This week: my productivity hacks; an update on my writing; The Spike-related links; and being inspired by the Line of Duty soundtrack.
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If you’ve seen any of my social media bios, I describe myself as a “recovering procrastinator”.
I’m not a highly-motivated individual. I have no desire to be rich or famous; I live a relatively comfortable life and there isn’t anything I’m explicitly working for or towards. On the evenings and weekends, it’s all too easy to relax into an unproductive stupor.
Writing a novel is hard. Writing three at the same time, that all interlink, is even harder. Sometimes, particularly after a tough day at work or when I’m not feeling well, it’s difficult to get started. Once I get going, I usually keep going for an hour or more, and that can be satisfying afterward.
It’s the initial effort to begin writing that’s the steep hill to get over.
I’ve introduced a few habits to reduce my time-wasting and do more of the things I want to do.
The first is to “gamify” my writing.
To do this, I use a writing diary: a spreadsheet I created on which I record every session of writing/outlining/blogging/research/cover design etc. Through a series of formulas, this displays a calendar, highlighting days on which I’ve written in green, and those I haven’t in red.
It also keeps track of the number of days consecutively I’ve written for. This is where the gamifying comes in. If you’ve ever played a game where the aim is to start and maintain a winning streak, you’ll know you want to keep going as long as you can.
I find that, once I get past a week of consecutive days, I don’t want to stop. Today is the 288th day in a row I’ve done at least some work on my writing. I want to keep going past one year, and see how long I can maintain it.
The second habit I’ve implemented is to use a to-do list.
For this, I use Microsoft To Do, mostly because it’s free and automatically syncs across all my devices. There may be better alternatives, but this suits me. I keep it pinned to the task bar on my PC and laptop, and it always displays the number of outstanding tasks for the day.
Writing is a daily task. I also have tasks for the different steps of my blog: collating the links, and writing, publishing, and sharing the blog.
I use the list for non-writing related tasks too, like setting reminders for paying bills or ordering repeat prescriptions.
It’s not so much to remind me something needs to be done, though. It’s to shame me into doing something if I feel like putting it off. It doesn’t always prevent me procrastinating, but I do feel bad when I shift a task back a day or two, and it probably results in me doing it sooner than I otherwise might.
Thirdly, when I work in the office for my day job, which I have to do two days per week, I sometimes stay there afterhours and work on my writing.
I’ve found this effective. It’s similar in theory to the practice people use to make themselves go to the gym – they’ll take their stuff to work with them and stop there on the way home. The important thing is not to go home first; once you’re home, it’s all too easy to relax and switch off, and it’s tough to go out or get started again.
When I reach the end of my working hours at 5pm, I’m usually in a focussed headspace. I’ll grab a quick bite to eat, then set about writing. This week, I did that both days, finishing around 7pm. As an added bonus, the commute home is a lot smoother at that time.
From the beginning of April, I have to work three days per week in the office, and intend to stay late all three evenings to write.
Lastly, I’ve attempted to rid myself of a bad habit this week.
During evenings and weekends, I often default to doing something brainless, mainly listening to music or watching YouTube videos whilst playing a puzzle game.
I’m not suggesting there’s no worth in listening to music or watching YouTube, but when it’s basically background noise whilst I while away the hours on a repetitive game, the value is diminished somewhat.
The puzzle game I’ve played most is Hexcells Infinite on Steam. I’d describe it as a more complex Minesweeper. I’m ashamed to admit that over the past ten years, I’ve spent 2,300 hours playing it – that’s nearly 96 days. There’s so much else I could have done…
Well, no more. This week, I’ve uninstalled Hexcells Infinite and the other similar games I had on my PC. I’m not against playing games, especially ones with a good story (I’m a writer, I’m all for a good story), but to me these puzzle games were time-sinks.
I’m hoping I’ll now use my time doing more of the other things I want to do. Yes, that includes writing, but also I want to read more, among other things.
Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks the progress report will show more progress.
If you have any productivity hacks that work for you, please share them.
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I was back at my day job this week which limits the time I can spend writing, but as I mention above, I made use of being in the office two days to stay afterhours and write.
I’ve had to admit I’m not going to meet my target of the end of March for finishing the second draft of part 2 of Volume 2, and have pushed it out to the end of April. I really don’t want to go beyond that.
I’m going to aim to write one chapter per day, which I’ve done on the three days I spent writing the book this week, so I know I can do it. Maintaining that over a longer period is more difficult, and is closer to what I did during NaNOWriMo last year. I don’t want to crunch that hard, certainly not whilst I’m running below 100% at the moment.
I’ve received an appointment for an iron infusion to help my anaemia, so should get a boost by the middle of April. Hopefully that will drive me on to the finish.
Re the cover design for the second edition of Volume 1, I’m happy with the basic layout I’ve got and think I’ll use it. I may begin some of the detail work on that if my plan of uninstalling Hexcells Infinite results in more productivity, but words on the page will be my priority for the next few weeks.
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The Spike Volume 2 will contain three separate books from the perspective of seven characters.
Part 1 – draft 2 complete; further chapters to add.
Part 2 – draft 2 complete!
Part 3 – draft 2 written up to chapter 35; thirty-one chapters to go.
The intention is to complete draft 2 of part 3 by the end of April.
Part 1 is currently much shorter than the others, and I want them to be closer in length, so I will need to decide how to tighten parts 2 and 3 slightly, and add more to part 1 – I have some exciting ideas to expand it.
Then a readthrough of all parts will determine how much revision is required.
The ultimate aim is to have Volume 2 finished by the end of 2025 for publication early 2026.
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The Spike is set in our world, incorporating real events; the links below are relevant to the themes and overarching storyline, and may or may not provide clues to the direction of the series.
I do not necessarily agree with or endorse any of the views within.
AI scientists are sceptical that modern models will lead to AGI
Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd
Man files complaint after ChatGPT said he killed his children
Your Amazon Echo will start reporting to Amazon on March 28
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Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack to the BBC show Line of Duty by Carly Paradis. As I wrote previously, I like using TV and film soundtracks as background music when writing, partly to block out distractions from my neighbours, partly to set the mood.
Line of Duty is one of my favourite shows and was masterfully written by Jed Mercurio. Listening to the music has me wanting to rewatch all six seasons; they’re available on BBC iPlayer.
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 