If you’re going to be a writer, then you need to learn to be a writer. Part of that is effective time management. See, a reader develops really bad habits, but you don’t care. I can remember spending entire days as a kid reading. Wake up June 27, eat something, sit down with a book and a glass of iced tea or soda, and… read.
now, if you don’t have demands on your time as an adult, you can write the same way. Alas, I have a job. Kind of a stressful one at that.
Now you have to learn timekeeping. I have an OLD version of Microsoft office – Win XP, actually. So Microsoft Outlook is kind of limited. Yes, I used to use it around 1999. I used to get Daytimer printer sheets and print out my schedule, and keep it in a Daytimer binder.
But I feel like… I’ve WAY outgrown that software. So a few years ago, I moved to looking for PIM software – personal information management, is what it’s called.
I DO NOT LIKE on-line software. It HAS to be computer based. That way my reminders pop up and I can snooze them. I tried the “Buy The Milk” program, because the screen shots made it look unique. But by the time I tried it, it was um… web-based. No. Deleted my account, because they didn’t mention that.
I tried Agenda At Once. It had a problem in that both my wife and I were using it, and for both of us, it stopped working at the same time. i tried several others, and finally came back to AAO.
So, I wrote my schedule. 6:45-700 is “Read scripts.”
7-8 is “Work in novels”.
8-9 is “write screenplays.” Now, it depends on what my current work load is, Right now, I’ve got deadlines. I MUST get 4 pages of script in a day. MUST. If things get hectic, and I miss a page or even a day, it MUST be made up on weekends. And if the deadlines get too tight, then the novel work MUST be put aside.
I may TRY the online Outlook, and see if I can set up scheduling. I guess maybe it can be set-up to email me. But that’s just not as effective as a pop-up saying, “work on scripts.”
