. For example, several days ago I got an email reminder the judging sheets for a contest are due right away. Yes I knew I was judging this contest and had the material for it but wasn't aware of the exact due date. I handled it and met the deadline. Each of us have these types of things which slip into our day and need to get done.

What steps are you taking to get organized and increase your productivity? Let me know in the comments below.

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Five Ways to Organize Your Writing

Over my writing life, I've written in many cluttered and noisy places—but it is not my preference or where I do my best creative work. For example, with my journalism training, I have written in busy noise editorial offices where everyone is pounding on their own keyboard right next to each other. The distractions are incredible in these situations. Some of my friends haul their laptop to a coffee shop and write.

I've discovered I do some of my best creative work when my environment is organized. Yes some writers use organization as a method of procrastination. They sharpen their pencils and other such tasks to put off getting their hands on the keyboard and writing words. If I take time to get organized, I've discovered my writing is more focused and less distracted and I become more productive.

1. Clarify your current goals. What are you attempting to write and how are you moving forward to accomplishing those goals? If you aim at nothing, you will be certain to hit it. Take a few minutes to write down and clarify what you are trying to accomplish then plan the steps to get that done. Maybe you need to set a specific amount of words you are going to write every day on a project so it gets moving ahead. Or maybe you need to create a little chart of your word count game plan then cross it off with each accomplishment. Organizing your goals and plans then moving ahead is a key part of the process. Use this link to get a more detailed handout from a workshop I teach. 

2. Reduce clutter in your office. Over the years, I've written more than 800 reviews on Amazon. This link is my public Amazon profile. Several times a day, I will receive emails from people who want me to read their book and write a review. Also in the mail, I get Advanced Reader Copies and review copies of books that authors and publishers want me to read and write reviews. In the last few months, the books have poured into my office and are currently overflowing my bookshelves and becoming clutter and somewhat chaos. I sort through the books and get my reading plans organized.

3. Expand your network and opportunities. Do you have unanswered email? Or phone calls that you have not returned? Instead of seeing it as a burden, you can view these emails and phone calls as an expansion of your network and new opportunities. It is often through the follow-up and follow-through that things will happen for you. I encourage you to continue meeting new people and expanding your writing network.

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4. Carry out what you've promised. One of the keys in the writing life is to complete what you've promised to complete. I have incomplete manuscripts and proposals and projects which have not been finished. An old proverb says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The good news is you can pick up projects which you didn't finish, make a new effort and get them done.

5. Look at new directions for your writing. Every writer needs to continually work at diversifying your income. Whatever is working now for you, may not be working in six months or a year. I've learned the hard way to create different income streams. Then when one slows or stops, you are not in a panic but able to quickly transition to something else. 

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Several years ago, I interviewed Robert W. Bly (Bob Bly) who has created an active online information business.  I encourage you to listen to this free interview (follow the link or click the image) and download the free Ebook, then take action to read and begin to create your own products. Or maybe your writing is headed in a different direction. Create and execute your game plan for this direction.

OK, there you have my five ways to organize your writing. Let me know in the comments, the action steps you are taking for your writing life. Maybe you have other ideas for us. I look forward to seeing them.
 
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