Another Writer’s Tip

I’m a bit too lazy to do a whole list of tips in one hit, so I’m just going to post them as they occur to me.

Today’s little ramble is how I increased productivity.

I normally work from home in my purpose-designed study. It has a pretty coral coloured wall, some cute pink and teal cushions, and my tasteful Buddha knick-knacks on the book shelf. I love working there. But! When I have a few days free in a row to work, I start to get a bit too relaxed. I take my time after doing the school drop-off and read the news…maybe read some of the latest book I’m into…sometimes make a second breakfast if my children were particularly crazy that morning and I need to stress eat…and sometimes I don’t get started until 10 or 10.30. Even then, I get easily distracted by Facebook and e-mails.

But today I booked some time at a lovely co-working share space at Peregian Beach (check out DulcieJoCo here!). It’s not really an office – more a creative studio with vintage furniture and lovely artwork on the walls. I stayed there for four hours and worked non-stop on my book. Admittedly, I did check in with a couple of writer buddies for fifteen minutes or so, but otherwise I was solely focused on my current novel. No thoughts of housework…no wondering if there was anything in the cupboard that would satisfy my sugar cravings…and no having a break after half an hour “just because”.

I’m not sure what a normally super productive day would look like at home, but I don’t think it would be anywhere close to getting through 14,000 words of my manuscript, including some brand new content writing and some fairly heavy editing.

It feels a bit indulgent, paying to write somewhere when you have a perfectly good free space at home, but I think the $6 per hour fee was definitely justified, seeing as I got so much closer to the end of the writing process in just half a day.

There were only two other women sharing the studio today, one who I took to be staff, and the other who was a mum like me, escaping the house. It made me feel like I was doing something real and being part of society again – even if I’m currently paying for the privilege.

But the best part was, I came home to a fresh feeling house (I had run around madly tidying up in the morning) and then felt motivated to tackle some of the bigger cleaning jobs I’d been putting off. I even had the energy to do a workout in my living room this afternoon. Plus! I ate less food. I did sit down for a lot longer than normal though, so the jury is still out on the overall effect of that point.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend getting out of the house once a week to work. Even if it’s just to a quiet cafe somewhere. Hopefully any costs you incur will balance out with all the money you’ll be earning sooner from your increased productivity.

Posted in Blog / News.