January 24, 2006
Time Management
Written by Margo Maguire in Writers and WritingI think I have a problem with this. Which is weird, since I’ve always been a very efficient person. Now, I just cringe at the thought of working another job besides writing. How would I ever get anything done?
My typical day … Up at seven and I walk the dogs. Then I shower and get dressed. That takes until about eight. Make coffee, eat breakfast, deal with the cats (one wants to come in, one wants to go out, and the dogs want to eat both of them). I sort through piles of mail, shred what needs to go, then empty the dishwasher. Somehow, it’s ten o’clock and I haven’t even looked at my email. OK, another half hour on emails and the dogs want to go out. I let them outside and sit down to write. I put down one sentence and they’re barking to come in. Sheesh – it’s worse than when I had three kids aged four and under!
It’s no wonder I get tons more done when I go to Starbuck’s for a few hours. I’m not a caffeine fiend, but I can down a couple of decaffs in two or three hours and write seven or eight good pages. Because I don’t subscribe to their wireless access, I can’t do email. There are no animals to corral, no household chores to do. The noise and activity in there provides a sort of ‘white noise’ so that I actually focus in on my manuscript way better than I do at home. Even when it’s quiet there!
Still, it’s not always practical for me to leave the house. I have got to figure out a way of working here and actually being productive.
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Shana Says:
Hey Margo, your day sounds a lot like mine sometimes (fewer animals but still needy). I probably am going to have to go back to working an outside job, at least part-time. I just know that will mean a ton more stress: rushing around all the time, laundry at 10 on Friday night, grocery store on the way home from work. The writing won’t suffer, but all the nice things like making coffee, taking walks, and reading all my emails will have to go.
I, too, get a lot done at Starbucks or other local coffee shops. Wonder why all the noise and activity in there is so much less distracting than everything at quiet, uneventful home