The Word Corner

It takes a HUGE amount of time and energy to launch a new project or venture. The path to becoming a freelancer or entrepreneur is not carefully laid out for us, with every step neatly identified and explained. The term ‘time management’ is a bit misleading since you really can’t manage, store or save time. The only thing you can manage is yourself, your actions and your reactions to external events. Getting a grip on your schedule is one of the hardest things to do. As entrepreneurs, we must resist distractions and non-productive activities at all times or our business will suffer. This post examines a simple yet time-proven technique to help you achieve more.

Write Things Down

Writing down everything you need to do is crucial to getting things done. A good reason for writing things down is that it reduces stress. Every uncompleted task weighs heavily on your mind making you irritable and stressed out. Instead of worrying about all the things you need to do, let your daily planner or to-do list do the worrying for you while you focus on completing your most important tasks of the day or the week.

Even if you consider yourself undisciplined, disorganized and easily distracted, you’ll be surprised by the power of this technique. The more difficult the task, the more often you need to write it down.

Say your goal is to become published within the next 6-12 months. (By that I mean having one or more articles published in a magazine or a newspaper). To accomplish this goal, you will need to write it down on your journal, on a list of tasks for the coming year, on a piece of paper next to your desk lamp and on your daily and weekly to do list.

Writing an article is the easy part. Marketing your article, targeting possible markets, writing query letters, contacting publishers, revising the article to fit a target publication, submitting your article or query letter, waiting for publishers to reply, and then finally, having your manuscript approved for publication (after receiving several rejections) is a process that can take weeks and even months, specially if you’re a beginner.

It is easy to become discouraged at the thought of completing a goal with so many critical steps. Keeping a little note within view at all times: “Key Goal: Get Published this Year!” can do wonders for helping you stay focused despite the delays and disappointments you may experience on the way to achieving your desired outcome.

Writing a note makes it easy for me to remember what items I need to buy at the grocery, even if I forget the list at home. The mere act of putting something on paper gives the task a life of its own. Every post and article I’ve ever written was first an item on a list I wrote months ago. The more difficult and intimidating the task, the more often you have to write it down, if you hope to complete it.

If I don’t write something down, schedule it and track it as a project, I’ll never do it. There are just too many urgencies and tasks competing for my time and attention on a daily basis. If on the other hand I write a task in several places, there’s a high probability that I will achieve it. If I only write it once, it just won’t happen.

Write with thick color markers on wall boards, or on a large sheet of paper and post it on a planning wall in your office, write a list of goals and projects on a word document, in a notebook, in your journal. The more you write it down the greater the likelihood of achieving a goal.