“I’m not that into organisation and routines – I’m a creative type.”
It’s something you hear often in freelancing circles. Usually, it’s part of the age-old myth that convinces us that creativity thrives best in chaos. ‘Real’ writers, it would have us believe, are chained only to their muses.
Well, perhaps that worked for Hemingway, but for most people who write for their bread and butter some structure is needed so that the rest of life can tick along smoothly.
For people trying to earn a living from writing by freelancing from home, some routines and personal organisation are vital to creating the mental space for creativity to flow.
Planning for success
While making time to actually do the work you have is pretty easy, finding the time to do the other, less interesting aspects is often more difficult. Nobody likes chasing invoices, facing possible rejection by querying editors or general admin tasks, but they need to be done. Too often we put them off by telling ourselves that we don’t have time. Actually, you don’t always need two solid, uninterrupted hours of desk time to be productive. Small slots of time can be put to good use too.
In her book The Seven Minute Difference, Allyson Lewis claims that the road to business and personal success is made up of seemingly insignificant micro-actions that collectively create change. In seven minutes you can make a couple of business calls, plan meals for the week, or write your weekly task list. The theory is that using small chunks of time wisely can reap huge benefits. Her motto is ‘prioritze, organize and simplify’.
Once you have a list of actions you need to take (email an editor, follow up with a client, update your website), then when you find you have a few spare minutes you can use that time productively. No sitting there thinking “umm, not sure what to do, I know I have things to do, can’t decide, I’ll just scroll through Instagram.”
Routines
Boooring. Right? Well, the beauty of routines is that once they’re in place you have fewer decisions to make, leaving more mental space for the things that really matter to you.
Habits form around triggers. So, if you want to start a new one, you first have to figure out what can trigger the behaviour and try to make it as easy as possible for yourself.
Here’s an example: I wanted to start planning my day better to fit in all the chores, kids’ activities and work. So, I decided to make a to-do list alongside our family planner. Unfortunately, I struggled to remember to do it in the mornings and would remember half-way through the day.
I thought about my morning routine and realised that when my kids go off to school I automatically go and switch on the kettle. To get this new habit started, I left my notebook right next to the kettle every evening so that it was impossible to miss it.
It worked a treat.
Willpower
Which brings us to willpower. It takes time for routines to become ingrained habits. For most of us, willpower is a fickle friend. We can find the willpower to get up at 6am and go for a run reasonably easily on light, warm summer mornings. Doing it in winter? Yeah, the call of the duvet is like a siren’s song luring you back under the covers.
A big industry has built up around the assumption that there’s a golden number for forming a habit. I’m sure you’ve seen the books and articles telling you that once you do something regularly for 21 days then it becomes an unbreakable habit. This is really attractive because it sounds long enough to make a difference, but also short enough to be doable.
The problem is that research doesn’t really back this up. Some experts will tell you that it can take months to build some habits and that, unfortunately, the habits that produce instant results (the coffee and chocolate biscuit at 3pm) are much more easily formed than those that need time to produce results (doing 5kms before breakfast).
So, what helps us stick to those habits that we know are good for us?
Rewards and accountability
While it would nice if the satisfaction of a job well done was enough motivation to keep doing it, sometimes we need a little extrinsic motivation to help us out.
You can reward yourself without breaking the bank—the idea is to combine the new habit with something you like. It could be as simple as listening to your favourite podcast while going for a walk.
Sometimes that motivation comes from telling people you’re going to do something. You might announce to your writers’ group that you’re going to write a thousand words a day for two weeks.
Tell yourself that every morning you’re going to dedicate 20 minutes to a task or putting things in order before you start work. Or, plan it for the end of the day; whenever suits you best. Whatever you decide, write it down somewhere visible. Now, you don’t have to think about it anymore, but unfortunately you do have to do it—the lists won’t actually do themselves.
Resources for productivity and time management