The 7 Secrets of the Prolific Writer's Block (21 page)

Two more tips:

1) Track your “wake up” and “go to bed” times each day, because for maximum productivity you want to wake up and go to bed at about the same time every day. If your sleep schedule varies wildly, you’re basically giving yourself jetlag—only without having had the fun of traveling.

2) It’s important to record not just the time you spend on your investments, but on your expenses, including (especially) television, video games, and other escapism. You need to know precisely how much time you are spending on these activities—for most people, it’s more than they think—in part so you will be more motivated to cut back.

Step #4: Tally Your Time and Review your Weekly Progress.
At the end of the week, take your filled-in Tracking Form, and figure out (1) how much time you invested or spent on your various activities, and (2) how close those numbers came to your time budget.

Reflect on what worked and didn’t work. Reward yourself for what you did right, but don’t punish yourself for any areas in which you fell short. If necessary, refine the budget and schedule to align more with the realities of your life. Then, repeat steps 3-4.

Step #5: Watch Yourself Improve!
If you follow this process you should automatically and probably dramatically improve, because, as it turns out, you don’t need harsh correctives to improve your time use, but simply to get more conscious.

Perfectionists always think a harsh corrective is required, but if you’re reading this book you are serious enough about your goals that gentle reminders—combined with the techniques I offer in this book—will probably be sufficient.

That’s it! People often object that the process seems too onerous, but it’s not. Budgeting and scheduling does, and should, take some time, but the tracking takes only about eight minutes a day, and the tallying and reflecting around half an hour a week—and it’s a fascinating half hour.

Another common objection is that the process seems rigid and will make you robot-like. “What about spontaneity?” a student once asked. In truth, I’m not a huge fan of it. If your partner surprises you with a romantic weekend trip, it’s okay to be spontaneous. (Or, of course, if there’s an emergency.) But often spontaneity is merely procrastination wearing a playful mask.

Another common concern is, “Do I have to keep doing this forever?” The answer is no—unless you want to. Most people wind up tracking their time for two to four weeks, and are satisfied with the resulting productivity improvement, even if it’s not all that they had initially hoped for. So they’ll stop—but they may resume tracking later on when they’re ready for another boost, or if they feel they’ve slipped. And, of course, it’s also useful to budget and track anew whenever you experience a major life change.

A good “intermediate” approach after you’ve gotten your overall schedule under control is to only track the categories where you’re likely to underinvest or overgive. For a while, I tracked only my writing, marketing, and exercising. (You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I wasn’t worried about over-giving in the area of housework.)

I think that what the objectors are really objecting to is the accountability that time management introduces—and I agree, accountability can be scary. But it’s exactly what underproductive people need more of.

S
aying no, delegation, and cooperative problem-solving are essential time-management skills.

Many people say they “can’t”
say no
—and many were taught to subordinate their needs to others’—but it’s a skill you can, and must, learn. Practice on small requests first, then larger ones. Eventually, you’ll not only get the hang of it, but you’ll realize how great it feels to not get sucked into activities you’d rather not be part of.

There are ways to say no without having to directly say no, including to agree to do only a part of the project (“I’ll help you with editing if you can find someone else to write a polished draft.”), or to say you’ll do it later (“I’m booked until July, but might have time to look at it then.”). But sometimes you just have to say “No.”

I’ve already discussed
delegation
relative to housework and other low-value activities. We tend to think of it as a hierarchical activity—something bosses do “to” subordinates—but it can be done non-hierarchically. Basically, you should aim to delegate all non-high-value activities to others for whom those activities are high value, and be generous in reciprocating with your own high-value support when needed. You want everyone involved to feel they’ve gotten a good value, but please note that that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone contributes equal money or hours. Particularly as you gain success, connections, influence, and mastery (the latter meaning you can work more efficiently), a relatively small time investment from you—even a letter or a phone call that helps someone get a great job—could be a fair exchange for many more hours invested on their part.
1

As discussed earlier, this kind of delegation doesn’t just help you gain time and reduce stress: it helps everyone involved build personal capacity, and also helps build community. You need to delegate responsibly, however, by generously supporting those to whom you delegate with information and other resources.

Don’t forget to delegate small as well as big tasks. For one thing, most big tasks are really just a series of small ones. For another, the “small” stuff adds up. Don’t run out for a quick shop if there’s someone else who can run out instead. And if someone asks you for a favor (say, to write a letter of recommendation) but doesn’t give you all the information you need (say, the recipient’s full address), don’t look it up yourself. Ask them to send it to you.

Many people are reluctant to delegate, or say they “can’t,” but this is an attitude you must get over. The common reasons for not delegating include: “It’s easier for me to just do it myself.” “No one will do as good a job as me.” “It will take less time to do it myself.” And my favorite: “I don’t have time to delegate.” But these always fail to hold water:

Yes, it may be easier for you to do it yourself—the first time. But not the second, third, or tenth time.

And yes, perhaps no one will do as good a job as you. But the question should not be whether the delegater will do the best possible job, but whether she will do a competent or acceptable job.
The goal of doing everything as well as possible should be subordinate to that of living your mission as fully as possible.

Another popular reason people don’t delegate is “I don’t have anyone to delegate to.” But this, too, is almost always wrong. You can delegate to immediate family, extended family, friends, coworkers, colleagues, neighbors, and basically anyone with whom you come in contact.
Help is abundant, and people, mostly, love to help.

The successful people I know say no and delegate constantly—in fact, it’s pretty much a reflex for them. The minute an activity crosses their path, they’re figuring out (a) whether it’s high-value, and (b) if it’s not, how to get rid of it. Moreover, they know that most requests should be gotten rid of. If it happens to be an activity they feel they should keep, however, they’re still figuring out which parts of it they can delegate to others.

A closely related skill to delegation is
cooperative problem-solving
, a process for problem-solving and conflict resolution that respects everyone involved. The steps are:

(1)
State the problem and how it makes you feel.
Example: “Thanks very much for meeting with me, Boss. You know, I really do love working at XYZ Corp. I don’t know if you know this, but for the last few years I’ve been working on a novel. I was making good progress for a while, but lately it’s gotten tougher—it’s just too hard to concentrate after a long day at work.”

(2)
Propose a solution.
“I’m wondering whether I could switch my workday to noon to 8:30 p.m. [or a four day week, etc.] so I can have time to get the writing done in the morning.”

(3)
State how the solution won’t hurt things, and in fact will improve them for the person you’re dealing with.
“I don’t think the customers or my coworkers would mind, and it wouldn’t affect my work performance. In fact, it means we would have someone on the phones later into the evening, which the West Coast customers would like.”

(4)
Listen with great care and respect to the other person’s response, and especially to their worries and concerns.

The amazing thing is that, in many cases, the boss will say something like, “You’re working on a novel? That’s great! My kid’s a writer! Let’s give it a try.” (If she starts asking well-meaning but awkward questions like “Why’s it taking so long?” see Section 6.8.)

Or, she might simply say, “We could possibly do that, but I have a few concerns...”

(If you’ve got the kind of boss who will say, “Hell no—and don’t bother me again with your personal problems,” then, as discussed in Section 4.6, you need to find a new job.)

(5)
Try to incorporate the other person’s concerns as much as possible.
“So it would be okay if I came in late on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday—but Thursday and Friday you’d prefer I maintain my current schedule. That would be fine.” If you don’t know how to address her concerns, it’s okay to ask her for suggestions, or for time to think about the situation some more before talking to her again.

(6)
After you reach an accord, give recognition.
“Thank you so much—it’s really amazing to work for an organization that cares about the whole person.”

(7)
Confirm in writing.
“I’ll just follow-up with a quick email to confirm the arrangement.” This helps avoid miscommunication and reinforces the boss’s decision. Keep the email short, simple, and non-bureaucratic; you’re just summarizing the decision. And repeat your gratitude.

A variant of this process where you don’t suggest a solution up front, but instead solicit suggestions from everyone involved, works very well in family or friend situations.
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A student in one of my business classes spent all day in class, and then was supposed to go home and work on his business plan in the evenings. His five-year-old daughter had other ideas, however; she wanted him to spend his evenings playing with her. It was a difficult dilemma for him, and so one day he sat down with her and said, “You know, Daddy loves you very much and misses you all day. He really wants to play with you when he gets home, but he’s also got homework to do, and when he doesn’t do it, he feels bad. Can we think of anything we can do?” His five year old pondered for a few seconds—and then neatly solved the problem. “Let’s do our homework together, Daddy,” she said. And then she got her coloring book and crayons and sat next to him at the dining room table, happily coloring away while he did his writing—and every once in a while checking up on his progress.

I can’t resist another kid story. One writer I know had a difficult time doing her college homework at night because her daughter was always asking for “one more bedtime story.” Finally, they had a discussion in which Mommy said that even though she loved reading stories, she was sad that she wasn’t getting her homework done. Her daughter listened carefully, and then suggested they limit themselves to one story per night on weekdays. Interestingly, it turned out that it was Mommy herself who sometimes wanted an extra story, in part to avoid facing her homework! (Can we all say it together? “Procrastination as a mimic of productive work.”) But now her daughter had become an ally in her productivity, and whenever Mommy suggested an extra story, her daughter would remind her, “Mommy, aren’t you supposed to be doing your homework?”

In the end, time management offers you the choice between productivity and underproductivity; success and disappointment; a calm, happy life and a stressed, unfulfilled one. PTMs and overgivers in particular tend to make one crucial mistake: they take in a lot of projects, tasks, favors, and information, but don’t let enough back out by saying no, delegating, and cooperative problem-solving.
The secret to profound productivity, success, and happiness is to let most of the stuff back out, retaining just the high-value activities for yourself.
You then become a conduit for ideas, information, and action, and have the time and energy not just to take care of yourself, but others—including the occasional needy stranger.

1
There are those who would say that any inequality in time valuation is exploitation, but I think they’re painting with too broad a brush. In many cases, the influential person is likely to be influential because of years of work
she
did that was free or underpaid.

2
A great resource for all this is Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish’s classic parenting book
How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk
(Harper Collins, originally published in 1979). I recommend it to everyone, regardless of whether or not they have kids—it’s a great tutorial on effective, compassionate communication.

Chapter
5

Captain Hook:
“I must think!”

Mr. Smee:
“What tempo, Captain?”

—Peter Pan
(1954 musical)

T
empo is a musical term referring to the speed at which you play a piece. Wikipedia lists dozens of tempo markings from
largo
(funereally slow) to
vivace
(“Flight of the Bumble Bee” fast).

Tempo is also a valuable concept in productivity work because once we overcome perfectionism and start providing ourselves with abundant resources and time, the next challenge is to boost our rate of production—our tempo.

The benefit of increasing tempo can be spectacular: if you average 500 words a day and increase your output just ten percent (that’s fifty words, folks, a mere two or three sentences), you’ll write 18,250 more words a year: roughly a fifth of a book.