Starting 2024 with a BANG – or at least with a blog!

Well, I always told myself that writing a blog would take too much time out of my busy (horribly ambitious) writing schedule, but I’m finding a lot better ways to organize myself and get more done in less time. By which I mean, I came up with 300 experiments and tricks for my ADHD writer brain to try and get it to focus and do what I want it to do, and so far? It’s working!

Not that I’m saying much when I say that, but here’s what I’m doing to try and be more productive this year. Who knows, maybe this will help you, too!

1. Writing first.

There are 500 things I need to do every day, and it’s so tempting to just get the ‘hard parts’ or the ‘boring parts’ or the ‘parts I may forget’ out of the way. But when I do that, I don’t write as much or as well. So this year, I’m prioritizing what really matters. The writing. Writing. Goes. First.

2. Work slippers

Okay, hear me out. Our brains connect ‘wearing shoes’ with ‘doing things’ – so I got a pair of slippers that fits more like a shoe and I change out of my pajamas (into basically also pajamas) to get my brain on the ‘we are doing things’ track. I am so mad, because it works. The dang slipper-shoes work! And I take them off right when I’m done working, and my brain likes that, too. Ah, time to relax.

3. Having a workspace

It took almost three years of sitting in an armchair with a wooden beam right at the tailbone (who DESIGNED that thing?) for me to get absolutely 100% positively fed up with the damn thing. And then, within a few days, I spent WAY too much money to get a cheap desk and a ton of organizational things. It was the absolute best idea I ever had. Having a designated work space that I only sit down and work at, with all of my work stuff neatly arranged in drawers and pen holders (that spin!) and having tape and scissors and somewhere for my postage scale? Brain sits here and goes right into work mode. Getting started doesn’t take me nearly as long, and my posture is better in an actual desk chair, and I feel better. It’s also nice to walk away from it and leave all the work sitting there, to be dealt with another day.

4. Making too many spreadsheets

I used to use Christie Yant’s Word Count Tracker – love that thing – but I found myself putting a ‘0’ in for a word count on days when I worked my butt off at everything else and that was really discouraging. So I made a word count and hours worked tracker, to keep an eye on how much I actually do. I may not get all the words out, but you know what I will do? I’ll get the finances done, and the research out of the way, and clean out a desk drawer. Best part is, now that will COUNT. Did it take me three full days of my Christmas vacation to get the spreadsheets right? Yes, yes it did. Was it worth it? Oh, hell yes.

5. Last but not least, keeping MOST of my goals to myself.

Yeah, I’ve been talking about a lot of my goals online, but not all of them. The ones I am most excited about, I’m keeping to myself. See, a research study done a few years ago found out that telling people your goals can trick your brain into thinking you already accomplished said goals. You may not even start, or you’ll lose momentum and motivation, if you tell. Another study said when you tell your goals to someone you really respect and admire, however, you are MORE likely to accomplish them. So while I’m sharing some of my most ambitious goals with close friends and a mentor, I’m not sharing them with everyone.

So yeah, 2024 better watch out. I’m coming in hot, and really hoping I can make this last. AND I’m starting a blog!

If you want to hear even more from me (I’m flattered!), sign up for my newsletter to get even MORE of me direct to your email inbox.

Yours Truly, October