I read an article the other day that has cleaned off my desk workspace. Every
blogger should begin doing this today. The life you save will be yours. It
might save your marriage, too.
When I wander around the internet or read books; sometimes an idea will spark
inside my brain. This is interesting stuff. I wonder if I can write an article
about this. So, I will do a couple of different things. I might jot a note on a
piece of paper or I might email a link to myself. At the end of the day I will
remove all these little notes from my pocket and put them on my workdesk. They
are all ready for when I am prepared to take action.
Well, I do take action on many of them. When I write that article or contact a
supplier or visit a website to get more information then I will throw the piece
of paper away. But, sometimes I might write five excellent ideas on that
one piece of paper. Maybe three of them are actionable items, but the
other two are just long term ideas. That slip of paper will then go in a pile
on my desk. Here's a way to fix this problem.
Time Saving Writing Secrets
I read an article by Pam Gaulin, titled,
Time Saving Writing Secrets. The article just hit home with me.
It is like that commercial for V-8 vegetable juice where someone bops you on
the head to get your attention. This article bopped me on the head.
A quick summary of the article. Go Paperless. Do all your thinking on your
computer. By doing so you can place little mental notes on quick little
windows. Save them and they are off your desk and on your computer. When you
are in the writing groove don't stop with one article keep writing until your
time or ideas run out. She has 3 other wonderful tips that will help you be
more productive when you write.
Non-Productive Interruptions
But, for me, using your computer as a note taker caught my attention. If you
have a lot of memos or pieces of paper on your desk; then you can't concentrate
on the task at hand. You will write for a couple of minutes and bingo, you look
at a note and say, "Oh, I will take care of that, it will only take a second."
Fifteen minutes to an hour later you are ready to write again. Then another
note will interrupt you and you are off and running to another non-productive
task.
To remove these interruptions, you place the notes into a single file or
multiple files properly named. You might have a folder for new business ideas.
You get a new idea, Open up notepad, type, type, type. Then save to the folder.
Later when you have time to harvest these ideas they are stored nice and neat
in the folder.
I had already started something similar with my blogging articles. As I thought
of something to write I would open up a notepad. I would type up a summary of
the idea or even bullet points I might want to cover. Sometimes I would have
the first 4 paragraphs written just taking quick notes. But, then I would save
the blog idea. When I was at a loss for a new article, I open up the folder and
there are 10 to 15 great ideas ready to rock and roll.
Categorize and Label Correctly
Now for the program to work you have to do two things right. One, you must
categorize and label them correctly. Two, you must name them with a meaningful
name so when you come back to it 6 months later you don't have to open each
individual folder. Imagine if you name them each with the date you created the
file. So, you want to look up that article on writing that you started. You
would be forced to open each and every file until you found that note. Ouch.
I currently have two folders. One, for all my business ideas is a folder
labeled correctly, business ideas. My other folder for ideas I have for
articles I want to pursue is named, Blog Starters. This is all I need
currently. You might have other resources you want to pursue. Or maybe you are
involved in multiple blogs. You have articles on travel, landscaping and
weightlifting. Then you may want a folder for each one such as TravelStarters.
Give this idea a try. I think you will be amazed at your greater productivity.
Your writing will flourish and who knows, maybe you will make more money. Good
luck.
|