The writing life is always going to have deadlines—at least let’s hope it does, because that means you’re a working writer. And the writing life does not wait for the holidays. It has to happen in the middle of all the hubbub.
So how do we get it all done? How do we squeeze in our work while we’re running errands and trying to get our holiday shopping done?
Well, I would like to propose that we begin to see how we can rescue lost time.
What Is “Lost Time”?
You know what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about that time we wait in the post office line that snakes out the door and we’re standing there for what feels like an hour. That’s lost time.
What can we do with that lost time at the doctor’s office or waiting in the carpool line for our kids?
Your Phone: An Extension of Your Laptop
One idea is to start thinking of your phone as an extension of your laptop.
If you open up the Google Drive app, you can open up a document and have that ready to preserve your thoughts. You can finger-type your thoughts directly into the document, or my keyboard has a little microphone icon I can press.
When I do, then I can use a voice-to-text transcription service that’s built into my phone. It’s nothing fancy, and it does come up with some pretty comical renditions of what it thought I said. But at least the basic idea gets down into that Drive document.
The Drive document saves it, and then later, when I have time, I can open up my laptop at my desk, and there’s the document ready for me to work on it.
And that’s a great use of the phone and the technology that’s right in your pocket and right with you all the time when you find these moments where you can rescue lost time.
Go Mobile with Your Laptop
If you want to be a little more involved, you could take your laptop with you.
And I do that. I take my pink backpack with me everywhere, and I have my laptop tucked inside. I even have a hotspot on my phone so that if I can’t get WiFi in a public place, I can use my hotspot as a way to get on the internet to do research—again, to open a document like Google Drive and add on to something that I’ve been working on.
I can then upload documents to my publishers or my editors. It’s a great way to stay on top of things and rescue lost time.
I’ve been known to have my laptop open while in the carpool lane, and I’ve also gone to the library in those in-between times when I’m in between appointments.
Chip Away at Projects in the Midst of Life
By rescuing lost time, I can chip away at projects in the midst of life—in the midst of the holiday activities.
And especially during this busy season, it’s a way to meet our looming deadlines and live the writing life with integrity and efficiency.
When you meet the deadlines, let me tell you, your writing life is going to flourish.
Your Turn:
Where can you rescue lost time this week? Waiting rooms? Commutes? Coffee shop downtime?
Open a doc. Speak your thoughts. Chip away.
You’ll be amazed what happens when you turn the margins of your life into writing time.
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This is a great idea! My writing life consists of resumes and cover letters right now but I just downloaded the OneNote app to my iPad mini. I started using it to write notes about thoughts, ideas etc. I have when I am out and about. I still have a “dumb” phone but it even has a notepad in it I have used to remember things, albeit on a smaller scale.
Keep those great ideas coming… 🙂
I used to love OneNote, and I’ve heard great things about Evernote, which offers similar functionality, being able to send notes to it. Great idea for a tool to help rescue lost time! And yes, if you have an iPad, that’ll work great and you don’t need a smart phone! I have a smart phone but no tablet. Use what you’ve got!
This is a great idea! My writing life consists of resumes and cover letters right now but I just downloaded the OneNote app to my iPad mini. I started using it to write notes about thoughts, ideas etc. I have when I am out and about. I still have a “dumb” phone but it even has a notepad in it I have used to remember things, albeit on a smaller scale.
Sorry, I am not sure why that posted twice.
No problem! I’ll just answer once! 😉
Good idea, Ann. I’ll have to look into the features my (old) smartphone. Voice-to-text would be awesome.
I hope you find yourself surprised–I’m pretty sure even some simple, older smartphones will have something that can work. If nothing else, you can record your ideas onto some kind of voice recorder and transcribe it later!
Great ideas! In fact, I need to go to the post office daily, but yesterday my husband did it instead. He was frustrated at the long line, but I was thinking that I actually enjoy going to the post office! To me it means “brain time” (which is what I call rescued lost time). Except . . . I don’t have a smart phone. Just a good pen and scratch paper from my boys’ school work does it for me!
“Brain time.” I like that. It’s way more productive than feeling anxious or scrolling through Twitter (though that can be a fun diversion).
That’s it. I’m getting a pink backpack. 😉 Thank you for these tips. I have such a problem rescuing lost time. . . I really like Evernote and have started using Basecamp for collaborative projects I’m working on. Your podcast reminds me of simple tools I already have to help my writing life — now the trick is to use them consistently.