Show Notes
Summary:
Episode #39: Manage Your Writing Space to Be a More Productive Writer
In the last episode I introduced four areas we writers can begin to evaluate and inventory in order to increase productivity: our writing space, time, energy, and attention.
My hope is that through this series we see ways to prioritize our writing—and ourselves as writers—so that our decisions reflect that priority. When we manage our writing lives with intentionality, our space, time, energy and attention can be arranged to reduce barriers to productivity.
The first goal is to manage our writing spaces.
Maybe your space is a table at a coffee shop, maybe it’s a desk in the corner of your bedroom, or maybe it’s a dedicated home office. Are you in your writing space right now? If so, look around. If you’re not in your writing space, try to visualize your space. Look at the flat surfaces and pause at the papers and any electronics you use. Think about your chair if you sit to work, and what’s at your fingertips. If you stand, what’s at eye level and what’s around you if you turn in a full circle?
- What’s working well for you?
- What makes you happy?
- Can you identify all the things that energize you to work creatively when you’re writing?
- Do you have on hand the equipment you need to efficiently plow through administrative tasks—anything from a stapler to a well-designed mouse?
- Have you incorporated some decorative items that reflect your personality and make you smile?
- How well does the color of your workspace suit you?
- Have you included at least one or two things that contribute to your health, like a water bottle, a plant, or an exercise ball you can sit on or use during breaks to stretch and strengthen?
Did your eye land on something that bugged you a little—something that’s stealing some of your energy? Maybe it’s a stack of papers you need to file or a bag of trash that needs to go out. In the corner of my office, I’ve stacked several storage boxes packed with stuff I need to deal with. These nag at me and subtly draw my mind away from the writing I want and need to do.
And how’s the lighting? Could you replace fluorescent with incandescent lights?
Would a whiteboard help you create mind maps for your projects?
Would a long blank wall serve as a place to stick Post-its and map out the plot of your novel? Or could it become an idea wall where you post a collage of images that inspire you to stick with your big picture goals and your crazy writing dreams?
Do you need to save money to upgrade equipment and pay for faster WiFi?
Do you want to try a standing desk for part of the day and see how it affects your energy level and creative process?
Is it time to incorporate a more ergonomic chair despite how well the current one from IKEA matches your decor?
Make a punch list that includes:
- things you want to rearrange
- things you want to get rid of
- items you want to swap out for something better
- goodies you want to make or buy new and incorporate into your space
- piles or containers you need to deal with soon
Keep that as a master to-do list, so you can work your way through. This coming week, I urge you to do one thing on that list each day. After you check something off, see how your body, mind, attention and energy respond to the change.
And let me leave you with an additional challenge: If your workspace isn’t clear, bump that up in priority. At the end of your work day, as you’re winding down, take a minute to clear your desk and restore the order.
I actually have that as a recurring item on my digital to-do list, and I check it off each day after I complete it: clean and clear desk.
You know what happens? My future self the next morning thanks me, because I get a fresh start.
Take the time to evaluate, manage, organize, and maintain your writing space and you will be a more productive writer.
Listen for the full podcast.
* * *
You can subscribe with iTunes and Stitcher, where I’d love to have you subscribe, rate, and leave a review. You can also use the feed with any podcast player you use.
Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook, where I’m always sharing ideas to help us be more curious, creative, and productive.
Image by Ann Kroeker, using photo from Pixabay, free for use under Creative Commons CC0.
Thanks for cheering us on, Ann! I just now got around to listening to this. I listened while I cleared away the pile of papers in my writing space that was bothering me. 🙂 I especially liked the suggestion to clear things away and leave a neat space at the end of each day!
Hey, that’s fun–I really do feel like a coach, cheering you on as you took charge of that space!
And I’m glad you like that idea of restoring the order. It’s made a huge difference for me, to arrive the next morning to a fresh start. Hope this creates space for you to complete many writing projects!
What if my writing space is full of conflict? Especially the space of live where I must write. Where I live I can’t manage my home to write where there is more silence (and I can’t absolutely write if there isn’t a PERFECT silence), and lots of sounds by the road come into my ears and make me impossible writing… How is possible finding a true writing time in a caos that I can’t stop and keeping it many hours every day, Ann? Although there are difficulties around me?
I’m sorry that you are living in a noisy location filled with conflict. That must be so hard. I hear your frustration in this note and can imagine how limiting it must feel for you creatively. It sounds like even if you could manage the noise level, you might still feel emotional chaos and turmoil inside. Again, I’m so sorry. On a practical level, and this might not help, but maybe you could try ear plugs. I know that seems crazy and oversimplified, but I used some earplugs the other day when I was in a noisy environment, and it really helped me focus. It can’t block noise completely, but it helps. If you have some of those noise-canceling headphones, those can help, too, but of course earplugs are much cheaper. Another thought is to simply get away. Maybe you’ll write less often, but if you can jot down little ideas throughout the week, maybe you’ll be able to slip away once a week to a quiet place. Where I live, I have two libraries I can have access to. Those are very quiet. Other ideas are hotel lobbies (though they might get a little noisy), or you might ask a friend if you could escape to her house while she’s away on errands or at work, if your schedules would be complementary that way. That way you just get out of the noisy space altogether and find silence. I hope that helps a little.