10 Tips: Time Management and Organization

The issues of time management and organization are the twin demons that plague most writers. We generally have lots of papers, lots of great ideas and no time in which to get everything done that we'd like. So, to help us all out, we've got some great tips on each from Boston columnist Penelope Trunk and workflow consultant Matthew Cornell. (Found via Lifehack.org)

5 Ways to Stop Being Late, from Penelope Trunk

Schedule the event into your calendar. I discovered I had enough on my schedule to last 48 hours a day. It would have been impossible for me to be on time for anything.

Practice saying what you need to say. Here’s a great thing to say: “Excuse me, I hate to cut you off, but I have an appointment.” It is hard to cut someone off, but they will respect you for sticking to a schedule.

Be a time pessimist. Assume everything will take a little longer than your first estimate.

Prioritize. Face the reality that you cannot get your whole list done. Figure out what’s most important and just get that done.

Be honest with yourself. Often, we are scared to make the decisions that we must make in order to get control over our time and become someone who runs on schedule. But there is no other way to run a life. To run on schedule is to plan the life you want to live and execute that plan.

5 Filing Hacks, from Matthew Cornell

File Bookmark
When you pull a file, simply lift up the file behind it a few inches and let the remaining files in front of that one lean back. You’ll find they keep the bookmark file up above the rest until you’re ready to return the pulled file.

Fold Crease
Have you ever noticed that set of horizontal creases at the bottom of most file folders? Guess what - they’re amazingly useful! When you have a file that’s grown to more than a dozen or so pages, it starts to bow outward, messing up your nice filing drawer. Terrible! To fix the problem, simply open the file flat on your desk, choose a crease that will give you enough extra room, fold the crease, and - bingo - neat, expanded file.

Staple, Don’t Clip
To keep your files as thin as possible, replace paper clips with staples. For thick bundles that you don’t want to staple, you might prefer the so-called “ideal clamps” (such as these) rather than paper clips.

Unfold Before You File
This one is real simple: To keep files thin and make easier future perusals, always unfold any papers before you file them. Also, take them out of the envelope if you feel the need to keep it (staple it to the pages if you like.)

Magnetic Bookend
Trying to keep files condensed and neat? Try one of these magnetic bookends. You can adjust them easily, and they help things stay put.

Total Writing Improvement

All writing involves three elements. Whether it’s scribbling in your journal, landing a byline in a major magazine, or writing for a TV show, these three elements are present and inescapable.

Thought

All writing begins with thought. Words and sentences only have value because they represent ideas and concepts and do so in a way that many people understand. Without those ideas and concepts, language is meaningless. What we actually create and sell, as writers, are thoughts.

Words and Language

Now, in order for those thoughts to be accessible or intelligible to anyone else, they need to be translated from raw thought into some form that others can understand. Communication of thought is the sole purpose of language. As said before, the value of words lie in the thoughts they convey to others.

Media and Technology

Finally, once we’ve figured out the words that represent our thoughts, we must record them in some way. Cave men painted on walls, the Egyptians wrote on papyrus, we use computers. Whatever the technology used, regardless of the medium that conveys the message, it isn’t writing until it’s written. Media and technology are the form and means used to record the thoughts we originally had.

The Bottom Line

We all want to write well. Many want to also write more, and thus earn more money. Both quality and quantity can be improved by focusing on improving how we use and work with each of these three portions of the whole writing process. By improving our initial thought processes, we improve both the crafting and marketing of our writing. By fine tuning our use of language, we are better able to write clearly and reach audiences effectively. By training ourselves in media and technology, we become more skilled with the tools we use in our art.

How many great ideas have YOU lost?

You never know quite when an idea will pop into your mind, do you? Surely I’m not the only one that finds inspiration in the shower, am I? (Actually, I believe the shower was a favorite of Stan Freberg.) At any given moment, whether I’m pounding out a rough draft, researching a topic or just doing a bit of “mind grazing”, I may have an idea that strikes. Maybe it’s something I read that strikes my fancy. Maybe it’s a tangent I wish I had the time to explore. Maybe it’s just a fun word that I like.

The fact is that you need a place to record these thoughts and experiences. Chances are high that you’ve lost a lot of great ideas simply for lack of scrap paper. How many times have you jotted down a name and phone number on the back of an old receipt? Just how many of those stray scraps of paper actually get used later? If you’re at all like me, the end up going through the wash the next time you do laundry, and you’re stuck with a little wad that used to be paper.

How to solve this problem? My dad always told me that if you have a weakness, use a system to compensate for it. If you have trouble remembering where you put your keys, then give them a specific place where you always put them. During the day, they’re in my left hip pocket. Once I walk in the door, they go in a small basket on the desk that’s by the door. If they’re not in the basket, they’re in my pocket. See? The system provides a simple solution.

My system for capturing important information and ideas is equally simple. If I’m away from the computer, I have my hPDA with me at all times, allowing me to jot it down then and there. I use a Mead Index Keeper, and I can quickly file away any index cards or scraps of paper I might need to save. This way, these clippings and musings have a designated place and are always accessible.

When I’m at the computer, I’m able to remove an entire step from this process by having a similar document there on the desk top. I have it labeled “Open Jotter”, because that’s exactly what it is, a running document that I can jot notes into. Cool bit of info? Jot it down. Any insights, factoids or flashes of brilliance are jotted down, in whatever order they happen to come in.

At the end of the day (if I remember, sometimes it’s the end of the week…) I go over everything and refile it as needed. Contact information goes in one place. Blog post ideas go another place. Large chunks of fitfully typed ramblings go into a folder all their own.

The two most important points are these:
1. There is a designated place for all of these stray thoughts.
2. This place is always immediately accessible.

Thus, I’m able to get stuff out of my head and recorded in some way, and I can do so with minimum hassle. This allows my mind to focus on the tasks at hand without trying to keep track of everything else all the time. Like my keys, I don’t need to remember where I set them down last, I already know that if they’re not in my pocket, they’re in the basket on my desk. Likewise, I never have to scramble to record a thought; I just whip out my handy Hipster or go straight to the Open Jotter.

How do you corral your thoughts?