GTD

Making Time For Project-Making

in GTD, Personal Creative Explorations, Projects, ToDo

Probably the single biggest obstacle to making projects is the simple excuse of not having enough time. "How do you expect me to make projects? I don’t even have time to do all the stuff that I HAVE to get done."

It’s true. That’s one way to look at it. Life gets in the way. Work. Family. Errands. Emergencies. Chores. Someone has to change the litter, make dinner, go to the store to pick up milk. You’ve got to bring home the bacon, and you’ve got to fry it up in the pan. Then you have to wash the dishes, and make sandwiches for the next day at lunch, and deal with the complaints about BLT sandwiches, again.

But just like you get all that stuff done — the way you’re able to hold down your job and run the household and remember birthdays and plan vacations and call about the newspaper that keeps not getting delivered and bring in your computer to get fixed and get the car an oil change on schedule — you can make time to start and complete projects.

If you really want to.

So that’s some simple advice to say that it can happen. Easier said than done, you say? It always is. Here then, are some basic, practical ways to make time for projects-making.

Turn off the television. This is the biggest time magnet of all. You flip it on in the morning to check out the weather, or the traffic, or just to have a little background noise. You turn it on while you cook, or maybe while you eat dinner. You want to catch the news. There’s a new show you’ve been wanting to check out, or you have to see the show you’ve been a fan of for years. Then there’s the news at 11, and then Nightline or Leno or Letterman. Is turning off the television the last thing you do before turning out the light and hitting the sack? Hour upon hour, every darn day, your television is burning up your spare moments. Turn it off and keep it off. You just bought yourself some serious project time.

Get rid of cable. That way, even if you do turn on the television — admittedly, we all need a little down time in front of the boob tube — there aren’t so many options to suck us in and keep us clicking on the remote. It just makes it easier to shut if off if there are only a few channels to choose from, instead of all those endless choices that cable offers.

Limit the time you surf the web. I’m all for checking out cool websites. But one click leads to another, and another, and so on and so forth, and when you finally look up from the computer screen, several hours have passed you right on by.

Stop wasting time reading those silly celebrity and fashion magazines. PR spin, paparazzi shots and gossip collide in an attempt, I think, to instill the idea that our own normal lives are simply inadequate. Total BS. Do we really need to know the sordid and/or PR-cleansed details about Britney and Ben and Christina and whoever happens to be the reigning throwaway king and queen of the reality television this particular week? No, we don’t. It’s that simple.

Schedule in time for projects. Sometimes it’s as easy as taking a look at the schedule book and marking off time for your project. Just like at the office, when you schedule meetings or training sessions or block off time to complete a major report, if you fill in open slots with your project in mind, you will instill a regimented sensibility into your project-making routine.

Incorporate projects into other things that have to get done. Instead of just sitting there reading a magazine while you do the laundry at the laundry mat, use that time to make a project. Or, instead of just making dinner and serving it up, start documenting the process with your camera, or collecting the recipes you use in a booklet, with stories about what happens during the meals at your kitchen table, a sort of culinary diary.

Prioritize project-making just like you prioritize the fact that you have to eat. Don’t simply relegate project making to the status of a recreational activity you partake in when all of your other tasks have been completed — after the dishes are done, the car is washed, the lawn mowed, all the phone calls returned, and the burned out bulb in the garage is changed… As you can see, the list of things that need to get done never, ever ends. So fit project-making in there, somewhere. There is time for projects, if you make a point of making the time.

Wake up an hour earlier than you normally do, and work on your projects then. Being productive from the moment you roll out of bed is a great way to start out the day.

Use your lunch break at work for project-making. This is either a good solid hour or half-hour to do as you please. Instead of surfing the web or reading the paper or your book, or going and spending money that you don’t have on $10 lunches with co-workers that you don’t particularly like that much anyway, use this time to work on your project.

Do your project on company-time. Why the heck not? Sneak in some time while you’re on the clock. Do you know how many novels, screenplays, plays and more have been written on the job? This is an old tradition. The main issue here is not to get caught. Don’t miss deadlines. Get your "work" work done, of course. But factor in some time here and there to work on your project. You’d be surprised how much time there really is in an 8-hour work day to find time for yourself if you plan things out and work efficiently.

Involve your kids. Surely between work and managing the household, keeping the kids fed, safe, clean, and occupied is where all your time is spent. So create projects in which they are either the subject, helping you out, or collaborating with you.

Incorporate your schoolwork into the projects. Create projects that are simply extensions of the various homework assignments you have to complete — term papers or research, books that you have to read, words or history lessons that you have to memorize. Building personal projects around school work doesn’t just allow you to make projects, but might make doing the homework seem a bit less painful.

Change one habit that eats up a consistent amount of your time on a regular basis. Stop watching a soap, waking up late, surfing the web for nothing in particular, renting a movie every single night of the week, staying up just to watch the sport recaps of games for which you already know the final score. By taking this one habit out of the equation, you can open up your schedule for more inspiring, productive project-making time.

Instead of talking and talking and talking about your project idea, just get to work. Procrastination is a huge time magnet, and it sucks up a lot of energy. It also breeds negativity, and lets your mind wander into the mine field of dangerous rationales for avoiding the project, such as finding all kinds of excuses as to why you can’t get started, or all the materials that you’re lacking and don’t have access to, or the fear that you won’t do a good job. Just shut up and get to work. The momentum you create just by getting started will move you up and over the challenges that you might be confronted with as you make your project.

Here’s a project: make a list of all the stuff you always have to get done, and how long it takes you to do it all. Document your time. Not just your work schedule, or your monthly calendar, but how you spend your minutes during the day. How long does all this stuff really take? How much time do you spend spinning your own wheels, either sorting out what to do next, worrying about what’s not getting done, or fretting that you don’t have enough time to make anything happen? Write it all down. Next, write down all the things you want to do: All the things you feel you never have enough time to actually get started on and fully sink yourself into. Once it’s all written out, spend some time thinking about how you can strike a better balance between the items on the two lists. Be sure to make the things you want to do a part of what has to get done.

See also the Not-To-Do List.

"Making Time For Project-Making" is an excerpt from the 52 Projects book.

Summer Projects

in Creativity, GTD, Inspiration

Ahhh, summer.

It’s definitely here, and it has finally registered, but I can’t decide if summer is for setting everything aside and simply laying out that blanket in a shady area in the park and just lying there all day, or if it’s a time to go into super-project-making mode. I suppose trying to find that happy-medium is the key. Enjoy the hot summer sun, but also, make the time to make those projects.

And then of course, there are all those cool projects and excursions that summer itself inspires, so much to see and do, places to visit and people to see.

I don’t really have a specific project in mind right now, and I kind of like that. There are the ongoing projects, of course, but I’m at the start of the summer with an itch to begin something new. I know that I’m going to keep my camera on me at all times, that I’ve got a brand new journal to write in, and I have all kinds of events on the calendar and new places I’m planning to visit. I’m going to let this new project unfold as I make my way through the summer days. And in a way, that’s a perfect summer project — one that combines both the impulse to relax and the desire to get things done, thereby letting the true nature of these summer days shape what it is that I decide to make.

I was going to end this post with: "Get started on your summer projects!", but that’s not quite right, not really in the spirit of the season. So I will end with this: "Get started on your summer!"

Simple Things You Can Do Right Now To Jumpstart Your Writing Efforts

in GTD, HowTo, ToDo, Writing

by Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Stop talking about your novel or short story ideas and start writing. Get in the habit of writing for at least an hour every day, no matter what. One strategy is to get up an hour earlier than you have to, make yourself a cup of coffee and completely focus on your writing. Not only will your mind be fresh, but you won’t be distracted by phone calls, prime time television or a visit from a friend. The main idea here is to make writing part of your daily regimen. If you can figure out a way to carve out an hour of writing while you’re on the clock, then go for it, because technically that means you’re getting paid for your writing efforts (something that’s not so easy). And of course in the evenings, instead of watching television, flip on the computer and write for an hour. After a long day at work, sometimes you just feel too tired, but if you plant yourself in your seat and start typing, after a few minutes, you’ll almost certainly hit a stride and find yourself feeling a burst of energy. It’s the hurdle of actually making time and getting started that might keep you from writing, and that’s why making it a habit is so important. It becomes not a question of "if" you are going to get some writing done, but "when" you are going to get your writing done.

Join or form a writing group. This gives you an opportunity to get your work critiqued, an incentive to complete and improve your writing, an outlet to commiserate and celebrate with fellow writers, a place to learn and experience different kinds of writing styles, and a source to both find and give inspiration.

Start submitting your stories to literary journals and magazines (both online and print). But before you start sending off those emails and sealing those envelopes, unleashing a continual tidal wave of mass-mailings to all the journals listed in Literary Market Place, found through online research, or listed in the back pages of Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers, become familiar with the multitude of literary journals being published both online and in print. Create some form of database with contact information, submission requirements, publishing schedule and theme issues, and most importantly, the kind of writing the publication publishes. Once you’ve organized your research, then you can start submitting stories on a regular basis to the APPROPRIATE journals and magazines. Submissions that do not meet a journal’s specific basic requirements are despised by editors, and it’s a waste of your time and energy. Be smart and efficient about the way your submit your work.

Also: no doubt you’ll be able to remember which stories get published, but be sure to keep track of which stories have been rejected by which journals.

There are all kinds of ways to find out about literary journals — online research, writing resource/guide books, library research, word-of-mouth, bookstore browsing. You can spend all your time clicking from one online resource to the next finding out about yet another literary journal. How do you decide which ones to submit to? Well, first off, I don’t think you should be submitting to a journal unless you’ve actually bought a copy and read it. Don’t just look up the submission requirements, and send off your story. My advice is to do broad research, and to really get to know as many journals as you can. Which journal blows you away? What online literary site do you make a point of reading each week? Which journals are publishing the kind of writing that you respond to? Those are the journals you should be aspiring to get published in.

One nice sort of cheat sheet trick to finding out about cool new literary journals is to look at the bios of published authors and contributors to literary journals that you like.

Keep in mind that getting published in the major, well-known journals and magazines (like The New Yorker) is like winning the lottery. It’s not impossible, of course, but be sure to submit to smaller, less monumental journals and magazines that you have a better shot of getting published in, especially if you’re just starting out.

Enter contests. Winning a contest is a great way to get your name out there and get noticed by either an agent or publisher. There are all kinds of contests out there. The higher the profile of the contest, the more cache a win, runner-up placement or honorable mention will have. (Of course the higher the profile, the more competitive the contest will be.) Keep in mind that all contests have very specific guidelines, and many have a $5 to $15 entry fee, so before you send out your best short story to every contest you come across, make sure you read the fine print. Again, do your research and create a database with deadlines, submission guidelines, addresses, entry fees, and of course, prize money. And be sure to budget a certain amount of money for contest entry fees — set a limit for yourself. There comes a point where you might start to feel down if you keep spending money to enter contests, only to get the form letter with a list of winners that does not include your name. You can start to like all your writing efforts are pointless, and having to pay for the privilege just makes you feel even worse. By allocating a certain amount of money, say $100 a year, I think that helps manage the expectations — You’re still taking the chance to enter contests, but doing so in a controlled, positive and responsible way.

No doubt you would figure all this out during the course of your research, but here are some excellent places to find an abundance of information about journals and contests: Literary Market Place (available in the reference section at your library); Writer’s Market; Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market; The Complete Guide to Literary Contests; The O. Henry Prize Stories; and The Best American Short Stories. Also, check out Writer’s Digest, The Writer Magazine, and Poets & Writers. And here is a comprehensive list of literary magazines.

Begin your education of the book publishing industry. Figure out which publishing houses publish the style of writing you are producing. Research the names of editors that are behind the kinds of books you wish you had written. Follow the trends and stay abreast of who’s who on the inside of the industry. This kind of information will give you an edge when you have a body of work worthy of getting published. A good book to get a hold of for this kind of information is the Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman. Also, check out Publishers Weekly Online, the website of the publishing industry’s main trade magazine. And definitely sign up for the electronic newsletter Publishers Lunch, which sums up and provides links (as well as biting commentary) to the most important publishing news and deals of the day.

Take part in online writing prompt projects to fuel your ideas and get you engaged in creative writing exercises, things like Sunday Scribblings and Poetry Thursday.

Always carry a pen and a journal around with you, to capture thoes fleeting "brilliant" ideas coursing through your mind, as well as to note down funny bits of dialogue, real or imagined. Chances are that if you don’t write it down right then and there, you’ll forget it completely, or not be able to recall exactly what was so perfect about it in the moment. Check out Moleskinerie for total journaling inspiration.

Instead of grabbing fast food or an overpriced sandwich and then bringing it back to your desk to scarf it down while you surf the web, make a point of getting some writing done during your lunch break at work. Find a nice cafe or place where you can sit at a table (free from emails, phone calls and co-worker banter) and simply knock out a page or two of writing on your laptop or in a notebook.

Read constantly. Fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional book on writing, such as Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might by Path Walsh, and Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction by Charles Baxter.

Look for writer resources online, sites like SlushPile.net and Flogging the Quill. A list of resource links is here.

Enroll in writing courses. Anytime you’re taking a class, you are forced to write. Not only that, but people other than your significant other will critique your work. And similar to being a part of a writing group, you will have the opportunity to meet other writers and read their work.

Cultivate relationships. Go to readings. Go to events for literary journals. Go to writing conferences. Meet other writers. Correspond with bloggers who write about writing. Ask questions, but be sure to share the information you gather.

Look to the web. The web is full of literary journals, and many print journals have an online component. And whereas print journals move at a very slow pace (sometimes a year just to hear your story has been rejected), online journals (or print journals with very active online components) reject and accept and publish on a much faster schedule. The prestige factor is still higher for print journals, and yes, there is something amazing about seeing your words printed on paper in a beautiful package, but online journals are fast gaining strong reputations and doing much more innovative stuff, because they can operate more cheaply, move faster and be read by much bigger audiences. Following are some literary journals that regularly feature work on their websites that you should check out: Quick Fiction; Pindeldyboz; Small Spiral Notebook; Word Riot; and eyeshot.net. And by all means, do your own searches. New things are popping up on the internet everyday.

2006 Sick Day Calendar

in GTD

(To help you strategically plan the best use of your limited sick days. Print out and save)

Monday, Jan. 16, is MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY. Call in sick on either Friday, Jan. 13, or Tuesday, Jan. 17, and make it a four-day weekend.

VALENTINE’S DAY is Tuesday, Feb. 14. It goes without saying that you should make your romantically extravagant plans on company time. The key this year is to work on Valentine’s Day, but to call in sick on Wednesday, Feb. 15. That way, you can stay up all night, sleep in late, and then stay in bed ALL day long to recover from and then relive the multiple ecstasies of the night before. PRESIDENT’S DAY falls on Monday, Feb. 20. Call in sick Tuesday, Feb. 21 to stretch the three-day weekend into a very presidential four-day break.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY is Friday, March 17. Consider calling in sick that day so you can start your celebrating early. After all, you have both Saturday AND Sunday to recover.

EASTER is on Sunday, April 16. Call in sick on Friday, April 14 (Good Friday), or Monday, April 17. Monday is probably the better day to call in sick, due to the family gathering Easter festivities that take place on Sunday (and all the traffic you’ll have to deal with on the way home).

Take off Friday, May 26, or Tuesday, May 30, to make the MEMORIAL DAY holiday – Monday, May 29 – a memorable four-day weekend.

No office holidays in June, but a really great month to take some sick days, given that it’s the start of summer and all.

INDEPENDENCE DAY, July 4, falls on a Tuesday this year, so consider calling in sick on Monday, July 3 AND Wednesday, July 5, which will give you five whole days to hit the road and take your boozing rampage all across this great country of ours. Now that’s worthy of setting off some serious fireworks.

No office holidays in August, but all the higher-ups are on vacation, so you can take "sick days" without actually using up any official sick days. Important month to stay very healthy.

You’ve worked hard all year, so consider calling in sick on Tuesday, Sept. 5, to make the LABOR DAY (Monday, Sept. 4) holiday a four-day weekend. Technically, this is the weekend to really stick it to your boss. That’s what Labor Day is all about, right?

HALLOWEEN (Oct. 31) falls on a Tuesday this year. Wear your costume to work — it’ll be a major distraction, and no one, including you, will get any work done. It’s all in the name of teamwork and morale boosting. Then, call in sick on Wednesday, Nov. 1, as a reward to yourself for being such a fun, good-natured employee.

Call in sick on Wednesday, Nov. 22, or Monday, Nov. 27, making the THANKSGIVING (Thursday, Nov. 23) holiday a five-day weekend. Use the extra time to make even more dishes and consume even greater amounts of food and wine.

CHRISTMAS (Dec. 25) falls on a Monday this year, so definitely plan to call in sick on Tuesday, Dec. 26. By calling in sick on Tuesday, you are giving yourself a four-day weekend, which helps to extend your holiday cheer. Go ahead and give this special gift to yourself. It is the season of giving, after all (and it’s one way — just one — to make up for the bonus you didn’t get).

NEW YEAR’S DAY (Jan. 1) also falls on a Monday. Consider calling in sick on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Of course this means using up a sick day at the very start of the new year, but the alternative is kicking off 2007 pissed-off and disgruntled (more so than usual) and possibly still a little drunk. So take that extra day off so that you can start the new year out right.

Other days to plan sick days around: your birthday, your significant other’s birthday, or any vacations you currently have planned.

Be sure to find out how many sick days you have each calendar year, and plan accordingly. It is a top priority.

And check out the Working For the Man Book:

Order now: Amazon

More details at workingfortheman.com.

A Not-To-Do List

in GTD, Personal Creative Explorations

Today is the day you start your project.

Wake up. Make your coffee. Sit down. Get to work.

Now, it should be that simple. Wake up and get to work.

But there are many distractions. Mental and otherwise.

So this is NOT a to-do list. This is a not-to-do list. You don’t need to check anything off, because these are things YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO.

Do not check your email.
Do not go to nytimes.com.
Do not decide to organize your cd rack.
Do not turn on the television.
Do not clip your nails.
Do not stare at your bald spot in the mirror and begin to calculate how much time your hair has left.
Do not start catching up on the DVDs that have arrived from Netflix.
Do not update your Netflix queue.
Do not Google all your Exes.
Do not Google yourself.
Do not dust the house.
Do not sweep the floors.
Do not take out the trash.
Do not get sucked into the argument when your significant other starts screaming about the fact that you drank the last of the milk and even though you said you would get more you didn’t. Just apologize, apologize, and then apologize again. (But don’t be tempted to apologize "for being such a horrible person" – that is a sign that you are getting drawn into a bigger dust-up. Stay on target with your apology, explain that you have serious work to do, and get back to your project.)
Do not decide to make yourself an elaborate lunch.
Do not take a nap.
Do not change the cat litter.
Do not decide to figure out the calorie count of your recent meals.
Do not pay your bills.
Do not balance your checkbook.
Do not freak out that you have no money.
Do not go into the bathroom and give your Academy Award acceptance speech.
Do not put on Prince and party like it’s 1999. (Well, okay, maybe ONCE, just to get you fired up about your project.)
Do not start going through your closet.
Do not decide to floss.
Do not organize your spice rack.
Do not update your address book.
Do not make a list of things to do.
Do not watch Oprah.
Do not listen to NPR.
Do not start to think you don’t have what it takes to actually do your project.
Do not read any further on this post – caught you! Stop reading now and get to work on your project.
Do not check what time the movie is playing later.
Do not decide to send an angry email to that annoying friend who recently pissed you off.
Do not play with the cats.
Do not clip your nose hairs.
Do not start trying to organize a dinner party.
Do not start wondering if that mole that seems a little bigger than the last time you checked it might be skin cancer.
Do not start going through all the papers on your desk.
Do not make a list of all the things you have to get done at work.
Do not start thinking you are never going to finish.
Do not make a quick run to the grocery store.
Do not search for gray hairs.
Do not start fantasizing about sex.
Do not decide to make a call to your significant other to tell him or her that you don’t think you’ve been getting any, and that you better damn well get some tonight (you know, because that one works every time).
Do not go to IMDB to see who that actor was in that movie you saw the other night. Or what that girl from that show from way back when is doing now.
Do not start perusing your own bookshelves.
Do not organize your computer files.
Do not clean out your inbox.
Do not click into the online gossip sites.
Do not pick your nose.
Do not start reading old letters from old flames.
Do not crack open a beer.
Do not pluck your eyebrows.
Do not to give yourself a facial.
Do not start going through your photos.
Do not return your phone calls.
Do not start reading your old journal entries.
Do not start thinking about how your project is lame.
Do not scrub the tub.
Do not clean the toilet.
Do not open a bottle of wine.
Do not start wading through all the magazines you subscribe to but never read.
Do not decide to start a screenplay (unless, of course, that is your project).
Do not post to your blog.
Do not pull the ATM receipts out of your wallet and start entering withdrawals into your checkbook.
Do not get up and keep getting yourself a glass of water.
Do not refill the ice trays.
Do not do the dishes.
Do not start picking off the wax on your candle holders.
Do not start worrying about all the time you’ve already wasted.

There are a million more things that could be on this list, but remember, it’s not a to-do list, so it doesn’t matter if something is missing — you are NOT supposed to be doing these things. Just get to work on your project.

–Jeffrey Yamaguchi

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