Wednesday, July 16, 2014

In search of productivity

Recently I've had a problem that I'm sure most writers have from time to time. That problem is productivity, meaning writing productivity which translates to words on the virtual page. I sit down to write, fully intending to write, but for some reason I can't help looking at email, checking my Facebook page, or doing pretty much anything but actually writing.

I've decided this has gone on long enough. Starting today, I'm going to actually work on my WIP rather than say I'm going to work on it and then end up playing solitaire instead.

I'm a sucker for software products that are supposed to help with this kind of thing, so I've just installed a program on my computer called "Vitamin-R" which was part of a MacHeist software bundle I purchased today. It came with several other programs that I might look into later, but it was the Vitamin R that sold me on the bundle.

The program is running now as I write this blog post, having hidden all my other programs so I'm not distracted. Every minute or so it ticks and at intervals announces how long I've got left on the time slice I allotted to write this. Kind of cool, actually.

I have only five minutes left... I know because it just told me.

So maybe this is just a toy that I'll soon get bored with, but there is something to be said for positive reinforcement, even if it is just a computer program ticking in the background.

Anyone have any other tips for creating productivity?

Cheers,
Janet Miller/Cricket Starr

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