Five Tips To Be Productive During Holidays

[caption id="attachment_206" align="alignright" width="243"] Courtesy Adrian Serghie[/caption]

I’m often asked how I managed to get so much done. The old saying ‘if you want something done, ask a busy person’ is true. The more you do, the more you can do. Most people would be horrified by the task list I set myself on January 1^st each year. But I do that for a reason. If you set the bar high, you will still achieve more than if you set the bar low. Sometimes I surprise myself and achieve everything, or get within a whisper of ticking off everything on the list. The key is not to limit yourself, but ensure each individual ‘task’ is achievable. If not you are doomed to fail before you’ve even begun! So don’t put ‘sell 10,000 books’ – put ‘devise a marketing plan’.

My top 5 tips are:-

1. Tip number one is to keep a ‘To do’ list and add to it daily. Holiday times are often when authors catch up with the tasks that linger in the background and for which there is never enough time. However, now comes the warning. Holiday times mean family will have expectations of you, so you will NEVER have as much time as you’d hoped. That’s why you keep a prioritised ‘To do’ list! Using a spreadsheet for your list makes it easier to re-sort and re-prioritise on a regular basis.


2. Be organised and then organise yourself some more. Make life as simple as you can by clearing down as many small tasks as possible. Make sure you limit the time you set yourself to do this and don’t get distracted. Otherwise you will never move on to the more important items. You will, however, feel better having crossed off a lot of items in one go. Although it might not amount to much in terms of the time it takes, for sheer ‘feel good’ factor, it’s a boost.


3. Don’t ignore the elephant in the room. I’m sure you’ve all heard of that saying – you know, the major task/tasks you’ve been avoiding doing until it becomes a big pressure. If you are avoiding doing something it’s counter-productive. It will play on your mind and be a constant niggling worry in the back of your head. That in itself saps energy and is draining – so better to face up to it and tackle that immediately after tip no. 2. The idea is you are feeling positive having crossed of a whole host of small things, THEN you tackle the big ones you least want to do. The combination of the two will leave you on a high – try it! It beats a chocolate high and you will actually have burned off calories instead of adding to your intake!


4. In the UK we have a saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. If you are in the habit of leaving something to the last minute, it will become a pressure. Deadlines should ALWAYS be met as far in advance as you possibly can. If you take things up to the wire I can almost certainly guarantee there will be an unexpected crisis. Whether it’s something domestic, a bad internet connection or just a bad day – something will crop up and you’ll wish you hadn’t left it to the so late!


5. Be realistic, but don’t let up. I don’t know any writers who can afford to take off large chunks of time if they aren’t using it to write. That means when they aren’t writing they have to fit in everything else – marketing, proof checking, talks and then the other side of life – family commitments, work maybe and socialising! It doesn’t leave much time for lazing in front of TV I’m afraid, but life is short and often what you are watching isn’t worth the time it takes up. However, partners will require some sort of interaction from time to time, so this tip is very important. Start the holidays by looking at your ‘to do’ list and deciding what you can reasonably expect to achieve. Prioritise it as outlined above and then set aside small chunks of time. You won’t be missed for an hour or two here and there, but if you bury your head in your work all day they will notice! So be kind to yourself and your loved ones. It’s all about balance.

About The Author:

Linn B.Halton is feature editor on loveahappyending.com, a Lifestyle e-magazine. She began writing in March 2009 and her debut novel was published in February 2011.