A Writer's BFF ... The Timer

Ready, set, write. Phone rings. You check call display. It’s Mom or Dad or Uncle Conrad from Louisiana. Don’t stop. Keep writing. Let the answering machine pick up or ignore the call. You can call back later. Keep writing. You’ve slotted out one precious hour of uninterrupted time to write by setting your timer. This is YOUR time. No one else’s. Use it to your advantage.

Time is something of a luxury to writers. Time for writing. Time for marketing. Time to social network. Time for self-improvement. Time for your family. Time for yourself. It’s a never ending cycle that we have to manage. So much is written about time management, you could full dozens of shelves. Time is a multitude of multitasking, and sometimes writers feel there’s not enough time in the day to get everything done. And guess what? There isn’t. So what to do?

Go to the dollar store and buy a timer. It will be one of the most important investments (and cheapest) as a writer you will make. For less thans two dollars you can purchase a piece of sanity to help you organize your writing life. Set your new BFF to check emails. Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Then do the same for Facebook and Twitter. But keep in mind which activity will help you as an author in the long run. After all – social networking is a marketing strategy – as long as you treat it as such. Then, once you have laid the timer law down, set it for how long you want to sit and just write, with no interruptions (unless the dog really needs to pee).

And when your BFF goes off, make sure you get up and stretch. Writer’s bodies need a time limit too!

Image: 123RF Stock Photo 9655766