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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3 Ways to Read More Books

Thousands of new books are published every day.  No one can keep up. Yes, you can take speed-reading courses and other things but even then, the sheer volume of new books makes it impossible. In this article, I want to give three ways that I'm using to add more focused reading into my life. I'm always learning about books. I use these methods to acquire and read books.

1. Learn to Use Your Public Library

It is not practical to purchase every new book. I find many people forget about or don't use their public library. Get a library card then when you see an interesting book, get on your library website and see if that book is available. In my area, I often find the library has acquired the book and I can ask them to hold a copy for me. When I put a “hold” the library sends me an email when the book is available to check out. Also my library sends me an email when my book is about due to be returned (and possibly I can renew if I haven't read it).

Also ask questions to the librarians about using the library or locating a book you can't find, then listen to the answers. These professionals are helpful and knowledgeable about books. Check out the services of your library and begin to use them.

2. Listen to Audio Books in Your Car

My library has an extensive collection of audio books on CD.  Browse the section and select a couple of different titles. Try the book and if it isn't exactly what you wanted, then try another one. I've heard incredible audio books using this method in my car.

In the last few weeks, I've learned to listen to audio books on my car's speaker system that originate on my smartphone. My car has bluetooth so I'm able to continue listening on my car speaker system to the same audio book that I'm hearing on my smartphone. Listening in my car as well as on my phone, helps me move through the audio book even quicker than normal. For example, recently I got on the hold list for Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. I only had 21 days to hear this audio book but using my car and my phone, I finished it in less than a week. The book was fascinating but uses the F-word throughout so use caution if you get it.

3. Learn to Use Hoopla or Overdrive on Your Smartphone

Hoopla or Overdrive are are free services from your library. Download the apps on your smartphone and learn about these opportunities. There is a bit of a learning curve to use them. Throughout my day I have some time at my computer when I'm setting up my social media. I've found I can be listening to an audio book on my phone as I do some of this busywork. In the process, I'm consuming more books. I also listen to the book while I'm exercising.

I've written about this before (follow this link). After I read (or hear) an interesting book, I add a review to Amazon, then paste the same review on Goodreads. And often (not always) I tell my social media connections about the review. This entire process takes only a few minutes but it is my way of supporting and telling others (quickly) about what I'm reading and learning from good books. Every author needs this type of support—and you will build goodwill with other authors—and help the entire community with this simple and consistent action.

I hope you will use these three ways to read more books. If you have other ideas or methods, I'd love to hear it in the comment section. May the days ahead be filled with more reading and learning from time well-spent.

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When You Can't Locate an Individual's Phone Number...

With the proliferation of smartphones, most of us carry one of the most powerful communication devices in our pockets—our phone. As an acquisitions editor, I get a lot of email—and I regularly send a lot of email. While I love the convenience of email, I also know email is easy to ignore and not answer. You can put it off for another time and another day.

The phone is a completely different communication device. It is immediate and if we reach the person, we can have a short conversation with them. We can leave messages into their voicemail (something I do a great deal as an editor). Each time I leave a message, I try to think about the person getting that message—so I leave something upbeat and to the point with my phone number and email so they can respond.

The Internet has given us tools where we can guard and protect our actual phone number. For example, I've got a New York phone number through my work at Morgan James. When I call authors or literary agents related to my work, I use this tool and it shows up on their phone as a New York phone number—even though I live in Colorado and work remote. Sometimes authors will answer because it is a New York phone number. 

What if you can't locate the phone number for someone? The other day I wanted to have a short conversation with an author. I looked in my contact information. I had his email and mailing address but not his phone number. I checked the author's website to see if it contained a phone number—and it did not. It had a contact form but no email and no phone number. See how this author is limiting the people who have his number?  How was I supposed to find it?

To find a phone number, one of the tools I often use is Godaddy WhoIS Database.  You can use Google to look up “WhoIs” and see there are a number of these databases. As the first place I turn, I use this one from Godaddy. With the author's website, you put that into the search engine and in a matter of seconds, you get the contact information for that author—including their phone number.  I wrote down the number then called it. Immediately I was speaking with the author I needed to reach—on his cell phone. Also I saved the cell phone number I had located for if I need to use it in the future. This system is not perfect. Sometimes authors have paid for an extra service called Domain Privacy Protection—and their real phone number is not in this WhoIs record—but from my experience, many times you can locate their phone number.

Maybe you have other tools and websites that you use to gather this information. Please let me know in the comments section. I look forward to learning from your experiences. 
 
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