Work Routine: How do YOU do it? (Really!)
There goes another work routine—I’m back on the road.
I’ve just finished housesitting for a week in San Jose. It seems to take me two to three days to get into the groove of a place before I can maintain a solid work routine.
That’s not okay.
Part of my goal with Roadwritten and my career as a writer in general is to be able to move. I can’t let my productivity rhythm get thrown off just because my surroundings change.
I slept in 12 different places last month (alone, thank you very much). In December, I’ve clocked three so far. Vaguely ridiculous.
The goal is this: no matter where I wake up, do exactly the same thing for the first several hours. Follow a morning routine that streams into an afternoon workflow.
Maybe that’s asking a lot, but other people do it, so I want to be able to do it.
I have the morning routine down (journal, meditate, stretch, tea), but sometimes it doesn’t keep me moving through to the point where I actually sit down to type.
What do I do instead? I…don’t…know.
Does that happen to you? Complete loss of time accountability? I don’t watch TV. I don’t surf. I don’t social media (so much). Am I just blacking out?
I feel like this is a very boo-hoo-me-centric post, so: I’m sorry. Really. But can you help me?
What do you do? How do you keep a workflow when the ADD child inside encourages you to measure out servings of tea for your upcoming travels instead of work?
Tips/thoughts/advice welcome, leave a comment below.
Ok….go!
photocred:photopin.com
It doesn’t really matter how much you procrastinate as long as you’re hitting your goals. If you are having black outs and forgetting entire spans of time, then I would go to the doctor. Or check the attic.
Yeah, I think you’re right. A lot of times I get caught up in silly self-imposed (but societally-influenced) rules on *how* I should be living my life and pursuing this career. There are a million ways to do a thing…it’s just giving ourselves the freedom to get it done in the way that feels right, I suppose. Accepting present-moment, perhaps? Thanks for the comment–I’ll go check the attic now!
There are a lot of time management techniques, but one of my favorite is the pomodoro technique. There are different interpretations, but this is the one I use:
1. Decide on the goals for the session.
2. Set the pomodoro timer traditionally to 25 minutes but some people do better with an longer. Once you get a feel its easier to figure out.
3. Work on the task until the timer rings. If a distraction pops into your head, write it down, but immediately get back on task.
4. After the timer rings, check off the things you accomplished.
5. If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (5 minutes), then go to step 1.
6. After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.
The pomodoro technique is good for keeping on top of work flow. One important thing is that you do dumb stuff on the breaks so your mind can rest. Its about quality over quantity. Its all about finding your rhythm with the right pomodoros.
There are apps made for the pomodoro technique as well, like Forest. You plant trees and grow a forest, so it feels good watching it grow as you hit your goals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czZeRxiYVPw
hope this helps 🙂
Love this, thanks! I have tried Pomodoro but have found that when I’m writing, I prefer hour-long bursts. At least for now. I did forget about writing down distractions and I think that’s crucial—thanks for the reminder….looking into Forest now!
if i don’t have my coffee i spaz out …
Haha, I hear that. I go through phases…sometimes I need coffee, but after or month or so I start crashing in the afternoon, so then I get myself addicted to strong tea!
20211123 05:14 If I had seen this I would have said call me and I would have maybe been able to help you become enthused. However, far too late for that. Book has been published ha ha Well done.